AAN News
What's the Difference Between Canada's Indie and Corporate Alts?new
That's the question Ryerson Journalism Review's Daniel Kaszor set out to investigate in that magazine's Spring issue. He sits down with independent owners Ron Garth of Vue Weekly, Michael Hollett of NOW Magazine and Dan McLeod of the Georgia Straight, as well as an editor with Eye Weekly, a corporate-owned weekly that competes with NOW in Toronto. His conclusion? "Readers may find it difficult to spot major differences between the two breeds of paper ... [b]ut there are distinctions," Kaszor writes. "Corporate papers are usually more personality-driven and apolitical. And the indies are not so much labors of love as pure acts of will held together by shrewd owners with deep personal and financial interests in their papers."
Ryerson Journalism Review |
06-25-2009 10:23 am |
Industry News
Philadelphia Weekly Scribe Diesnew
Steven Wells died of cancer on Tuesday. Since being diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2006, he had written two stirring cover stories about his fight with the disease for the Weekly. He penned his final column -- a sort of obituary -- on June 14. Prior to his work at the Weekly, Wells was well known as a music journalist for NME and other outlets.
Philadelphia Weekly |
06-25-2009 10:06 am |
Industry News
Two Alt-Weeklies Win Eight Green Eyeshade Awards
Village Voice Media's two Florida newspapers fared well in this year's Green Eyeshade Awards, which recognize journalistic excellence in 11 Southern states. Miami New Times won five awards, including first-place finishes in four categories: Coverage of Politics, Crticism, Public Affairs Reporting and Public Service. Sister paper New Times Broward-Palm Beach took home three awards, winning first-place accolades for Non-Deadline Reporting and Sports Commentary. Started by the Atlanta Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, the contest is now administered by regional directors for the Society.
AAN News |
06-25-2009 9:57 am |
Honors & Achievements
Twittering Our Way to Tucson [members only]
Richard Karpel |
06-24-2009 11:35 am |
AAN Staff Blog
Ex-Financial Firm VP Sues Independent Weekly for Defamationnew
Former Stanford Group Company vice president Tiffany Angelle has sued The Independent Weekly of Lafayette, La., as well as the paper's editorial director Leslie Turk, for their coverage of the company's alleged $8 billion investment scam and its effect on the local community. Angelle is suing the paper for defamation for an April story that reported she had given a reluctant investor a Rolex watch and a lavish trip to keep his business, but the Independent is fighting the suit, saying it was filed "to obstruct the paper's coverage" of the scandal. The Independent, citing Louisiana's anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) law, filed a motion to strike the suit earlier this month.
The Independent Weekly |
06-24-2009 11:19 am |
Legal News
Maui Time Weekly Publisher: Alt-Weeklies 'Haven't Innovated' Onlinenew
In an episode of the web TV show "This Week in Startups," Tommy Russo calls in via Skype to chat with host Jason McCabe Calacanis about new media and old (his bit starts about 5 minutes into the show). "Alt-weeklies were the innovative product to the daily newspaper 40 years ago," Russo says. "What's happened is that these papers haven't innovated; they haven't changed." He says that alt-weeklies, like the rest of the newspaper industry, have been barking up the wrong 'net tree. "'How do we get our papers online?' [is] not the right question. The question is: 'How do we dominate our market with news media through this new tool?'" Russo goes on to talk about how alts are well-positioned to become more robust multimedia outlets. "The advantage a weekly paper has is that we are on the streets," he says. "A lot of these online search companies are trying to get into the trenches with us -- but we're already there, we just don't realize it."
This Week in Startups |
06-24-2009 10:36 am |
Industry News
History Lesson: The Village Voice and Stonewallnew
As the Stonewall uprising marks its 40th anniversary, the Village Voice takes a look at stories it published that sparked additional mayhem during that seminal moment in the history of the LGBT rights movement. Five days after the initial events at Stonewall, two Voice stories agitated many LGBT activists; this week the paper republished both stories on the web. Read Howard Smith's account of being trapped inside the Stonewall Inn with police officers as they came under violent attack by the crowd, and Lucian Truscott IV's reporting from the chaotic street scene outside the building.
The Village Voice |
06-24-2009 9:37 am |
Industry News
Early Editor of Arkansas Times Diesnew
Bill Terry, one of the founders of the Times and its editor for many years, died yesterday in St. Louis of complications from cancer. He was 78. "In 1974, Terry, who had recently been fired from the Arkansas Democrat, and Times founder Alan Leveritt, who had recently been fired from the Arkansas Gazette, found each other just in time to save the foundering Union Station Times (later renamed Arkansas Times)," the Times reports. "Terry took over as editor and Leveritt became the ad salesman resulting in a great improvement in both editorial quality and ad income."
