AAN News
Columnist & Former Bay Guardian Editor Helms New Gawker Blognew
Annalee Newitz, who was culture editor at the San Francisco Bay Guardian from 2000-2004 and whose Techsploitation column runs in many AAN papers, is now editing a new Gawker Media blog, Wired reports. i09, which tackles futurism and sci-fi, went live yesterday.
Wired |
01-03-2008 12:50 pm |
Industry News
Does the San Diego Reader Exist Only to Make Money?new
That's freelance writer Seth Hettena's take. "Week after week, I pick up the Reader hoping to find something worth reading over a cup of coffee only to fling aside moments later in disappointment," he writes on the Voice of San Diego website. He roundly criticizes the Reader for a variety of sins, saying editor and owner Jim Holman shows "contempt for his readers." He concludes: "The Reader is considered an alternative weekly, but it's not really much of an alternative to anything." However, not everyone agrees with Hettena's assessment, as the robust discussion unfolding in the story's comments section proves. "Thank God for the Reader and for the 164,000 members of its weekly audience who keep it alive and kicking the hell out of the bad guys in San Diego each week," says one commenter.
Voice of San Diego |
01-03-2008 11:19 am |
Industry News
Port Folio Weekly & Style Weekly Parent Co. May Go Up for Salenew
Landmark Communications, which owns those two Virginia AAN member papers, has hired JP Morgan and Lehman Brothers to "to assist in exploring strategic alternatives, including the possible sale of the company's businesses," Landmark's vice chairman tells the Roanoke Times. The company's 2006 sales figures were $1.75 billion, and it employs about 12,000 people at more than 100 publications and other media properties including The Weather Channel, the Times reports.
The Roanoke Times |
01-03-2008 8:48 am |
Industry News
Nikki Finke Named 'Media Mensch of the Year'new
In crowning her as such, the New York Observer thanks the L.A. Weekly columnist "for reminding us that all good journalism comes, first and foremost, from obsession." Finke's Deadline Hollywood Daily site has become the go-to source for coverage of the writers' strike, and has made this a defining moment in her career. "The biggest entertainment story of the year has also turned into the biggest story of Ms. Finke's career," the Observer reports. "She's demonstrated that one determined reporter -- with none of the support or backing of a media outfit, but also none of the entangling alliances -- can, in fact, beat the big guys at their own game."
New York Observer |
01-02-2008 1:05 pm |
Industry News
President Signs FOIA Reform Billnew
On Monday, George Bush signed into law the first revision of the Freedom of Information Act in a decade, the AP reports. The legislation, which cleared Congress last month, creates a system for the media and public to track the status of their FOIA requests. It also establishes a hotline service for all federal agencies to deal with problems and an ombudsman. Under the new law, federal agencies would be required to meet a 20-day deadline for responding to FOIA requests.
The Associated Press |
01-02-2008 11:52 am |
Legal News
Tags: Editorial, Management
Dallas Observer Names New Editornew
Mark Donald has been involved with the Observer on and off for more than ten years, including stints as associate editor and staff writer. Since leaving the paper in 2004, he has worked at Texas Lawyer and D magazine. He begins in mid-January, following the departure of Julie Lyons, who is stepping down to write a book based on her Bible Girl columns.
Dallas Observer |
01-02-2008 8:38 am |
Industry News
Santa Fe Reporter Hosts Liberian Refugee News Project
NewLiberian.com to be clearing house for human rights news for Liberian diaspora.
(FULL STORY)
Santa Fe Reporter Press Release |
01-02-2008 8:49 am |
Press Releases
Bay Area Papers Try to Combat Wave of Free Paper Theftnew
A recent surge in newspaper theft has a coalition of Bay Area newspapers -- including the East Bay Express and the San Francisco Bay Guardian -- asking local authorities to help pursue thieves both on the street and at the recycling businesses where they fence the stolen goods, according to the Berkeley Daily Planet. The Express is doing more than just asking cops for help, though. The Planet reports that after complaints to local police failed to result in the apprehension of a man repeatedly seen stealing papers, the alt-weekly hired a private investigator. On his first night out, the private eye caught the thief with more than 500 copies of the Express -- and nearly as many Bay Guardians -- in his truck. Express publisher Hal Brody says that stopping the thefts will take more than arresting street-level thieves -- rather, he thinks cops need to target the recycling businesses that accept the contraband. A meeting between Oakland police and local publishers to discuss how to stem the tide of theft is planned for the near future, the Planet reports.
