AAN News
Editor's Departure Leaves 'a Hole at the Heart' of Creative Loafingnew
In a farewell message to former Creative Loafing (Atlanta) editor Ken Edelstein, staffer Mara Shalhoup writes: "I think I speak for everyone here when I say, 'Thank you for giving me a chance. Thank you for working me hard. And thank you for making Creative Loafing aim higher. You will be missed.'" Edelstein, who had been with the paper for a decade, was fired last week after a reportedly "heated meeting" with CEO Ben Eason on implementing editorial cuts.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
12-03-2008 3:29 pm |
Industry News
City Takes Heat for Tapping Ex-Altie for Economic Development Postnew
Peter Koht, a former reporter and editor for Metro Santa Cruz who has been working in PR for the past year, began work Monday as Santa Cruz's temporary economic development coordinator. "While Santa Cruz leaders tout Koht's PR credentials as crucial to forming strong relationships between businesses and the city," the Santa Cruz Sentinel reports, "union leaders and others have raised eyebrows at the city's hiring practices and wonder if now is the right time to appoint someone with little business experience to a business job that pays $35 per hour."
The Santa Cruz Sentinel |
12-03-2008 8:10 am |
Industry News
How I Got That Story: Gus Garcia-Roberts
In the nineteenth -- and final -- installment of this year's "How I Got That Story" series, Gus Garcia-Roberts talks to Phillip Bailey about his award-winning short news stories for Cleveland's Scene. Garcia-Roberts, an Academy for Alternative Journalism alum who was transferred to Miami New Times after the Scene's merger with Cleveland Free Times in June, covers meth addicts, rural farmers, nightclub owners, and cultural phenomena with equal aplomb in his entries. He tells Bailey how each story came about, reveals his reporting process, and offers advice to other young alt-weekly journalists. "Think small," Garcia-Roberts says. "Find weird people in your area that have no idea why you're writing about them, and do their strangeness justice."
(FULL STORY)
AAN News |
12-02-2008 12:11 pm |
Association News
Creative Loafing (Charlotte) Columnist Takes Over Afternoon Radio Slotnew
Tara Servatius will host a political radio show on Charlotte's WBT-AM from 3-6 pm, replacing Jeff Katz, "whose conservative zeal and verbal swordsmanship have been a mainstay of afternoon drive time for two years," according to the Charlotte Observer. Servatius stepped down as a CL staff writer, but remained as a columnist, when she was hired by the radio station in May 2007. She previously had been in the station's 9 pm-midnight slot. "She spends hours combing through the files researching her points," Rick Jackson, WBT general manager says. "People want facts rather than someone spouting an opinion. We may see a new kind of a talk show host in Tara."
The Charlotte Observer |
12-02-2008 11:31 am |
Industry News
Phoenix Media Buys Spanish-Language Weeklynew
The Boston-based alt-weekly publisher has purchased El Planeta, saying it hopes to attract a larger Hispanic audience in the Boston area, the Boston Globe reports. Phoenix Media had been investing in the weekly since 2005, and already prints and distributes the paper. "I personally strongly see the value in the Hispanic newspaper market and the opportunity for that to grow," says Phoenix Media president Bradley Mindich. "It was one of these opportunities we couldn't pass up." The company, which owns AAN members in Boston, Portland, and Providence, will share some content with El Planeta, and the Spanish-language paper's staff will move into Phoenix Media's Boston headquarters. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More from Boston Business Journal.
The Boston Globe |
12-02-2008 8:05 am |
Industry News
Former Creative Loafing Ad Director Offers $1 Million for Atlanta Papernew
Patrick Best, who spent four years as CL's advertising director before starting rival publication The Sunday Paper, told Atlanta Magazine's Steve Fennessy last week he's willing to pay Ben Eason $1 million for Creative Loafing (Atlanta). Fennessy notes that it is unclear whether the purchase would even be possible, given CL's Chapter 11 status, but Best says "it's not unusual for businesses that are in bankruptcy to sell off pieces of their company in order to raise capital." MORE on Creative Loafing: Former senior editor (and current shareholder) John Sugg writes about CL's "death spiral," and Creative Loafing's Mara Shalhoup responds. And departing senior writer Andisheh Nouraee discusses why he is leaving with Atlanta Progressive News.
Atlanta Magazine |
12-01-2008 1:41 pm |
Industry News
Call for Entries: 2009 AltWeekly Awards
The 2009 AltWeekly Awards is now accepting entries. The contest website opened Mon., Dec. 1, 2008 and will close on the contest deadline, Fri., Jan. 30, 2009 at midnight (EST). This year’s Wild Card category is Election Coverage.
