AAN News
Report: Mobile Audience for Local Content is Upnew
comScore is reporting that the number of people who sought local information on a mobile device grew 51 percent from March 2008 to March 2009. The number of people accessing online directories has seen the greatest increase during the past year (73 percent), followed by restaurants (70 percent), maps (63 percent) and movies (60 percent).
comScore |
06-18-2009 10:44 am |
Industry News
Senate Approves Sunlight on Proposed FOIA Exemptions
Sunshine in Government Initiative Press Release |
06-18-2009 1:10 pm |
Press Releases
Tags: Editorial, Management
AAN's Long-Range Plans [members only]
Richard Karpel |
06-17-2009 9:33 pm |
AAN Staff Blog
L.A. Weekly Wins Big in Southern California Journalism Awardsnew
The Weekly, competing with other large-circulation newspapers, won a total of 13 awards in the annual competition sponsored by the LA Press Club. Staff writer Christine Pelisek had a big night, winning first-place honors for Feature, Hard News and Investigative/Series (where she also received an Honorable Mention). Pelisek also finished second for Journalist of the Year. The Weekly placed first in three additional categories: Columnist, Entertainment News or Feature and Political Coverage. Syndicated "Advice Goddess" columnist Amy Alkon also took home a first-place win for Headline Writing in the large-circ category. Amongst the smaller papers, three AAN members were recognized for their work. OC Weekly won three first-place awards, for Design, Entertainment News or Feature and Entertainment Reviews/Criticism/Column. Pasadena Weekly won three awards, and the late LA CityBeat won one.
LA Press Club (Word Document) |
06-16-2009 8:48 am |
Honors & Achievements
2009 Academy for Alternative Journalism Fellows Named
Eight fellows have been chosen from about 350 applicants to attend the Academy for Alternative Journalism summer residency program at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. The Academy, which begins next Monday and runs through August, trains young journalists in long-form feature writing with the aim of recruiting them into the alternative press.
(FULL STORY)
AAN News |
06-15-2009 2:54 pm |
Association News
South Carolina Biweekly Loses Libel Casenew
A 12-member jury ruled earlier this month that the Columbia City Paper libeled a local attorney in a 2007 article, and awarded her $40,000 in damages. The suit named as defendants City Paper's two co-owners, publisher Paul Blake and editor-in-chief Todd Morehead, as well as the publication itself. Blake tells Columbia Free Times they will "definitely" appeal the jury decision. "We're pretty confident the First Amendment will prevail," he says.
Columbia Free Times |
06-15-2009 12:34 pm |
Legal News
Federal Grand Jury Subpoenas Commenters' Info from Newspapernew
The grand jury is asking for the names, phone numbers, IP addresses and other identifying information about every person who commented on a May 26 Las Vegas Review-Journal story on the tax evasion trial of a local resident. The paper's editor, calling the subpoena "tantamount to killing a gnat with an A-bomb," says Review-Journal lawyers are negotiating with the feds to limit the scope of information sought. MORE: Online Media Daily talks to legal experts about the subpoenas.
Las Vegas Review-Journal |
06-15-2009 12:22 pm |
Legal News
How Twitter Users Are Dealing With Correctionsnew
"New tools or technologies that enable people to report or publish inevitably give birth to new forms of correction," Craig Silverman writes for CJR in a piece looking at how several individuals and news organization handle making corrections on Twitter. "The end result, I think, is that for all of its failings -- and lord knows no one talks about them more than me -- the correction has proven adept at moving from one medium to the next." MORE ON TWITTER: Editor & Publisher's Joe Strupp says many editors are still unsure of how to police staffers' Twitter and Facebook use.
Columbia Journalism Review |
06-15-2009 11:54 am |
Industry News
The Pitch Wins 12 Local Press Club Awardsnew
The Kansas City alt-weekly's haul in the 2009 Heart of America awards included first-place finishes for Blog and Entertainment writing (The Pitch swept the latter category). In addition, editor C.J. Janovy was named "Member of the Year" for her "several years" of service as chair of the awards committee. The awards were given out by the Kansas City Press Club, a local chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.
Kansas City Press Club |
06-15-2009 8:12 am |
Honors & Achievements
Journos for Small Orgs Face More Risk When They Go Overseasnew
The New York Times |
06-15-2009 10:24 am |
Industry News
Tags: Editorial, Management
Huffington: 'We Never Had an Issue' With City Paper Parodynew
Responding to yesterday's blog post by Washington City Paper editor Erik Wemple, Arianna Huffington tells the New York Times' David Carr that someone at HuffPo did contact City Paper to ask that the new blog posts on their HuffPo April Fool's parody be taken down, but that they "never complained" about the page linking back to HuffPo. "Bottom line: We didn't -- and don't -- have a problem with someone having fun at our expense," she says. "Indeed, we loved it and complimented it."
The New York Times |
06-12-2009 9:54 am |
Industry News
After Tough Story, Alt-Weekly Disappears from Farmers Marketnew
After Fast Forward Weekly ran a story last week about vendors who are frustrated with how the Calgary Farmers' Market is run, about 200 copies of the paper distributed at the market disappeared. Several people who work at the market tell Fast Forward the papers were taken into an upstairs office. "By partaking in that kind of activity and pulling a paper off a shelf, it's just kind of shining more light on the issue that was talked about in the article in the first place," one vendor says. "It's pretty embarrassing, and not exactly what a farmers' market should be about." Market officials say they don't "have a clue" about the missing papers.
Fast Forward Weekly |
06-12-2009 9:11 am |
Industry News
Huffington Post to Washington City Paper: Take Down Parody Pagenew
Faithful AAN.org readers may recall that on April Fool's Day, City Paper reworked its website to ape HuffPo's look. The parody -- The Huffington City Paper -- even received kudos from HuffPo itself. Now -- a day after the publication of a well-read City Paper column criticizing HuffPo -- the aggregator is asking the alt-weekly to remove the lightly trafficked page from its archives, in part because it contains a link to HuffPo. "Never thought I'd be scolded by a Huffington Post official for linking," writes editor Erik Wemple. "But I was!"
Washington City Paper |
06-11-2009 2:27 pm |
Industry News
National Archives Appoints First FOIA Ombudsmannew
Miriam Nisbet, who now heads the information society division of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization in Paris, has been chosen to direct the Archives' new Office of Government Information Services. The appointment is being hailed by open government advocates. Nisbet "has dedicated her entire professional life to working for open access to government records," Sunshine in Government Initiative (SGI) coordinator Rick Blum says. "This is a promising start for those who want the FOIA to work better." MORE: Read SGI's statement on the appointment.
The Associated Press via the Los Angeles Times |
06-11-2009 2:05 pm |
Industry News
Tags: Editorial, Management
City Ethics Commission Gives Folio Weekly Contributor Kudosnew
Marvin Edwards, a longtime contributor to the Jacksonville alt-weekly, recently received a commendation from the city's Ethics Commission for exposing the city's failure to respond to public-records requests. The 87-year-old writer went to great lengths to obtain public records from the city -- an effort that required hiring a law firm -- in his push to expose the true cost to the city of hosting the 2005 Super Bowl. Ultimately, the chief deputy in Jacksonville's General Counsel Office acknowledged the city "dropped the ball" and should have responded faster and more appropriately. "It shouldn't have taken that kind of effort to obtain the records or get the story," the Florida Times-Union editorializes. "Because of what Edwards did, perhaps it won't be as hard for the public or the media in the future."
The Florida Times-Union |
06-11-2009 9:30 am |
Honors & Achievements
