AAN News
Book Critic: AltWeeklies.com is Part of a 'River of Critical Energy' Onlinenew
"Sales may be flat, bookstores may be struggling and book sections may be dying, but the critical conversation about books continues to be robust, intelligent and adventurous," former San Francisco Chronicle book critic Patricia Holt writes on Huffington Post. She points to six websites as proof, including AltWeeklies.com, of which she writes: "If you're weary of the received wisdom of official book review sites ... here is a treasury of refreshing and often unpredictable takes from alternative weeklies all over the country."
Huffington Post |
10-06-2009 3:01 pm |
Industry News
Westword Editor: Pot Critic Story is 'Very Serious'new
"It's funny how the national media has jumped all over this," Patricia Calhoun writes of the attention being given to the paper's quest to hire a freelance critic to review medical marijuana dispensaries. But while most outlets have taken a "light, fun" tone to the story, she says the issue is serious business in Colorado. "There's one aspect of our search for a reviewer that's not funny: How very, very important easy access to quality medical marijuana is for so many people," Calhoun writes.
Westword |
10-06-2009 2:43 pm |
Industry News
Federal Trade Commission Rules Bloggers Should Disclose Freebiesnew
According to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines released yesterday, bloggers who review products should in many cases disclose when those products are given to them for free, but traditional journalists usually don't need to. The guides -- which call for a case-by-case analysis of whether disclosure is required -- are not enforceable, but "serve to put marketers on notice about the type of activity the FTC will consider deceptive," Online Media Daily reports.
Online Media Daily |
10-06-2009 9:40 am |
Industry News
Tags: Editorial, Management
Online Ad Spending Down 5.3 Percent In First Half of 2009new
Online Media Daily |
10-06-2009 9:42 am |
Industry News
Third 'How I Got That Story' Live Chat Coming This Friday
Westword staff writer Joel Warner and editor Patricia Calhoun will be live on AAN.org this Friday talking about Warner's story "The Good Soldier," which won first place for feature story in the above 50,000 circulation category. The chat will begin at 3:30 EDT.
(FULL STORY)
AAN |
10-05-2009 1:41 pm |
Association News
New Yorker: Nikki Finke is 'a Combination Town Crier and Volcano God'new
Finke gets the New Yorker profile treatment this week in a nearly-8,000 word piece with the subheadline: "Why Hollywood fears Nikki Finke." Finke says the story is "an amusing caricature, only occasionally true but hardly insightful." She adds: "Still, I'm relieved that The New Yorker didn't lay a glove on me. I found Tad Friend, who covers Hollywood from Brooklyn, easy to manipulate, as was David Remnick, whom I enjoyed bitchslapping throughout but especially during the very slipshod fact-checking process."
The New Yorker | Deadline Hollywood Daily |
10-05-2009 10:10 am |
Industry News
How I Got That Story Live Chat: Jeffrey Billman Talks Investigative Reporting
Jeffrey Billman, who won first place for investigative reporting in the under-50,000 circulation category for his Orlando Weekly piece "Might Makes Right," discussed the story with Weekly editor Bob Whitby in a conversation moderated by the San Francisco Bay Guardian's Tim Redmond.
(FULL STORY)
AAN |
10-02-2009 2:45 pm |
Association News
Tags: Editorial, Management
East Bay Express Launches Small Biz Publication
The Express' Small Business Monthly will launch in February 2010 and "will focus on local reporting of small business issues in our region," according to an email sent out by publisher Jody Colley. "In a broader purpose," she continues, "it will also serve to inform community members, investors, entrepreneurs and policy leaders on how integral our 'Main Street' independent businesses are to a healthy and sustainable local economy." The publication will be distributed as an insert in the Express each month.