Berkeley Daily Planet |
12-27-2007 8:26 am |
Industry News
Phoenix New Times Reporter Rejects Deal in Public Records Casenew
In October, as the New Times grand-jury probe fiasco bubbled to the surface, reporter Ray Stern was given a criminal citation for disorderly conduct after an argument over taking photos of public records at the sheriff's office. Stern said Monday that a Phoenix prosecutor offered him a fine of $100 or attending anger management classes in exchange for a guilty plea, the Associated Press reports. "I'm not going to (plead guilty)," he says. "I know I wasn't yelling."
The Associated Press via Editor & Publisher |
12-26-2007 10:58 am |
Legal News
Santa Barbara Independent Fights Contempt Chargenew
Attorneys for the alt-weekly have filed legal papers with the California Court of Appeal arguing that a judge erred in finding the Indy in contempt of court for refusing to turn over all the crime scene photographs taken by Paul Wellman. The paper's attorneys argue the judge failed to provide any evidence there was "a reasonable possibility" that Wellman's unpublished photos "will materially assist" the defense attorney who asked for them. The legal standard required by California Constitution to penetrate California's shield law requires a reasonable possibility, the Indy reports.
Santa Barbara Independent |
12-26-2007 9:15 am |
Legal News
Westword Co-Founder Dies in Car Crashnew
Sandra Widener, who started the Denver alt-weekly in 1977 with Patricia Calhoun and Rob Simon, died on Saturday when the vehicle her family was in skidded out of control and a tractor trailer slammed into the driver's side, the Denver Post reports. She was 53 years old. Her husband, Democratic political consultant John Parr, and one of their two daughters also died in the crash. Their 17-year-old daughter is expected to leave the hospital today, according to the Rocky Mountain News. "Their house became a focal point for the neighborhood, and the world. Their friends included everybody," Calhoun tells the Post. "They always had students in from other countries. It was just a nonstop party." The News also reports that three drivers have been charged with driving too fast for conditions in the chain-reaction crash.
The Denver Post | Rocky Mountain News |
12-26-2007 8:16 am |
Industry News
Boston Phoenix Story Trips Up Mitt Romneynew
On Wednesday, the Phoenix published David Bernstein's "Was It All a Dream?," which called into question whether Romney's father actually marched with Martin Luther King, Jr., as the presidential candidate had claimed in a recent speech and TV appearance. Dogged by reporters over the assertion, Romney yesterday backpedaled and admitted that he never did see such a thing. Yet a spokesperson tells the Phoenix that, even if Mitt never "saw" it, George Romney did march with King, despite historical evidence to the contrary. "I researched this question, and indeed it is untrue that George Romney marched with Martin Luther King," the assistant editor of the Martin Luther King Jr. Papers Project at Stanford University tells the Boston Globe.
The Associated Press | Boston Phoenix | Boston Globe |
12-21-2007 10:20 am |
Industry News
Longtime Boulder Weekly Staffer to Helm Conservative Editorial Pagenew
Wayne Laugesen is leaving the Weekly to become the editorial-page editor of the Colorado Springs Gazette, Westword reports. In its ad for the job, the Gazette said it was looking for "a libertarian thinker ... in tune with our philosophy of (a) respect for the individual, (b) limited government, (c) free markets, and (d) free trade," which might not seem a great fit for someone who had worked at the progressive Weekly on-and-off for 13 years. But Laugesen never espoused the views shared by most of his colleagues. "It's always been heated and tense, politically," he tells Westword. "I don't know how many times I've written some right-wing thing for the Weekly, which is owned by a left-wing publisher [Stewart Sallo] and has a liberal editor [Pamela White], and somebody has called up and said, 'You're fired.' It's definitely happened -- but generally we were back on good terms within a few days." He speaks well of the Weekly, but says he's excited to be going to an organization where he's "under the same big umbrella, philosophically."
Westword |
12-21-2007 9:20 am |
Industry News
Four Alt-Weekly Journalists Named NEA Fellowsnew
Michael Bowen (The Pacific Northwest Inlander), Skylar Browning (Missoula Independent), Brendan Kiley (The Stranger), and Ashley Lindstrom (San Antonio Current) have been named fellows in the fourth National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Arts Journalism Institute in Theater and Musical Theater at USC's Annenberg School. The fellows will participate in a rigorous 10-day program in February with guest faculty including L.A. Weekly theater editor Steven Leigh Morris.
USC Annenberg School for Communication Press Release |
12-21-2007 8:26 am |
Honors & Achievements
Dave Morgan: Newspapers Need to Disaggregatenew
Online Spin |
12-21-2007 10:12 am |
Industry News
