AAN News
E&P Focuses on Alt-Weeklies in August Issue
In its main feature (subscription-only), the newspaper industry trade publication focuses on the intense competition alternative newspapers now face from new products launched by daily newspapers. "All kinds of competition have been muscling in a market niche that the alternatives have had to themselves for a long time," Washington City Paper editor Erik Wemple tells E&P. On top of burgeoning web competition, he adds, "now everybody is doing free distribution, and listings-driven publications." A shorter piece (also subscription-only) looks at consolidation in the alt-weekly biz, with a special focus on its affect on national advertising.
Editor & Publisher (sub. req.) |
08-01-2007 12:59 pm |
Industry News
Tags: Editorial, Management
AAN Releases 2007 Convention Survey Results [members only]
AAN Staff |
08-01-2007 12:44 pm |
Association News
Reporters Committee Issues Alert on ABA Resolutionnew
The American Bar Association is considering resolutions that would "drastically limit public access to criminal justice system records," according to a press release issued by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. One of the ABA recommendations would urge federal, state and local governments to limit access to closed criminal-case files that didn't result in a conviction; another seeks to seal conviction records "after passage of a specified period of law-abiding conduct." The ABA's House of Delegates will vote on the resolution Aug. 13-14. The Reporters Committee urges news outlets to report and comment on the matter in advance to make ABA delegates aware of media and public concerns.
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press |
07-31-2007 11:29 am |
Legal News
Tags: Editorial, Management
Former Editor Returns to Take Reins at Metro Pulsenew
Coury Turczyn, who was a "principal editor" of the Knoxville alt-weekly for most of its first nine years before he left in 2000, will return to the paper on Aug. 13 as editor-in-chief, according to an editorial posted on the Metro Pulse website. "More than any other individual, he shaped the paper's appealingly snotty personality and irreverent course," reports the anonymous editorialist. After living in several different states, Turczyn returned to Knoxville in 2005 to serve as an editor for E.W. Scripp's HGTV website. Scripps, which also owns the daily paper in Knoxville, acquired Metro Pulse late last month. Current editor Leslie Wylie announced two months ago that she would be leaving the paper to become a professional competitive equestrian.
Metro Pulse |
07-30-2007 3:16 pm |
Industry News
Tags: Editorial, Metro Pulse
Reader Editor Says CL Acquisition Not a Sad Day for Chicago
In a staff message sent Friday, Alison True admits there "are reasons
to be distressed by a change this big," but claims there are also "reasons to be optimistic" about the sale to Creative Loafing, including the new owners' pledge to maintain editorial independence and enhance the paper's business operations. MORE FROM CHICAGO: In an anonymous post on a Reader blog, a recently hired salesperson remembers why s/he took a large pay cut to take a job at the paper: "I did it because I love the Reader, and I have loved it since I was 15 years old sneaking away from the burbs and into the city searching for the comforting yellow newspaper dispenser. ... I wanted to be around people that keenly observed the world and cared about the people living in it, the people other than themselves with stories to tell. And I found that. Here at the Chicago Reader."
(FULL STORY)
Alison True |
07-30-2007 2:11 pm |
Industry News
Today is Early Registration Deadline for Medill Conferencenew
Friday, July 27 is the deadline for early registration and hotel rates for the Alternative Journalism Workshop for Writers and Designers to be held Aug. 10-11 in Evanston, Ill. Speakers include Poynter writing coach Chip Scanlan, journalist-author Alex Kotlowitz and Visual Editors' Robb Montgomery, and for the first time ever, the conference will include a separate program for design staff. Lunch and dinner on Saturday are included in the $75 AAN member early-registration rate.
AAN |
07-26-2007 7:20 pm |
Association News
Who Will the New Creative Loafing Turn to For National Ads?new
CEO Ben Eason tells Editor & Publisher he's not sure if the now-six paper chain will continue to use the Alternative Weekly Network (AWN) for national ad sales or switch over to the competing Ruxton Group, which currently handles ad sales for the Chicago Reader and Washington City Paper. "We have been longtime AWN folks," he says. Ruxton, which was founded by the Reader, is now owned by Village Voice Media. Eason says figuring this out is one of his top priorities. He also tells E&P that strength in the national ad market is a key aspect of this week's deal. "Now with Chicago and D.C., all of the sudden you have enough critical mass and it becomes a go-to place for ad agencies on Madison Avenue," he says.
Editor & Publisher |
07-26-2007 12:22 pm |
Industry News
Creative Loafing CEO Meets With Chicago Reader Staffnew
The Reader's Michael Miner reports that Ben Eason didn't focus on editorial matters in Wednesday's meeting, but rather on "web opportunities, regaining ground lost to Craiglist in classified advertising, and the efficiencies of centralizing the design work in Atlanta," a change Miner notes "is likely to cost a dozen or so Reader employees their jobs." After the meeting, when Miner asked Eason about editorial, he said "it's everything" -- but Miner isn't so sure that's Creative Loafing's approach. He thinks the Creative Loafing papers' design "doesn't respect the stories it ought to serve. If the centralized design staff makes this the look of the Reader ... I think readers will judge it as antithetical to what they've understood the Reader to be." According to Miner, Creative Loafing will turn the Reader into a one-section tabloid, a change the old owners were also planning.
