AAN News
L.A. Weekly Story Leads Marilyn Manson to Threaten Journosnew
The shock rocker has issued a warning on MySpace against journalists who write "cavalier statements," saying there will be repercussions for the "soon-to-be-murdered-in-their-home press" if more inaccuracies are reported. Manson's threats come on the heels of a recent L.A. Weekly interview with Buddyhead.com founder Travis Keller, who talked about what it was like to meet Manson in 2007. In the piece, Keller paints Manson as a paranoid cocaine addict and a fraud.
L.A. Weekly |
07-29-2009 12:27 pm |
Industry News
Columbia J-School Grads Remain 'Excited and Hopeful'new
As part of the Village Voice's education supplement, the alt-weekly talks to several 2009 graduates from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism about what it feels like to enter an industry that many are proclaiming to be near death. Surprisingly, they remain upbeat about the future and feel prepared to take part in the rebirth of the news industry. "If you look at it differently, it's an exciting time in journalism," one recent grad says. "People are trying to come up with solutions to find out what the future is going to be."
The Village Voice |
07-29-2009 9:36 am |
Industry News
Avenews Launches New Balloting and Survey Software
BeedFack is a ballot and survey web engine "designed to take the headache out of conducting large-scale reader's polls and managing associated editorial workflow and output," Avenews says in a release. The product works for simple and complex surveys, including the ubiquitous "Best Of" reader polls so many alt-weeklies undertake. "My staff is embracing it, finding it easy and fast," Salt Lake City Weekly editor Jerre Wroble says. "The best part is that once we've used the system for a Best Of, it remembers all write-ups, winners and locations so each year the process is quicker and easier."
(FULL STORY)
Avenews Press Release |
07-29-2009 9:27 am |
Press Releases
Registration is Open and the Schedule is Set for Writers Workshop
The annual workshop designed for alt-weekly writers and reporters is scheduled for Aug. 14 and 15 at the Medill School of Journalism on the Northwestern University campus in Evanston, Ill. Writers and editors from a number of AAN member papers will lead sessions covering everything from ethics to multimedia to political reporting, all in a way designed for staffers to get valuable, hands-on experience. Early registration rates are valid until Aug. 7, and the cut-off date to obtain AAN's discounted group hotel rate is this Friday, July 31.
(FULL STORY)
AAN |
07-27-2009 3:07 pm |
Association News
Metroland Finally Gets Served in Suit Filed in Aprilnew
A controversial executive training program known as NXIVM filed a lawsuit alleging defamation against the paper one day before the statute of limitations would have expired in April, but Metroland wasn't served papers until this month. The paper reports that the crux of NXIVM's suit stems from one line that was attributed to a source. Editor and publisher Stephen Leon says Metroland is consulting an attorney and hopes to have the suit quickly tossed. "The complaint is baseless, and 97 percent of it has nothing to do with Metroland," he says, adding that the passage cited "isn't even remotely defamatory."
Metroland |
07-24-2009 11:40 am |
Industry News
Longtime Metro Spirit Contributor Talks About the Paper's Startnew
As the Augusta, Ga., alt-weekly celebrates its 20th anniversary, reporter Angel Cleary talks to "the only person, save founder David Vantrease, who has been around for the entire history" of the paper: senior music contributor Ed Turner. He discusses what Metro Spirit has meant to the music scene, how much the paper has grown over the years and how he got his column started. "I freelanced starting with the first issue of the Spirit," Turner says. "It was, of course, B.C. (before computers) and (get ready for this) I did not know how to type. And I barely do now! David and Lisa Smith (who was Spirit editor for the first five years or so) agreed to accept handwritten columns from me, which I would slip in the mail slot."
Metro Spirit |
07-22-2009 9:38 am |
Industry News
Latest Phoenix New Times Spoof Sparks Sheriff Investigationnew
New Times ran a story in late June by "Joseph Rossi" on Reinalda de Souza, an Arizona faith healer who claimed to have killed Michael Jackson with a curse she learned in Brazil. Among the many exaggerated details in the piece is that de Souza had slit the throat of a 4½-month-old Rottweiler named Cerberus, drank his blood and left his lifeless carcass as part of a black magic ritual. This, New Times reports, led several people to call the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office to demand an investigation into the purported animal cruelty. Stephen Lemons, who actually wrote the piece, says that while this hoax didn't spark as much intense reaction as some of his earlier handiwork, "it was certainly a bunch of fun to write." He adds: "For the record, no animals were harmed in the making of the spoof."
