AAN News
Reno News & Review's Editorial Staff Switches to Four-Day Work Weeknew
In an effort to "help the planet survive," the paper's editorial team is now on a 10-hour-day, four-day work week, with one of those days a work-at-home or work-in-the-field day. Editor D. Brian Burghart notes that "this should enable editorial to cut about 40 percent of our fuel costs and carbon emissions." Office hours won't change for the business end of the newspaper.
Reno News & Review |
07-24-2008 9:40 am |
Industry News
Shield Law Faces Hurdles in Congressnew
Senate Majority Leader Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has included the Free Flow of Information Act on a list of legislation he hopes to complete before the August recess, Politico reports. The bill passed the House and Senate Judiciary Committee late last year. But with the Bush administration's opposition to the federal shield law, the bill still faces an uphill climb, as many federal agencies have fallen in line and written letters opposing the legislation. According to Politico, a major point of contention in the Senate regarding the Shield Law is how it defines "journalist" -- some senators are concerned that the definition remains too broad.
Politico |
07-24-2008 9:09 am |
Legal News
Tags: Editorial, Management
Is Boston Phoenix Music Critic's Deal with Orchestra Unethical?new
Phoenix classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz has signed a contract with the Boston Symphony Orchestra to have some of his poems set to music, which he will be paid for. The Globe's Geoff Edgers thinks this crosses an ethical line, since Schwartz covers the orchestra. But Phoenix executive editor Peter Kadzis disagrees, telling the Globe that Schwartz, who won a Pulitzer Prize in 1994, "works in the now waning tradition of artist/critic, not unlike Virgil Thomson. That the Tanglewood fellows would choose to set his poetry to music is a mark of distinction, not a compromise." The Poynter Institute's Al Tompkins tells the Globe that, while the arrangement isn't that egregious, "it presents, if not a conflict, the appearance of conflict of interest. You can avoid this conflict by, at minimum, paying your own way or having the paper pay your way."
The Boston Globe |
07-24-2008 8:52 am |
Industry News
Another Alt-Weekly Writer Weighs in on 'The Weekly'new
"Now I know how the line workers at a bottling plant must have felt when they heard about Laverne and Shirley!," Chris Packham of Kansas City's The Pitch writes in reaction to the sitcom "set in the office of a dishy alternative weekly publication and blog" that ABC is considering. "You totally know this thing will be like Sex and the City with nose rings and ironic T-shirts. TV is not always the worst -- for instance, it's awesome when it tells stories about Battlestars or Detective McNulty -- but this has the unmistakable whiff of horrible, usually depicted by cartoonists as wavy stink lines."
The Pitch |
07-23-2008 12:25 pm |
Industry News
Former Music Editor of The Stranger Returns as Staff Writernew
Dave Segal, who resigned as The Stranger's music editor in 2006 after secretly allowing an employee from ad sales to write pseudonymously for the paper's Line Out blog and music section, has been hired as a music writer. "Whatever Segal's missteps as an editor, he remains an impeccable music writer -- passionate, knowledgeable, diverse in his tastes -- and so, after several rounds of musical chairs, we're bringing him back as a staff writer," writes current music editor Eric Grandy. "He'll have no managerial responsibilities -- to the point, he won't be hiring any freelancers -- but he'll get to do what he's best at, which is writing about music." Segal was most recently music editor at OC Weekly.
The Stranger |
07-23-2008 10:08 am |
Industry News
AAN Members Fare Well at SPJ's Green Eyeshade Awardsnew
In the non-daily print division, both the Memphis Flyer and Miami New Times won four first-place awards in the annual contest which "recognizes outstanding journalism in 11 southeastern states." The Flyer placed first in disaster coverage, editorial writing, feature reporting, and political reporting. It also tacked on two third-place finishes. Miami New Times finished first in consumer reporting, courts and law reporting, criticism (a category swept by alt-weeklies), and non-deadline news. New Times added one third-place finish as well. In addition, New Times Broward-Palm Beach took home two awards, including a first-place win for sports reporting; while both Mountain XPress and North Carolina's Independent Weekly went home with a second-place award. Winners were announced Saturday in Atlanta.
New Times Broward-Palm Beach |
07-23-2008 8:39 am |
Honors & Achievements
Las Vegas Weekly Editor Returns After Stint at Vegas' Other AAN Paper
Scott Dickensheets, who left the Weekly to become special projects editor at Las Vegas CityLife in February, is once again editor of the Weekly, according to a press release. "We're fortunate to have Scott back in the saddle," says Bruce Spotleson, group publisher for Weekly parent company Greenspun Media Group. "He's one of the most talented journalists in Nevada, and one of the best editors I've ever been associated with."