Arkansas Times |
06-24-2009 9:25 am |
Industry News
New York Times Considers Paid Access to Mobile Newsnew
Bloomberg |
06-24-2009 10:14 am |
Industry News
MMC Buys Deadline Hollywood Daily, Plans Expansionnew
Mail.com Media Corporation (MMC) has purchased Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood Daily for an undisclosed sum. The website, which grew out of Finke's "Deadline Hollywood" column in the L.A. Weekly, has earned praise and awards from colleagues and industry insiders over the past few years and reportedly receives more than 10 million monthly unique visitors. MMC says that within 90 days, Deadline Hollywood Daily "will become bicoastal with the hiring of a New York City-based senior journalist who will report to Finke." MMC owns and operates the Mail.com portal and email service as well as the websites HollywoodLife.com, MovieLine.com and OnCars.com. MORE: Read more from the New York Times, Gawker and AllThingsD.
Deadline Hollywood Daily |
06-23-2009 9:37 am |
Industry News
Four Ohio Alts Recognized in Statewide Awardsnew
Four AAN members took home a total of 17 awards in the 31st Annual Ohio Excellence in Journalism Awards competition, hosted by the Press Club of Cleveland. The Other Paper was named "Best Non-Daily Newspaper in Ohio: Alternatives," with Cincinnati CityBeat taking second in that category. CityBeat also took home four additional awards, including first-place wins for Multiple Illustrations/One Story, Reviews/Criticism, and Single Illustration. Cleveland's Scene took home five total awards as well, including first-place finishes in the Best Section and Community/Local Coverage categories. The now-shuttered Cleveland Free Times won four awards, including firsts in Covers and Features. And in addition to its first place win mentioned above, The Other Paper was given two other awards.
The Press Club of Cleveland (pdf) |
06-23-2009 9:19 am |
Honors & Achievements
Media Critic: L.A. Weekly's 'Aggressive Slant Erodes Quality'new
Los Angeles Times media critic James Rainey opined in a column last week that the recent departure of Weekly editor-in-chief Laurie Ochoa was the latest sign that the alt-weekly had "fallen far from the days it was required reading for those in the know about the city." Rainey attributed much of the decline to "bombastic" news editor Jill Stewart, saying "she pushes story lines that make some sense, with arguments that make very little." In response, Stewart says Rainey didn't bother to contact her for his "take-down attempt column," and that he also failed to mention a Weekly story she helmed that heavily critized Rainey. "I am very sad to see Jim launch a wrong-headed attack on me without disclosing that I assigned and edited a story critical of him in 2007," Stewart writes, while noting the Weekly's recent "hammering" of the Times in award competitions. "Our story about Jim was, in fact, far more extensively reported and much better sourced than his about me."
Los Angeles Times | L.A. Weekly |
06-22-2009 8:34 am |
Industry News
L.A. Weekly Story Wins National Science Writing Awardnew
The Foundation for Biomedical Research has named Max Taves' "UCLA Profs and Scientists Sued Animal-Rights Radicals" the winner of a 2008 Michael E. DeBakey Journalism Award in the Print (Large Market) division. The award "recognizes outstanding journalism demonstrating the essential role of humane animal research in medical discoveries and scientific breakthroughs," according to the foundation.
Foundation for Biomedical Research Press Release |
06-19-2009 8:27 am |
Honors & Achievements
Five Papers Apply for AAN Membership, Six More Will Be Reviewed
Of the five hopefuls, there are some familiar names: Three have previously applied for membership and one first-time applicant is a sister paper of a current AAN member. The status of six current member papers will also be reviewed this year.
(FULL STORY)
AAN News |
06-18-2009 12:39 pm |
Association News
City Pages Launches 'Twin Cities Reader'new
The Reader, named for the Twin Cities alt-weekly that closed in 1997, is a local news aggregator being developed as a separate entity from the paper's Blotter blog. "This is it's own product, and it's meant to be a hub for finding the most important stories in the Twin Cities quickly," City Pages editor Kevin Hoffman tells AAN News in an email. "Whereas Blotter is highly voice driven, this is more like a map where the reader decides where to visit." The Reader apes the look of the notorious Drudge Report, a move Hoffman says was intentional. "The Drudge Report has long been the top national aggregator online, even for people who don't agree with Drudge's politics," he says. "We think that this is the format that people are used to for aggregators, and wanted to do something similar for local news."
City Pages |
06-18-2009 11:23 am |
Industry News