(FULL STORY)
AAN News |
10-02-2009 1:06 pm |
Industry News
Westword Seeks a Pot Criticnew
"Do you have a medical condition that necessitates marijuana? Do you have a way with words?," the Denver alt-weekly asked in a job posting earlier this week. "If so, Westword wants you to join the ranks as our freelance marijuana-dispensary reviewer." As the paper has reported, the number of medical marijuana dispensaries in the area has exploded, so they're launching a weekly column called "Mile Highs and Lows" to review them. Westword editor Patricia Calhoun tells the Wall Street Journal the process of looking for a critic to review drugs isn't any different than looking for, say, a food critic -- they will post the ad and ask for a sample review. "Our restaurant critic, Jason Sheehan, won a James Beard award," she says. "We're hoping we'll have similar success, although there don't seem to be as many rewards for marijuana reviewers."
The Wall Street Journal |
10-01-2009 12:10 pm |
Industry News
Brooklyn Illustrator Turns Classified Ads into Artnew
Sophie Blackall uses "Missed Connections" ads from Craigslist and the Village Voice as source material for her "playful prints using Chinese ink and watercolor," the New York Times reports. "I lost about two hours of my life reading them and thought this is just an extraordinary mine of material, ranging from the lyrical, poetic to unintentionally hilarious," she says of the ads. "Many of them threw out ideas for images to me right away." Blackall, who compiled the work on a blog earlier this year and has opened an Etsy shop, says she's also negotiating a book deal for the illustrations.
The New York Times |
09-30-2009 10:45 am |
Industry News
Eugene Weekly Looks for 'Next Big Thing'
Lots of bands think they're just on the verge of busting out of their local bar-band circuit, quitting their day jobs and becoming the next big thing. In Oregon, the Eugene Weekly is hoping to help one lucky band do just that with its own music contest.
(FULL STORY)
AAN News |
09-29-2009 2:07 pm |
Industry News
Catholic University Bans Washington City Paper After Sex Storynew
Washington City Paper has not been available on Catholic University's campus since May, when the alt-weekly ran a story on the school's campus sex ban, "Screw U: Inside the Secret Sex Life of Catholic University." The university's director of public affairs tells the campus paper The Tower that City Paper's removal was brought on by its "hateful article ridiculing our Catholic faith" but declined to provide any further details. "Whether or not that article was a true portrayal of students, we should be able to decide for ourselves whether or not it's worth reading," sophomore Joe McAnaney says. "It's disappointing that I can't just pick up the City Paper in the Pryz [the student center] anymore, even though I understand the University's decision."
Washington City Paper | The Tower |
09-29-2009 12:11 pm |
Industry News
Another 'How I Got that Story' Live Chat Slated for This Friday
Jeffrey Billman, who won first place for investigative reporting in the under-50,000 circulation category for his Orlando Weekly piece "Might Makes Right," will discuss the story with Weekly editor Bob Whitby in a conversation moderated by the San Francisco Bay Guardian's Tim Redmond. Like last week, the live chat will happen right here on AAN.org and will take place Friday at 3 pm EDT.
(FULL STORY)
AAN |
09-28-2009 3:52 pm |
Association News
Three AAN Members Win Northern California SPJ Awardsnew
The Northern California Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists announced the winners of its 2009 Excellence in Journalism Awards last week, and three alt-weeklies took home honors. The SF Weekly's Joe Eskenazi won the Explanatory Journalism (print, non-daily) award for "Service with a Snarl," a piece that "examines, with clarity and humor, the laws around the use of service animals in San Francisco." Kathleen Richards of the East Bay Express won the Investigative Journalism (print, non-daily) award for "Yelp and the Business of Extortion 2.0," which the judges say is "a strong example of consumer-affairs reporting." And the staff of the North Coast Journal won the Student Special Project award for "Meltdown," a project the paper undertook with students from Humboldt State University's Investigative Reporting Class.
The Northern California Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists |
09-28-2009 1:29 pm |
Honors & Achievements
Application Deadline for IRE's Philip Meyer Journalism Awards is Oct. 31new
Investigative Reporters and Editors |
09-28-2009 3:07 pm |
Press Releases
Tags: Editorial, Management
