AAN News
Atalaya: CL Generating Positive Cash Flow, Will 'Fill Holes' Soonnew
Managing partner Michael Bogdan tells the Chicago Tribune that without the crushing debt, Creative Loafing is now generating positive cash flow, which will allow the individual papers to hire new employees "to fill holes where they need to grow." He acknowledges that despite all the promises, employees at the six-paper company will likely remain skeptical of Atalaya. "I don't expect people to trust me right now," he says. "The proof's in the pudding." MORE: Chicago Reader associate publisher Steve Timble discusses the sale and the new media landscape on WTTW's Chicago Tonight TV show.
Chicago Tribune |
08-31-2009 1:13 pm |
Industry News
Publisher Discusses Changes at Worcester Mag and the Alt Industrynew
In July, Worcester Mag underwent a redesign and launched a new format as part of the paper's evolution since changing owners last summer. Publisher Gareth Charter recently spoke to Worceseter's public radio station about some of the changes and the overall health of the alt-weekly industry. "Weekly newspapers ... are not facing nearly the declines that daily newspapers are," Charter tells WICN-FM. He says that one reason is because an alt-weekly is "more of a leisure read ... as opposed to that daily drumbeat [of news]."
WICN-FM |
08-31-2009 10:20 am |
Industry News
AltWeeklies.com Launches Partnership With Indiebound.org
Starting this week, book reviews and profiles posted on AltWeeklies.com are also being featured on Indiebound.org, a website run by the American Booksellers Association. AltWeeklies.com content will appear, when it exists, on the information page for an individual book title. For examples of this partnership in action, click here and here.
(FULL STORY)
AAN |
08-28-2009 2:06 pm |
Association News
Comedian Misidentified as Westword Writer Fights Back
Tom Martino, a nationally syndicated talk radio host and Denver-area TV personality known as The Troubleshooter, recently went after Westword writer Jared Jacang Maher for a story Maher had written on him. Problem was, in his video attacking Maher as a "cowardly writer," Martino grabbed a picture off the internet of comedian and former Westword staffer Adam Cayton-Holland wearing Maher's name tag at an event and said it was Maher. Now Cayton-Holland has responded with a story and the video below.
AAN News |
08-28-2009 12:35 pm |
Industry News
What's the Best Way for Your Newsroom to Use Twitter?new
"Journalists and news organizations are all atwitter these days, but they are seeing different returns on investment from their uses of Twitter," Poynter's Patrick Thornton writes. He notes that the New York Times' main Twitter account features very little interaction, which many deem a death knell in social media. But the feed is wildly popular: it has more than 1.6 million followers, and is the 18th most popular account on Twitter. "There is a market for interactive and non-interactive accounts," Times social media editor Jennifer Preston says. "Like most media organizations, we recognize that Twitter is about conversations, not broadcasting. That said, some people do like their headlines." Thornton also holds up the Chicago Tribune's Colonel Tribune account as a model of a curatorial Twitter presence. "The Colonel's Twitter account links to interesting Tribune content, content from around the web and spurs discussions," he writes. "The Colonel doesn't just grab headlines, but rather finds interesting parts of stories and points them out to users."
Poynter |
08-28-2009 10:17 am |
Industry News
Former Chicago Reader Editor Reflects on Sale to Ben Easonnew
"Maybe we should have been smarter, or less starry-eyed about it, but we thought and hoped Eason would succeed," says Mike Lenehan, who owned a small part of the Reader before it was sold to Eason. "I don't think there would have been much sentiment to do [the deal] if we thought he'd turn out to be Ben Eason. Maybe we should have known better -- but that's what we thought." MORE: Reader media columnist Michael Miner discusses the paper's future with Chicago Public Radio, and Creative Loafing (Tampa) publisher Sharry Smith has sent out a memo calling Atalaya's acquisition of the company "a very positive development." (AAN News has been told the memo was drafted by all of the CL publishers together.)
