AAN News
Bay Guardian/VVM Trial Scheduled to Begin Tomorrownew
The predatory pricing suit against SF Weekly and Village Voice Media asserts that the Weekly sold ads below cost to push the Guardian out of business. (The suit also names former VVM property East Bay Express as a defendant.) VVM executive editor Michael Lacey thinks Bay Guardian publisher/editor Bruce Brugmann is using the Weekly as a "scapegoat" for his own problems in dealing with new challenges in print media. "[The lawsuit] is how he's hoping to maintain his business in a really tough media market," Lacey tells The San Francisco Daily Journal, a local legal publication. But Brugmann disputes this notion. "From our point of view, the fact that the economy is not good and there are other problems in this business only makes this problem more acute," he says. Jury selection is set to begin tomorrow in San Francisco County Superior Court. Legal experts tell the Daily Journal that predatory-pricing cases face different odds depending on where they are filed, adding that California superior courts are generally seen as more friendly to plaintiffs than federal courts.
The San Francisco Daily Journal (Subscription Required) |
01-16-2008 8:58 am |
Legal News
Nevada County Faces Federal Lawsuit Over Upping Newsrack Feesnew
Las Vegas Business Press |
01-15-2008 11:19 am |
Legal News
Web Publishing Conference Early Registration Deadline Approaching
The early deadline is this Friday, Jan. 11; registration rates will increase by $50 the following day. The conference is slated for Jan. 30-Feb. 1 at the Hotel Kabuki in San Francisco, and will feature programming on topics ranging from online metrics to social networking. In addition, two separate open discussions, one for editors and the other for web-tech personnel, will be added to the program next week after AAN conducts a survey of registrants to determine when to schedule them. You can register online by clicking here.
AAN |
01-10-2008 12:45 pm |
Association News
Village Voice Media Partners With Trulia for Online Real Estatenew
Trulia has announced a new platform which allows publishers to use the company's online real estate tools to create co-branded sites with real estate guides, heat maps and home sales information, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Village Voice Media, Kiplinger, and American Towns are all partnering with Trulia in the new venture.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer |
01-08-2008 8:50 am |
Industry News
Online Ad Business Recession-Proof, Analysts Saynew
Online Media Daily |
01-08-2008 10:12 am |
Industry News
Despite Drop in Demand, Newsprint Prices Expected to Risenew
Editor & Publisher |
01-07-2008 9:54 am |
Industry News
Tags: Financial, Management
Sale of Style Weekly Explored
As we noted yesterday, Landmark Communications, which owns both Style Weekly and Port Folio Weekly, has hired investment bankers to explore the possibility of selling the company's holdings, which include more than 100 publications and other properties, including The Weather Channel. "Although I was disappointed to hear the Battens were exploring a sale, our readers will continue to get the best of in-depth, local reporting on news, arts and culture," Style editor Jason Roop says in a press release. Publisher Lori Collier Waran concurs, noting that readers, advertisers and other business partners can expect business as usual. "We just celebrated our 25th anniversary, and we're still going strong."
(FULL STORY)
Style Weekly Press Release |
01-04-2008 11:33 am |
Press Releases
Port Folio Weekly & Style Weekly Parent Co. May Go Up for Salenew
Landmark Communications, which owns those two Virginia AAN member papers, has hired JP Morgan and Lehman Brothers to "to assist in exploring strategic alternatives, including the possible sale of the company's businesses," Landmark's vice chairman tells the Roanoke Times. The company's 2006 sales figures were $1.75 billion, and it employs about 12,000 people at more than 100 publications and other media properties including The Weather Channel, the Times reports.
