AAN News
Boston Phoenix Crosses 40-Year Thresholdnew

Born out of the '60s counterculture ferment and a thriving local small-press environment, Boston Phoenix evolved to become a paragon of what we mean today when we say "alternative newspaper." In their 40th anniversary issue, Phoenix editors and contributors retrace the long, strange trip that got them here. "We're the good guys," writes Senior Managing Editor Clif Garboden. "We never got rich, but we are going to heaven."
Boston Phoenix |
11-16-2006 4:35 pm |
Honors & Achievements
Tags: Editorial
Seattle Cops Dangle Craigslist, Alt-Weekly Ads as Bait in Prostitution Stingnew
Vice detectives arrested nearly 100 men in a prostitution sting using escort-service ads in The Stranger, The Seattle Weekly and craigslist as bait, according to the Seattle Times. About three quarters of the men lured to a downtown hotel responded to craigslist ads. Founder Craig Newmark told the Times that he has heard "prostitution is a significant problem," on the Web site, but he added that "we would prefer that [police] go after violent criminals or crooked congressmen."
The Seattle Times |
11-16-2006 2:30 pm |
Industry News
Tags: Editorial
Creative Loafing Scoops Romance Between Reporter, Prosecutornew
Creative Loafing (Tampa) |
11-16-2006 12:18 pm |
Industry News
Tags: Editorial
Gambit Weekly Columnist and Family on Family Feud

Ronnie Virgets and his loved ones stomped the competition and will return for tomorrow's episode of the TV game show, according to Michael Tisserand, Virget's ex-editor at Gambit. "The whole family wore crawfish beads and the host (John O'Hurley) announced that they were from New Orleans, 'America's most resilient city,'" reports Tisserand, who also touts Virgets latest book, "Lost Bread," which includes his account of being rescued from the top of his house after Katrina. "I think that account is the best descriptive writing about Katrina that's been published anywhere," says Tisserand.
AAN |
11-15-2006 3:22 pm |
Association News
AAN East, West Dates Announced
The annual staff-training conferences will be held Jan. 26-27 and Feb. 16-17. The earlier weekend date is reserved for AAN West, which will be held for the first time at the Miyako Hotel in San Francisco's Japantown. Meanwhile, AAN East will return to the Hotel Washington and its remarkable view of the White House. Programming details and registration materials for both conferences will be ready next week.
AAN Staff |
11-15-2006 2:45 pm |
Association News
Death of Journalist in Mexico Galvanizes Friends, Family to Action

Those who knew him best are trying to extract some good from the death of independent journalist Brad Will in Mexico last month. Friends and family have established a foundation in Will's name, and petitions for freedom of the press and social justice are making the rounds. His cousin Susan Mitchell, a staffer at The Athens NEWS and wife of the paper's owner, calls Will "the epitome of an alternative journalist" and asks for the support of AAN members.
(FULL STORY)
11-15-2006 2:30 pm |
Industry News
Tags: Editorial
Huckabee Scolds Press for Gift-Registry Coveragenew
Gov. Mike Huckabee is fuming at journalists for reporting on online wedding registries established for his housewarming, the Democrat-Gazette reports. When he was asked why his wife of 32 years would register for wedding gifts, Huckabee lashed out at the editor of the Arkansas Times, who broke the story on his blog: "I think you let Max Brantley and a blog, a gossip tabloid, create a story for you, and that’s really sad." The incident compounds the already-bad blood between the governor's office and the Little Rock alt-weekly.
Arkansas Democrat Gazette |
11-15-2006 1:53 pm |
Industry News
Tags: Editorial
Chicago Reader Discovers Human Face Behind Public Suicidenew
When a Chicago man burned himself to death near a busy expressway, initial news reports failed even to provide an identity. But with the help of local musicians, the Reader's Peter Margasak soon determined that the man was Malachi Ritscher, a fixture as a fan and a player on the local jazz scene. On Ritscher's music-focused Web site Margasak unearthed a self-penned obituary and a suicide note that suggested the self-immolation was, at least in part, a protest of the War in Iraq.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |
11-15-2006 11:50 am |
Industry News
Tags: Editorial
Murder Suspect Wants Charges Dropped Due to Seven Days Articlenew
Attorneys for a man accused of killing a University of Vermont student have
asked a judge to dismiss the charges because an FBI agent wrote an anonymous
op-ed piece about the case in the Burlington alt-weekly. Co-publisher and Editor Pamela Polston tells AAN that Seven Days considered posting an explanation online but ultimately decided to "let the controversy play out in the letters-to-the-editor section." The affair triggered a deluge of mail, which can be read here.
Boston Globe |
11-15-2006 9:53 am |
Industry News
Tags: Editorial
Mark Cuban: Newspapers Aren't Dyingnew
Esquire |
11-15-2006 12:13 pm |
Industry News
'Meta-tagging' Tool Helps Newspapers Compete With GoogleNewsnew
The Editors Weblog |
11-15-2006 10:11 am |
Industry News
Newspapers Told to Skip Young Adults, Focus on Teens at NAA Confabnew
Three quarters of 13- to 17-year-olds who read newspaper content targeted to their age group went on to read their hometown papers between the ages of 18 and 24, a Newspaper Association of America Foundation study found.
AP via Editor & Publisher |
11-14-2006 3:28 pm |
Industry News
Parks Returns to JFP Fold as Blogger, Columnistnew
Casey Parks, a former assistant editor who left to earn her master's in journalism at the University of Missouri, is back at the Jackson Free Press as a contributing editor. Parks joins the JackBlog lineup and is penning a series of columns about a reporting trip she took to Africa with New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof after winning an essay-writing contest.
Jackson Free Press |
11-14-2006 2:40 pm |
Industry News
Tags: Editorial
Santa Fe Reporter Named First in its Class Three Times

SFR landed three first-place awards in the most recent contest of the New Mexico Press Association. Staff writer Nathan Dinsdale was recognized for news writing and feature writing, while staff writer Dan Frosch placed first in investigative reporting.
11-14-2006 9:00 am |
Honors & Achievements
Alternative Press Vet Takes Top Spot at Colorado Magazinenew
John Mecklin, former editor at SF Weekly and Phoenix New Times, has been named editor in chief of High Country News, a biweekly newsmagazine focused on the American West.
High Country News |
11-14-2006 7:48 am |
Industry News
Tags: Editorial, John Mecklin