AAN News
AAN Convention Website Open for Business
You'll find a preliminary convention schedule on the site, along with everything you need to know about registering for the annual confab -- including the fact that AAN member papers are once again eligible for up to two free registrations. The programming at this year's conference, which will be held June 14-16 in Portland, Ore., will focus heavily on web publishing and management training.
AAN Staff |
04-10-2007 5:04 pm |
Association News
Miami New Times Reveals Sex Offenders Living Under a Bridge
But the men aren't hiding from the law. Incredibly, they were ordered to sleep under that bridge by state authorities, New Times' Isaiah Thompson reported last month. Residency restrictions for sex offenders have complicated the task of finding suitable housing for some offenders, especially those who leave prison homeless. "Probation officers just don't know what to do with cases like this," a Florida Department of Corrections spokesperson tells New Times. The alt-weekly's report has kicked up a storm of follow-up coverage, including stories by CNN and the Associated Press. But as New Times Broward-Palm Beach reporter Bob Norman complains on his blog (referring specifically to CNN), it's "too bad they're too arrogant and unprofessional to say whose scoop it is."
AAN News |
04-10-2007 1:18 pm |
Industry News
Metroland Dance Critic Diesnew
Mae Banner died on Friday after a long illness. She was 73 years old. "I was always impressed by how open-minded she was," says Peter Lesser, executive director of the Albany's Egg Center for the Performing Arts. "She appreciated all different types of dance from kids performances to avant garde and modern." In addition to her work at Metroland, Banner wrote for the Saratogian and Glens Falls Chronicle newspapers and taught sociology at the University of Tennessee, SUNY-Cortland and Skidmore College.
Albany Times-Union |
04-10-2007 12:22 pm |
Industry News
Inmates Released from Youth Prisons on Heels of Texas Observer Storynew
Last week, the new board of the Texas Youth Commission (TYC) began freeing young inmates as part of the reform ushered in by the Observer's February investigation of sexual abuse at TYC prisons. TYC spokesman Jim Hurley tells the Dallas Morning News the agency plans on releasing 473 juveniles to family members or guardians. In what could be a sign of things to come, the attorney for one of the released prisoners plans on suing the state agency, the News reports.
Dallas Morning News |
04-10-2007 9:12 am |
Industry News
Alt-Weekly Investigation Leads to Criminal Charges Against Developernew
Last week, L.A. City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo filed 16 counts against Meruelo Maddux Properties as a result of the firm's allegedly improper demolition of several buildings in 2005. The charges, which stem from an investigation by L.A. Weekly, include illegal disposal of hazardous waste, improper handling and disposal of asbestos and failure to provide documentation of its removal. The Weekly notes that the firm's chairman, Richard Meruelo, is Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's largest campaign supporter and was not named in the complaint.
L.A. Downtown News |
04-09-2007 9:26 am |
Industry News
More Potential Buyers for Philadelphia Weekly Namednew
An unnamed industry source tells the Weekly's Steve Volk that a group led by Richard L. Connor is among the bidders for his paper. Connor, the editor and publisher of the Times Leader in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., led a group of investors last year in the purchase of that paper from the McClatchy Co. "Another company frequently mentioned among industry insiders as a potential bidder is Times-Shamrock Communications," Volk says, but the company says it has "no involvement." Times-Shamrock owns AAN members Baltimore City Paper, Detroit's Metro Times, Orlando Weekly, and the San Antonio Current, among other publications. Village Voice Media and Philadelphia Media Holdings have also been named as companies interested in purchasing the Weekly.
Philadelphia Weekly |
04-09-2007 8:17 am |
Industry News
Village Voice Columnist Launches Sex Education Websitenew
Vivid Entertainment Press Release |
04-09-2007 2:59 pm |
Press Releases
Boise Weekly Names New Editor
Shea Andersen replaces Nicholas Collias, who left the alt-weekly in October, and Deanna Darr takes over for Andersen as news editor. For the past 12 years, Andersen has worked as a journalist in Colorado, Oregon, New Mexico and Idaho. "We've got big plans for Boise Weekly," Andersen says. "For starters, we're sending a reporter to Cuba, we're refurbishing
the website and there's finally some really good coffee in the break room."