Chiacgo Reader | WBEZ |
08-28-2009 9:49 am |
Industry News
Creative Loafing Political Editor Leaves for University Positionnew
Wayne Garcia, the man behind the "Political Whore" column and blog, announced yesterday that he has accepted an appointment as the Freedom Forum Visiting Professional at the University of Florida's College of Journalism and Communications. He will teach investigative journalism and editing. Garcia says he's already started working on campus while he finishes up a few projects at Creative Loafing.
Creative Loafing (Tampa) |
08-26-2009 8:41 am |
Industry News
Evanston Dispatch: Editorial Cmte. Meeting and Writers Workshop Wrapup
Editorial Committee chair Julia Goldberg provides an update and a few videos from last weekend's committee meeting and Writers Workshop conference in Evanston, Ill.
(FULL STORY)
AAN News |
08-24-2009 10:24 am |
Association News
| Comments (2)
Tags: Editorial, Management
Chicago Reader Media Writer Reflects on Covering Creative Loafingnew
"Creative Loafing's bankruptcy is just one more media story to follow, along with the Sun-Times Media Group's bankruptcy and the Tribune Company's bankruptcy," Michael Miner writes. "But CL's is the story I'm part of." He explores the difficulties of "reporting on your own house" as a media writer, and explains why he kept news of Reader layoffs off his blog for four days -- and didn't name any of the departing staffers -- just days after he had broken news of layoffs -- with names -- at Chicago Public Radio. "I have no explanation that will satisfactorily answer this question," he writes. "The fancy one I'll retreat to is one word long: epistemology. You see, it's not simply what journalists know that matters to us but also how we happen to know it. I knew what happened at WBEZ because I got a tip and worked the story; I knew about the Reader because it's home."
Chicago Reader |
08-24-2009 9:10 am |
Industry News
Former Gambit Theater Writer Diesnew
Al Shea, a longtime New Orleans actor, TV personality and critic for Gambit and other outlets, died early this morning after a long battle with bladder cancer. He was 80. Shea was given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Gambit's Big Easy Awards earlier this year for his contributions to New Orleans.
The Gambit |
08-20-2009 1:27 pm |
Industry News
A Few More Details Emerge on Nashville Scene Salenew
Village Voice Media executive associate editor Andy Van De Voorde tells the Tennessean that the Scene's rumored financial troubles were not what led the company to sell the paper to Nashville-based SouthComm, Inc. "I have no reason to believe that anyone wasn't pleased with [the Scene] financially," he says. Van De Voorde also says that Scene editor Pete Kotz, who came to Nashville after VVM's Cleveland Scene was merged with Free Times, will leave the paper but remain in the VVM chain. Whether other staffing changes are in the works is not yet clear, though Van De Voorde notes that all Scene and Nfocus magazine employees will receive two weeks severance, plus a week of pay for every year of service and unpaid vacation time from VVM -- whether or not they keep their jobs under the new owners.
The Tennessean |
08-20-2009 10:26 am |
Industry News
By 'Telling Stories That Matter,' Alts Will 'Ride Out Any Crisis'new
That's Chicago Reader editorial intern Keith Griffith's takeaway from last weekend's AAN Writers Workshop at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. "Though I sorely needed the writing tips gleaned from the weekend's workshops, it was also great to hear how writers and editors are meeting challenges at their respective alt weeklies," he writes.
Chicago Reader |
08-19-2009 12:04 pm |
Industry News
Tags: Editorial, Management
Judge Rules Blogger's Identity Must be Revealednew
A judge ruled this week that model Liskula Cohen is entitled to learn the identity of the person who wrote the blog Skanks in NYC, which referred to Cohen as a "skank" and "ho." The judge said that the blog potentially defamed Cohen, rejecting the blogger's argument that the comments were mere opinion and hyperbole.
Online Media Daily |
08-19-2009 11:37 am |
Legal News
Isthmus' Annual Manual Hits the Streets Aug. 20
Madison's Favorites -- Picked By Isthmus Readers!
(FULL STORY)
Isthmus Press Release |
08-19-2009 9:05 am |
Press Releases
