AAN News
Philadelphia Weekly Executive Editor Among Those Leaving the Papernew
Longtime PW staffer and well-regarded mental health columnist and blogger Liz Spikol has left the paper. Philip Dawdy reports that Spikol will return to blogging at some point, but is currently taking a bit of a break. Her departure comes on the heels of recently reported layoffs, pay cuts and furloughs at the paper, moves addressed by PW parent company Review Publishing's president and chief operating officer in a statement given to AAN News. "Like most organizations, we needed to take proactive and hopefully temporary measures to preserve as many jobs as possible while best positioning the organization for long term growth," George Troyano writes. "We remain very optimistic about the future and will continue to invest in new initiatives and technologies. We will maintain a strategic and creative approach to best
maneuver through these challenging times."
Philebrity |
08-12-2009 10:28 am |
Industry News
Metroland Contributor's Play Hits NY Fringe Festivalnew
Byron Nilsson, who reviews restaurants and writes about music and theater for the Albany alt-weekly, will premiere Mr. Sensitivity during the 2009 New York International Fringe Festival opening this weekend. Nilsson tells The Ridgefield Press that the play, which is a comedy about a man who gives his wife an hour with a porn star for her birthday, "combines the antic humor of a Neil Simon play with potty-mouthed drollery too crude even for David Mamet."
The Ridgefield Press |
08-12-2009 8:58 am |
Honors & Achievements
AAN Corrects Sen. Bernie Sanders on Comments About Alt-Weeklies
In his announcement yesterday about starting his own weekly internet TV show, the independent U.S. Senator from Vermont bemoaned media consolidation. Unfortunately, he also unfairly characterized alt-weeklies, claiming they "have been bought by a monopoly franchise and made a predictable shift to the right in their coverage of local news." In a letter responding to the Senator's claim, AAN president Mark Zusman and executive director Richard Karpel set the record straight, noting the absurdity of calling any alt-weekly a "monopoly franchise" and stating that "alternative newspapers across North America are still often among the few publications in their communities that consistently offer a progressive viewpoint on issues like poverty, racism, health-care reform and environmental sustainability."
(FULL STORY)
Mark Zusman |
08-11-2009 3:12 pm |
Industry News
| Comments (1)
Village Voice Classified Ad Sets Film Plot in Motion
We missed the news of the feature film WTC View when it was released in 2005, but this month Logo is airing the movie, which uses a Voice classified ad as plot springboard, so we figured we'd let you know about it. "[The] film is about a young gay man who places an ad in the Village Voice for a roommate the night before September 11," according to the Los Angeles Times' synopsis. "In the coming weeks, he desperately interviews potential roomies to share his pad that has -- you guessed it -- a WTC view."
AAN News |
08-11-2009 8:53 am |
Industry News
Survey: Marketers Still Under Heavy Pressure to Cut Costsnew
Marketing Daily |
08-11-2009 9:45 am |
Industry News
Washington City Paper's 'Key Players' Talk About the Past & the Futurenew
In a lengthy Post Magazine feature, City Paper alums like Russ Smith, Jack Shafer and David Carr join current leaders Erik Wemple and Ben Eason in discussing the paper's history, its legacy and its future. Even former mayor Marion Barry, who recently appeared on a City Paper cover that incited some controversy, weighs in on the alt-weekly.
The Washington Post |
08-10-2009 11:12 am |
Industry News
Borrell: Newspapers Will Hit Bottom This Year, Then Reboundnew
Borrell Associates president Colby Atwood says in a new memo that he expects American newspapers to see a decline in 2009, then a mild rebound over the next five years. Although Atwood doesn't specifically discuss alt-weeklies, two of his key rebound factors seem to predict better times ahead for the industry. First, he notes that papers need to "reinvent themselves to serve smaller advertisers on the marketing side ... actively pursuing customers that
have never done business with newspapers before" -- a client base that many alts have traditionally tapped in a successful way. Editorially, he says the future is local, a space alt-weeklies have focused on for decades.
