AAN News
Army Subpoenas Reporters to Testify at Court Martialnew
Honolulu Star-Bulletin reporter Gregg Kakesako and freelancer Sarah Olson have been summoned to appear at a pre-trial hearing this month at Fort Lewis, Wash. The case involves 1st Lt. Ehren Watada, 28, who has publicly criticized the war in Iraq and has refused his deployment order. "Trying to force a reporter to testify at a court-martial sends the wrong signal to the media and the military," writes Military Reporters and Editors President James W. Crawley, on the organization's Web site. "One of the hallmarks of American journalism is a clear separation of the press and the government. Using journalists to help the military prosecute its case seems like a serious breach of that wall."
Military Reporters & Editors |
01-03-2007 12:43 pm |
Legal News
Tags: Editorial
Neal Pollack Reveals Gen-X Hang-Ups in 'Alternadad'new
The former alt-weekly writer and three-time author's latest book details his efforts to be the hippest father around, according to a profile in the Los Angeles Times. "In some ways this could be a parody of a whiny Gen-X dad, you know?" says Pollack. "In some ways I am a parody of a whiny Gen-X dad." The comic memoir -- which deals with Pollack's midlife identity crisis and his determination to raise his son with irony -- will be published this month by Pantheon Books.
Los Angeles Times |
01-03-2007 12:37 pm |
Industry News
Tags: Editorial
As Papers Consolidate, Readers Receive Less-Varied Opinionsnew
The days when every newspaper ran exclusive film criticism are over, reports Variety, with online film sites picking up the slack created by the rise of national chains and syndicated critics. The film industry's paper of record highlights the merger of New Times and Village Voice Media, which resulted in fewer independent film voices on the alternative weekly landscape. "New Times certainly did not start this fire," says Scott Foundas, movie editor at L.A. Weekly. "In the L.A. Times on a given Friday, half the reviews are reprinted from Newsday and the Chicago Tribune."
Variety |
01-03-2007 12:24 pm |
Industry News
Village Voice Photographer's Work Featured in Private Gallery Shownew
Veteran photographer and frequent Voice contributor Fred McDarrah is currently displaying highlights from his life's work at the Steven Kasher Gallery, reports the Villager. The exhibit features 120 of McDarrah's iconic prints from the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, including portraits of downtown legends such as Allen Ginsberg (pictured), Andy Warhol, and Susan Sontag. "I remember every photograph, every single picture, I took in my entire life," says McDarrah, whose first job at the Voice was selling ads.
The Villager |
01-02-2007 2:02 pm |
Honors & Achievements
Tags: Editorial, The Village Voice
Call for Entries: The 2007 AltWeekly Awards Contest
The contest Web site opened for business on Friday, signaling the beginning of the competition in the twelfth annual awards contest. Four new categories have been added this year, three of which pertain to the Web. Other changes: The circulation cut-off between small and big papers has risen to 60,000, and entry fees have increased by $10, bringing them back to the level they were at earlier this decade. The deadline for entries is Friday, Feb. 2, 2007.
(FULL STORY)
AAN Staff |
12-26-2006 3:38 pm |
Association News
Tags: Editorial
Stephanie von Buchau, Award Winning Art Critic, Found Deadnew
Von Buchau, a veteran arts critic who wrote for the AAN member Pacific Sun for almost four decades, was 67-years-old when she passed away, report the San Francisco Examiner and the San Francisco Chronicle. The cause is believed to be complications from diabetes. Von Buchau won three AltWeekly Awards for arts criticism, including a first-place prize in 1999.
"She was a brilliant woman, talented, irascible, and witty," former Pacific Sun managing editor Linda Xiques tells the Examiner.
San Francisco Examiner |
12-26-2006 12:44 pm |
Industry News
Tags: Editorial, Pacific Sun
Koyen: David Blum's First 100 Days a Disappointmentnew
Jeff Koyen accuses the Village Voice's new editor of failing to reinvent the alt-weekly format in his first three months on the job. "I'm ashamed to admit that I was optimistic when Blum was hired to run the Village Voice," Koyen writes in the British daily Guardian. "Unfortunately, Blum is playing by the book." Koyen, who approves of the "cleaned house" that followed the Voice's acquisition by the New Times chain, formerly competed with the Manhattan alt-weekly when he worked for a number years at the New York Press, where he was editor from 2003 to 2005.
Guardian Unlimited |
12-22-2006 3:53 pm |
Industry News
Subject of Forthcoming Profile Accuses Alt-Weekly of Unethical Reportingnew
Having been allowed to read an advance draft of a critical story about him that the Washington City Paper is apparently preparing to publish, investigative reporter Murray Waas (pictured) beats D.C.'s alt-weekly to the punch with a rambling indictment on Huffington Post. Waas accuses the City Paper of baiting him to get juicy quotes for the story; making "degrading comments" about his experience as a cancer survivor; and using the newspaper as a tool to wage personal battles. "I believe that I have a clear obligation to other cancer survivors not to remain silent about such acts of prejudice and intolerance," Waas explains in defending his decision to go public.