The winners will be announced at the 32nd Annual AAN Convention taking place June 25-27, 2009 in Tucson, Ariz.
(FULL STORY)
AAN |
12-01-2008 10:31 am |
Association News
Tags: Editorial, Management
Ex-Philadelphia City Paper Editor Seriously Injured in Hit-and-Runnew
Brian Hickey was seriously injured in a hit-and-run accident Friday in Collingswood, N.J. According to his wife, he was struck around 10:15 pm and left for dead, and is currently in stable condition at the Trauma-ICU of Cooper University Hospital after surgery to relieve pressure on his brain. "The last CAT scan showed the pressure was very good," Hickey's father tells the Philadelphia Daily News. "He's in critical but stable condition." During a 4.5 year stint at City Paper, Hickey rose to become the managing editor. He left the paper in February. More from Metro.
Philadelphia City Paper |
12-01-2008 8:14 am |
Industry News
Senior Writer to Leave Creative Loafing (Atlanta)new
Andisheh Nouraee submitted his resignation to publisher Luann Lebedz just hours after Lebedz fired editor Ken Edelstein yesterday, Atlanta Magazine's Steve Fennessy reports. Nouraee, who began freelancing for the paper in 2000 and joined the staff in 2007, says his decision was prompted only in part by Edelstein's dismissal. "What happened today is just one symptom of the overall reason, that I don't want to work there full-time anymore," he says. His last day will be Dec. 5.
Atlanta Magazine |
11-25-2008 12:20 pm |
Industry News
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) Editor Firednew
Ken Edelstein was fired today after a decade as an editor at Creative Loafing's flagship paper, according to Atlanta Magazine's Steve Fennessy. Edelstein reportedly had a "heated meeting" last week with CL CEO Ben Eason over the implementation of further editorial cuts. "The meeting made it clear that Ben and I have very deep philosophical differences about what's best for the company and its employees," Edelstein tells Fennessy. More from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Atlanta Magazine | The Atlanta Journal-Constitution |
11-24-2008 3:38 pm |
Industry News
As Parent Company Cuts Costs, Port Folio Weekly's Future is Unclearnew
Plagued by an advertising decline, The Virginian-Pilot is cutting at least 125 positions, mostly through layoffs and shutting affiliated publications. The company has closed Link, a free daily tabloid, but publisher Maurice Jones said on Friday the Pilot "has not decided whether to continue Port Folio Weekly."
The Virginian-Pilot |
11-24-2008 7:42 am |
Industry News
How I Got That Story: Jake Bernstein
In the eighteenth installment of this year's "How I Got That Story" series, Jake Bernstein talks about his story for The Texas Observer that revealed the state's governor had amassed a huge database of information on Texas' citizens without them knowing it. The story came to Bernstein, who is now a reporter at ProPublica, via a tip, and sparked immediate reactions. "It was one of the most instantaneous responses I've ever had to a story," Bernstein says. "Literally, within hours of us posting it on our website, people were talking about it on the Texas House floor." He explains to Angelica Herrera how he pieced together the story, his opinion on anonymous sources, and the ultimate impact of his story.
(FULL STORY)
AAN News |
11-21-2008 11:24 am |
Association News
Are Yelp Salespeople Offering to Play Up Positive Comments for a Fee?new
That's what some businesses in California's Sonoma County tell the Press-Democrat. The owner of a local pastry shop says a Yelp salesperson offered to rearrange reviews of her pastry shop for $300 a month. But according to Yelp's website, reviews cannot be rearranged. Representatives from the popular user-generated review site did not return the Press-Democrat's calls seeking a comment.
The Press-Democrat (Santa Rosa, Calif.) |
11-20-2008 11:32 am |
Industry News
Michigan's Alt-Weeklies Weigh In on Auto Industry Bailout
As chatter increases about a potential federal bailout of the foundering American automotive industry, Michigan's alt-weeklies are addressing the crisis. Lansing's City Pulse is "having some serious doubts about this bailout," adding: "Like giving spare change to an alcoholic outside a liquor store, it would be a waste to hand these companies $25 billion and expect everything to be OK." In Detroit's Metro Times, longtime columnist Jack Lessenberry takes a different tack, arguing that it would be "extremely foolish" to let the auto makers fail, and that it would lead to "something very like the Great Depression."
City Pulse | Metro Times |
11-20-2008 8:24 am |
Industry News
Websites That Dig for News Rise as Watchdogsnew
The New York Times |
11-20-2008 8:27 am |
Industry News