The Roanoke Times |
01-03-2008 8:48 am |
Industry News
'08 Forecast for Printnew
Mediaweek |
01-02-2008 9:41 am |
Industry News
Bay Area Papers Try to Combat Wave of Free Paper Theftnew
A recent surge in newspaper theft has a coalition of Bay Area newspapers -- including the East Bay Express and the San Francisco Bay Guardian -- asking local authorities to help pursue thieves both on the street and at the recycling businesses where they fence the stolen goods, according to the Berkeley Daily Planet. The Express is doing more than just asking cops for help, though. The Planet reports that after complaints to local police failed to result in the apprehension of a man repeatedly seen stealing papers, the alt-weekly hired a private investigator. On his first night out, the private eye caught the thief with more than 500 copies of the Express -- and nearly as many Bay Guardians -- in his truck. Express publisher Hal Brody says that stopping the thefts will take more than arresting street-level thieves -- rather, he thinks cops need to target the recycling businesses that accept the contraband. A meeting between Oakland police and local publishers to discuss how to stem the tide of theft is planned for the near future, the Planet reports.
Berkeley Daily Planet |
12-27-2007 8:26 am |
Industry News
Alleged Free Paper Thief Caught in Oaklandnew
Police say they caught an East Bay man loading piles of free papers -- including the East Bay Express -- into a vehicle early Wednesday morning, the Oakland Tribune reports. In California, taking more than 25 papers is a crime. A witness called police after following the suspect during repeated trips to a recycling center, where the suspect would turn in the papers for cash, according to a police source. No word on if this was the same thief featured on this site last month.
The Oakland Tribune |
12-21-2007 10:04 am |
Industry News
News & Review Looks to 'Hire' Outsourced CEO for McClatchynew
Reacting to the news that McClatchy plans to eliminate half of the artist jobs at its flagship Sacramento Bee and outsource the work to India, the Sacramento News & Review posted an ad for a "Media Company CEO" on Delhi Craigslist yesterday. "The value of McClatchy's stock has plummeted," the ad reads. "We are thereby accepting applications that we will dutifully forward to McClatchy for 'outsourced' CEOs who will work for much less than McClatchy's current CEO (who hauls in a cool $1 million, or up to $2.38 million with bonuses. Why are you laughing?). Your duties will include bailing water out of a sinking ship, blacking or tearing out bad McClatchy financial news from publications distributed in house (including your own) and dancing while angry board members shoot bullets at your feet. Serious inquires only." News & Review editor Matt Coker, reached by email, tells AAN News that they've already received two applications: one from the Phillipines, and another from a headhunter in New Delhi.
Delhi Craigslist |
12-20-2007 2:58 pm |
Industry News
Louisville Eccentric Observer Settles Inquiry Over Light-Hearted Adnew
"In our issue before the Kentucky Derby, we ran an ad for a bar that
was holding a 'no celebrities allowed' party," LEO editor Cary Stemle
tells AAN News. "At that time of year here, there's lots of fancy
parties that involve celebs and it gets tons of attention," he
explains. The ad read, in part: "If you
have an agent, publicist, third world adopted baby, or front row seats
to the Church of Scientology, you have no chance of getting in."
Alfonso Lanceta, the chairperson of the enforcement board of the Metro
Human Relations Commission, filed a formal complaint against the
paper, contending that the ad's text attempted to prevent not Angelina
Jolie and Tom Cruise from attending its party, but anyone who's
adopted a person from the Third World, as well as all Scientologists.
After spending more than $5,000 in attorney's fees, LEO settled with
the Commission, and had to print an ad this week reaffirming its
commitment to uphold non-discrimination standards. "This advertisement
is an appeal to the common man in every sense of the term," a
University of Louisville dean tells LEO. "I have to
believe that the Metro Human Relations Commission didn't get the
joke."
Louisville Eccentric Observer |
12-20-2007 11:26 am |
Legal News
F.T.C. Clears Google-DoubleClick Dealnew
The Associated Press via The New York Times |
12-20-2007 4:54 pm |
Industry News
Village Voice Media Breaks Into Top Ten Newspaper Sites In U.S.
Backpage.com Ranked As 2nd Largest Free Classified Site In U.S.
(FULL STORY)
Village Voice Media Press Release |
12-18-2007 8:52 am |
Press Releases