Chicago Reader |
07-26-2007 11:01 am |
Industry News
Chicago Reader, Inc. President: 'I Guess it Was Time'new
"We've received so many overtures over the years and they’ve never come to pass," Bob Roth tells Reader media critic Michael Miner. "[But] we got a better offer than I expected." Creative Loafing CEO Ben Eason tells the Washington Post it was an "eight-figure sale" and that he tried to buy the Reader's minority stakes in the Stranger, the Portland Mercury and the Amsterdam Weekly, but that Roth wouldn't sell. Miner tells the Chicago Tribune that the Reader staff is "discombobulated" at the moment. "This has been a very insular paper," Miner says. "We've seen other papers buffeted by change that hasn't affected us until now." Miner also reports that Reader publisher Mike Crystal and editor Alison True will remain with the paper, but production will be moved to Atlanta, according to a report in the Chicago Sun-Times. Production of City Paper will also be moved to Atlanta, where all four of Creative Loafing's papers are currently produced. Back in Washington, editor Erik Wemple says that budget cuts that had already begun will continue, but "there's no fat in our newsroom that I can identify and so this is difficult process. I refuse to pay freelancers less money, and so we'll have to get terribly, terribly creative." MORE COVERAGE: Forbes; Crain's; St. Petersburg Times; Chicago Public Radio.
Chicago Reader |
07-25-2007 9:11 am |
Industry News
Creative Loafing Inc. Acquires Chicago Reader and Washington City Paper
The Reader and City Paper, which were both controlled by the founders of the Reader, were acquired today by Creative Loafing Inc., which owns alt-weeklies in Atlanta, Tampa, Sarasota and Charlotte. "Our expansion into Chicago and Washington reflects our confidence in the future of alternative publishing -- in print, on the web and in other media as they emerge," CEO Ben Eason says in a statement. "We've had a great ride," the Chicago Reader Inc. owners say in a separate press statement released by president Bob Roth. "Now we're happily handing the keys to a new generation, Creative Loafing and their CEO Ben Eason. We're confident they will build on what we've established and carry it ably into the future." The Reader statement also notes that most of the company's shareholders will retain their minority interests in The Stranger, Portland Mercury, and Amsterdam Weekly through a company to be called Quarterfold, Inc. MORE: City Paper's Mike DeBonis reports that Eason told the staff that publisher Amy Austin and editor Erik Wemple will remain in their posts but some financial, technology, and production operations will be shifted to offices in Atlanta and Tampa.
(FULL STORY)
Creative Loafing Inc. Press Release |
07-24-2007 2:04 pm |
Press Releases
Disney Options L.A. Weekly Article for Upcoming Filmnew
Variety reports that Jailhouse Rock will be based on the true story of an "American Idol"-like singing contest held in an Arizona jail, first reported in L.A. Weekly by Joshuah Bearman. Brian Robbins (Starship Dave, Coach Carter) has been tapped to direct the film, and he will share production duties with David Klawans (Nacho Libre). "Like Coach Carter, which came from a newspaper article we read, there's nothing better than real-life drama," Robbins says. This is the second Bearman article to be optioned by Klawans, according to Variety -- the first has become Escape From Tehran, a drama Klawans is producing with George Clooney.
Variety |
07-24-2007 1:01 pm |
Industry News
New Haven Advocate 'Considering' Running Front-Page Ad Stickersnew
"Perhaps figuring that pop-up ads have desensitized the public to intrusions on their reading space, more and more newspapers across the nation are opting to move advertising to the front page, above the fold, in the form of annoying post-it notes," Evan Brown writes in the Advocate. The Advocate's parent-paper the Hartford Courant is already running the ads, and, according to Advocate publisher Joshua Mamis, the alt-weekly is looking at ways to "creatively" use them.
New Haven Advocate |
07-24-2007 8:12 am |
Industry News
Chicago Reader Inc. Statement on Sale to Creative Loafing
Chicago Reader Inc. Press Release |
07-24-2007 2:13 pm |
Press Releases
17 Percent of Senior Marketers Bought Ads in Return for News Coveragenew
MarketingVox |
07-24-2007 10:31 am |
Industry News
AAN Adds 'Members Only' Content to Website
The little red "A" logo you see next to today's AAN News story on the Austin Chronicle means the full text of that story is available only to AAN members. Every so often, we'll use that designation to highlight features we've developed specifically for AAN members that you won't find anywhere else.
AAN Staff |
07-23-2007 11:54 am |
Association News