Borrell Associates |
08-10-2009 9:39 am |
Industry News
Tags: Financial, Management
AltWeeklies.com Related Stories Widget Now Available For Use
Using the tags on your stories, the new widget, developed by DesertNet, pulls in similarly tagged stories from AltWeeklies.com, giving your website additional related links for particular movies, bands or issue areas. Click here, here or here to see it in action, and visit AltWeeklies.com for more technical information or to download the widget.
AAN |
07-31-2009 3:39 pm |
Association News
Study: Most U.S. Consumers Frustrated by Internet Adsnew
A new Harris Interactive study finds that while there is a definite trend toward online advertising from print and broadcast, many consumers are still annoyed by many forms of digital ads. The most annoying type of ad, the study found, is one that spreads across the page and covers the content beneath it.
Marketing Charts |
07-31-2009 11:11 am |
Industry News
Syracuse New Times Founder Looks Backnew
"It was the greatest 11 years that I've spent in many ways, lucky to do the things that I love doing," Ken Simon says of the time he founded and ran the alt-weekly. "I helped to invent the concept of the alternative newspaper, me and the people who worked with me. The Syracuse New Times is the third-oldest alternative weekly, and that's something, especially when you consider that this is Syracuse; it isn't San Francisco or Boston or Chicago or New York City." New Times is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.
Syracuse New Times |
07-31-2009 11:03 am |
Industry News
Tags: Management, Syracuse New Times
Magazine Publishers Explore Alternative Revenue Models for Digital Editionsnew
Folio |
07-31-2009 11:14 am |
Industry News
Jackson Free Press Launches 'JFP Daily'new
Earlier this month, the alt-weekly launched a daily e-blast that will feature one full story along with listings and other timely content, like profiles of musicians or authors who have appearances that day. The Daily, which has the catchy slogan "Today's News...Today," will be published each day at 1 pm. "It's been twenty years since Jackson had an afternoon daily," publisher Todd Stauffer tells the Greater Jackson Chamber Partnership (pdf). "We thought it would be interesting to revive that tradition, but starting from the ground up using 21st Century technology."
Jackson Free Press |
07-30-2009 12:42 pm |
Industry News
Editor of Wired Magazine is Bullish on East Bay Expressnew
Discussing the future of newspapers in a recent episode of C-Span2's Book TV, Chris Anderson, who also is the author of The Long Tail and Free: The Future of a Radical Price, had good things to say about his local alt-weekly: "The (New York) Times will be fine. They will figure it out," Anderson says. "My local newspaper -- my local, local newspaper -- the East Bay Express. They're already pretty lean and mean, they're probably going to be good about covering my local community even better. The San Francisco Chronicle? I'm not sure it has a future."
CSpan2's Book TV |
07-30-2009 10:54 am |
Industry News
San Diego Reader Releases Posthumous Book by Former Editor
The Reader this month published Judith Moore's A Bad, Bad Boy, which looks at the life of Frank Bompensiero, "the most feared mobster in Southern California for 30 years." Moore, who passed away in 2006, spent 10 years following the traces of Bompensiero, a Mafia hit man who later became the basis for the Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bompensiero character in The Sopranos.
(FULL STORY)
San Diego Reader Press Release |
07-30-2009 9:17 am |
Press Releases
Key Decision in Creative Loafing Bankruptcy Case Will Come Aug. 25new
In today's bankruptcy hearing, the judge said she will wait until the Aug. 25 equity auction to define what the "highest and best" offer will be, a decision that CL CEO Ben Eason has said will be of utmost importance to the future of the six-paper company. "While today's hearing about the rules and procedures for the bidding was given a pretty high-drama buildup ... it didn't live up to its billing and was actually a complex, confusing, and undramatic court session," Creative Loafing (Tampa)'s Wayne Garcia writes. Following the hearing, Eason told Garcia he's considering stepping down temporarily as CEO to focus on putting together a new bid for the company, though he said he hasn't made a decision yet and has no timetable in mind.
Creative Loafing (Tampa) |
07-29-2009 4:51 pm |
Industry News