Phoenix New Times |
07-21-2009 11:59 am |
Industry News
Radio Host Upset that Houston Press Took 'Ask a Mexican' Online Onlynew
Tony Diaz, who hosts KPFT's Nuestra Palabra program in Houston, says that the Houston Press' decision to publish Gustavo Arellano's syndicated column only on the web is like putting it "in the back of the bus." Diaz also says the Press doesn't understand how popular the column is among Hispanics, insinuating the alt-weekly is out-of-touch with that community -- an insinuation that editor Margaret Downing is having none of. "While I certainly understand the disappointment of some of our readers, to say that not carrying the column in print shows a lack of commitment to the Hispanic community is nothing but hyperbole," she says in a statement explaining the move.
Houston Press |
07-21-2009 9:05 am |
Industry News
Media Groups Make Push to Keep Officials On the Recordnew
A coalition of groups, led by the Bureau of National Affairs and including the Sunshine in Government Initiative (SGI), hope to change the practice of public officials insisting their remarks be off-the-record when addressing large audiences, the Washington Post reports. "Standing in front of 300 people and declaring your words to be 'off-the-record' is frustrating for reporters, but it's also silly," SGI coordinator Rick Blum says. "With Twitter, blogs and old-style email, the lobbyists, bloggers and other opinion-shapers in the audience will repeat your words a thousand different ways before you step off the podium. But a reporter who respects the traditional rules of the road can't report what you say to a broader audience."
The Washington Post |
07-20-2009 12:47 pm |
Industry News
Tags: Editorial, Management
David Carr: Nikki Finke is a 'Digital-Age Walter Winchell'new
"In the three years since she started Deadline Hollywood Daily," Carr reports in today's New York Times, "her combination of old-school skills -- she is a relentless reporter -- and new-media immediacy has made her a must-click look into the ragingly insecure id of Hollywood." Finke recently sold the website, which she owned but Village Voice Media hosted, to Mail.com Media for an undisclosed sum.
The New York Times |
07-17-2009 11:59 am |
Industry News
Riverfront Times' All-Star Game Guide Gets its MLB Credentials Revokednew
With the All-Star Game taking place in St. Louis this week, the alt-weekly published a guide that included, among other things, home addresses of some current and former Cardinals baseball players. Some of the players were upset, and the team "felt it had no option but to instruct Major League Baseball to revoke the credentials they'd granted Riverfront Times to cover the All-Star Game, and to rescind our credentials to cover the team over the course of the regular season," editor Tom Finkel reports.
Riverfront Times |
07-17-2009 9:57 am |
Industry News
AAN's Schedule for the Year is Firming Up [members only]
Richard Karpel |
07-17-2009 1:56 pm |
AAN Staff Blog
Two Florida Alts Nab a Baker's Dozen at Weekly Newspaper Awardsnew
Winners of the Florida Press Association's 2008 Better Weekly Newspaper Contest were announced last weekend, and two AAN members were well-represented amongst the winners. Miami New Times took home a total of 11 awards, including first-place wins for Community History, Criticism, News Story, Outdoor Writing and Website Development; its sister paper New Times Broward-Palm Beach won two awards -- both first-place finishes -- for Investigative Reporting and Serious Column.
Florida Press Association (pdf) |
07-16-2009 8:31 am |
Honors & Achievements
New Owner of San Diego's Daily Threatens Reader Over Lawsuit Storynew
A law firm representing Platinum Equity, the Beverly Hills-based buyout firm that in March bought the San Diego Union-Tribune, sent a threatening letter last month to the San Diego Reader after it learned the alt-weekly was working on a story about sexual improprieties at Platinum. The Reader's story was based on public records arising from three lawsuits filed by former employees of Platinum, all of which were dismissed. The letter written by lawyer Martin Singer (nickname: Mad Dog) claimed his firm would sue the Reader for "potentially astronomical damages" if it published a story "that (Platinum) engaged in wrongdoing as alleged in those lawsuits or otherwise". In a sidebar to the main story, the Reader published Singer's letter in full despite his warning that it was confidential.
San Diego Reader |
07-15-2009 4:17 pm |
Industry News
Metro Spirit Hires New Editor
Stacy Eidson returns to her hometown of Augusta, Ga., to take the helm of the paper where she previously served for eight years as a reporter, according to a press release issued this morning by Metro Spirit. Eidson will be leaving the daily Bradenton Herald in southwest Florida for the position with the 20-year-old Spirit. She will be taking over for Tom Grant, who recently announced that he would be stepping down in late July.
(FULL STORY)
Metro Spirit Press Release |
07-15-2009 7:51 am |
Press Releases
Tags: Editorial, Metro Spirit