(FULL STORY)
Las Vegas Weekly Press Release |
07-22-2008 10:27 am |
Press Releases
Media Coalition Urges Senators to Support Shield Law
Shield Law Coalition Press Release |
07-22-2008 12:42 pm |
Press Releases
Tags: Editorial, Management
New Editor Named at New York Press in Editorial Shuffle
Replacing David Blum as editor-in-chief of the Press is Jerry Portwood, who was previously the paper's managing editor. Blum becomes editor of 02138, the bi-monthly magazine acquired in May by Press parent company Manhattan Media. Blum's move coincides with a major re-launch of the luxury lifestyle magazine for Harvard alumni.
(FULL STORY)
Manhattan Media Press Release |
07-21-2008 2:20 pm |
Press Releases
Alt-Weekly Writers React to 'The Weekly'
"I suspect I know how this new show, tentatively titled The Weekly, is gonna go," writes Washington City Paper's Mark Athitakis about a sitcom "set in the office of a dishy alternative weekly publication and blog" that ABC is considering. "I've seen plenty of portrayals of journalists on TV after all," he writes, before offering some sample dialogue. "Don't think what follows is funny? Fine; the show is being produced by a co-creator of The King of Queens, so I'm just being spot-on." Salt Lake City Weekly's Bill Frost says he's curious about the new venture because he had a similar idea. "I wrote a sitcom pilot script about an alt-weekly newspaper office four years ago and submitted it to Bravo's reality-competition show Situation: Comedy," Frost writes. "Sure, my script sucked -- but it was still better than any Fox comedy of the last decade or so. ... Maybe I'd better dust that dog off and submit it to The CW ... while they're still in business."
Washington City Paper | Salt Lake City Weekly |
07-21-2008 12:17 pm |
Industry News
Tags: Editorial, Management
Sitcom About Alt-Weekly 'Percolating in the Script Stage' at ABCnew
That's according to Variety, which reports in its inimitable varietyese that "The Weekly" is a "single-camera workplace comedy ... set in the office of a dishy alternative weekly publication and blog." Huh? Furthermore, "project is penned" by the impossibly named Flint Wainess, according to The Bible of the Entertainment Industry.
Variety |
07-18-2008 11:24 am |
Industry News
Tags: Editorial, Management
David Carr's Memoir Excerpted in New York Times Magazinenew
"A thug who beat up women and a recovered crack addict raising twins -- both are the story of my life." That's how the former editor of Washington City Paper describes the tale he tells in "The Night of the Gun," which hits the street on Aug. 5.
New York Times |
07-17-2008 3:46 pm |
Industry News
Tags: Editorial
Cleveland Free Times, RIPnew
After 16 years, Cleveland's oldest AAN member published its last issue today. Started by labor lawyer Richard Siegel in 1992, the alt-weekly survived even after its founder died a year later, always striving to remain faithful to his mission of providing "tough-minded, responsible and gutsy coverage of what's really going on in" Cleveland. Although Free Times survived a temporary shutdown in 2002-03, this time it appears to be closing for good. In its final issue, the paper publishes a series of tributes, remembrances, and critiques.
Cleveland Free Times |
07-16-2008 7:43 pm |
Industry News
Russia's 'The eXile' Returnsnew
The English-language alt-biweekly for Moscow's expat community was born anew this week as a webzine called The eXiled. "(O)ur job isn't done," says editor Mark Ames, who claims to have moved the publication's operations to Panama. "We've got a lot of bile yet to be pumped, a lot of unfinished business -- and thanks to our readers, we've got a little pot of money to fuel our insurgency against what we can only describe as 'the fucks.'" According to Ames, The eXile was closed last month when its investors pulled out and its editors fled the country after Russian authorities arrived at the paper's office and announced an "unplanned audit" of its editorial content.
The eXiled |
07-16-2008 5:31 pm |
Industry News
Tags: Editorial
Alt-Weekly Cartoonists Respond to The New Yorker's Obama Covernew
CJR asked several cartoonists to offer their two cents on the controversial cover, including Ruben Bolling ("Tom the Dancing Bug"), Derf ("The City"), Matt Bors ("The Idiot Box") and Keith Knight ("The K Chronicles"). The responses vary, with Derf staking out the most uncompromising position: "I thought it was hilarious," says Cleveland's edgiest and tallest cartoonist. "So many people are misinformed, and you can't draw to the morons of America. If you don't know that Obama isn't a Muslim, we can't help you."
Columbia Journalism Review |
07-16-2008 4:39 pm |
Industry News
Tags: Editorial, John Backderf