The Huffington Post |
12-22-2006 3:21 pm |
Industry News
Tags: Editorial, Washington City Paper
'Hundreds of Millions' of Documents Set for Declassificationnew
The first minute of the new year will see the instant declassification of a mountain of previously secret government documents in what is set to become an annual event under a "25-year law" passed by the Clinton Administration but that is only now coming into effect, reports the New York Times. The somewhat surprising decision by the Bush administration to uphold the law -- after two three-year delays -- which places a quarter-century limit on the classified status of most government documents, is being lauded by open-government advocates and historians alike. "Americans need to know this history, and the history is in those documents," Anna K. Nelson, a historian at American University, tells the Times.
The New York Times |
12-21-2006 4:20 pm |
Legal News
Tags: Editorial
C-Ville Weekly's Printing of Pol's Letter Makes National Wavesnew
The publication of a letter by Virginia Congressman Virgil H. Goode, Jr. in the Charlottesville alt-weekly has led to widespread coverage and condemnation, including commentary by the Council on American-Islamic Relations and The New York Times. In the constituent letter, Goode expressed negative views toward Muslim immigrants and the Koran, warning that "if American citizens don’t wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration there will likely be many more Muslims [like recently elected Minnesota Representative Keith Ellison] elected to office." Goode's press secretary later told the paper that the Congressman has no intention of apologizing and stands by the letter.
C-Ville Weekly |
12-21-2006 12:30 pm |
Industry News
Tags: Editorial, C-Ville Weekly
Phoenix New Times Faces Criminal Charges in Clash with Sheriffnew
Village Voice Media's headquarter's paper has been threatened with a felony indictment unless it removes the home address of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio from its Web site and agrees to never publish the address of a law enforcement officer online again, the paper's Stephen Lemons reports. The threat comes more than two years after the paper first published Arpaio's address in an article intended "to show the absurdity of [the sheriff's] home address' being readily available to any idiot with access to a computer when [he] used the very same law to justify hiding information on commercial real estate he owns." The alt-weekly has long been a critic of Arpaio, who it accuses of corruption and having a "vindictive streak." The paper's cover this week depicts an envelope containing a Christmas card addressed to the Sheriff at his home.
Phoenix New Times |
12-21-2006 12:02 pm |
Industry News
Nashville Mayoral Candidate Borrows Education Idea from 'Scene'new
Mayoral hopeful Buck Dozier wants to create a $1 billion endowment to generate $75 million in interest that would be funneled directly to the city's schools, an idea first floated in an old Nashville Scene column written by the paper's former editor and co-owner, Bruce Dobie. "If this city can raise enough money to build a symphony hall," asks the daily Tennessean in an editorial promoting Dobie/Dozier's idea, "why can't the same be done for public schools?"
The Tennessean |
12-19-2006 12:46 pm |
Industry News
Tags: Editorial, Nashville Scene
NPR Picks Up OC Weekly Story Questioning Philanthropistnew
"All Things Considered" reporter Howard Berkes last week broadcast a segment based on a story by OC Weekly writer Gustavo Arellano that questioned the motives of local charity "Snowball Express," which brings the families of Iraq war casualties to Disneyland. Arellano found that the charity's organizer, Michael Scott Kerr, owes about $50,000 in child support in Arizona, where there is an outstanding warrant for his arrest.
National Public Radio |
12-18-2006 12:41 pm |
Industry News
Boston Phoenix's Camille Dodero to Join Village Voicenew
The Phoenix staff writer is leaving Beantown to become yet another fresh face at the Village Voice, reports the Boston Herald. "Anyone who knows Camille realizes that going to NYC has been a long-time goal. Her exit reminds us of what it means to be bittersweet: glad for her, sad for us," writes Peter Kadzis in an internal Phoenix email, republished by the Herald. Dodero is the second employee to jump from the Boston alt-weekly to Village Voice Media. Former managing editor Bill Jensen recently departed to oversee Web operations for VVM.
Boston Herald |
12-18-2006 11:52 am |
Industry News
Village Voice Releases Film-Crit Compendiumnew
Just in time for the gift-guide season, the venerable alt-weekly has released "The Village Voice Film Guide: 50 Years of Movies From Classics to Cult Hits," edited by former Voice film critic Dennis Lim. The anthology includes reviews from every era of the paper's storied history, and includes contributions by Jonas Mekas, Oliver Stone and J. Hoberman.
The Village Voice |
12-18-2006 11:04 am |
Industry News