(FULL STORY)
Boise Weekly Press Release |
04-06-2007 3:40 pm |
Press Releases
Dallas Observer Story Leads to Criminal Investigation of Constablenew
In January, Dallas County Constable Mike Dupree (pictured) told the alt-weekly that he arranged to have his ex-lover arrested and deported to Honduras for his own protection, because the man was on the run from a deadly gang. Yet the Observer later revealed Dupree actually deported the man out of jealousy because he was dating a stripper. Subsequently, three other employees came forward with claims of sexual harrassment at the hands of the Constable. That led to an investigation by Dallas County, which last week was handed over to the Texas Attorney General's office, according to the Dallas Voice.
The Dallas Voice |
04-06-2007 3:39 pm |
Industry News
PR Consultant Urges Flaks to Take Alt-Weeklies Seriouslynew
Not because alt-weeklies are important, mind you, but because "other news
outlets rely on them to do news gathering." Joan Stewart, the author of The Publicity Hound's Blog, seems to have picked up this sage piece of advice in this week's PR Week. We shouldn't be too hard on the consultants, though: They
also note that "these newspapers devote a lot of space to a story, (so) they
might be your best opportunity to explain your side of the story in some
detail."
The Publicity Hound's Blog |
04-06-2007 10:55 am |
Industry News
Tags: Editorial, Management
Former Seattle Weekly Editor Details Stalking Episodenew
Knute Berger says over the last few years he was at the Weekly, a stalker constantly harrassed him with letters and packages containing threats, hypodermic needles, and, once, even a bullet. Most of the packages came to the Weekly's office, but some were delivered to his home as well. He says the stalker also sent mail threatening to blow up places like Starbucks, with Berger's name on the return address. Eventually, after he left the Weekly, Seattle police apprehended a suspect, who is being charged with one count of stalking. "People in journalism are used to getting angry calls and nasty letters and e-mails," but this campaign clearly went beyond that, Berger says. "My writing was putting my family at risk."
Crosscut Seattle |
04-06-2007 9:33 am |
Industry News
Alt-Weekly Sells Advertorial Space to Conservative Papernew
The politically conservative Sacramento Union has purchased two pages of ad space for 13 weeks in the Sacramento News & Review, according to the Sacramento Business Journal. The two pages will be original editorial content, meant to expose the alt-weekly's audience to the Union's ideas. In a press release, the Union's publisher thanks the News & Review for "thinking outside the box and having the courage of their convictions to print another opinion." In the same release, News & Review president Jeff von Kaenel anticipates potential criticism and takes it head on: "The Sacramento Union's pages will contain plenty of content that we will strongly disagree with," he says. "But does that paper have a right to buy space and get those opinions heard? The answer is yes."
Sacramento Business Journal |
04-06-2007 8:27 am |
Industry News
Colorado Springs Independent Earns 12 Awards in State Competitionnew
Colorado Springs Independent |
04-06-2007 11:14 am |
Honors & Achievements
New York Press Association: Metroland Editor is 'Writer of the Year'new
Chet Hardin's topics "are provocative, contemporary and often important," judges for the Association's annual Better Newspaper Contest say. "It is hard to distinguish his hard news stories from features, and that's a great compliment," they write. AAN members were well-represented in the rest of the contest as well. Metroland won one additional first-place and one third-place award; the Ithaca Times received one first-place and one second-place as well as three third-place awards; and Syracuse New Times took home four first-place and two second-place awards.
New York Press Association (PDF file) |
04-05-2007 11:29 am |
Honors & Achievements
Southland Publishing to Launch New Monthly Magazine
Southland Publishing, Inc. Press Release |
04-05-2007 8:18 am |
Press Releases
