AAN News

Variety Parent Company Offered to Buy Nikki Finke's Blognew

Finke reports that her "Deadline Hollywood Daily" blog, which is hosted by L.A. Weekly and celebrates its 3rd anniversary this month, was eyed by the CEO of Variety parent company Reed Business Information, but the deal didn't go anywhere.
Deadline Hollywood Daily  |  03-24-2009  12:50 pm  |  Industry News

Houston Press Plagiarized by Florida Magazinenew

The Ocala Star-Banner reported over the weekend that Ocala Magazine editor Heather Lee repeatedly lifted passages from other publications. The Houston Press reports that one such publication was itself: Lee stole a portion of a restaurant review by Robb Walsh, omitting only the words, "I know, I've been there" in a 63-word segment about eating meat. "You'd think someone could have come up with their own impressions of how to eat meat," Walsh says.
Houston Press  |  03-24-2009  11:53 am  |  Industry News

Three Alt-Weekly Writers Nominated for James Beard Awardsnew

AAN members are once again well-represented in the list of nominees for this year's James Beard Foundation Awards for Journalism. The finalists: L.A. Weekly's Pulitzer-prize winning critic Jonathan Gold in the Restaurant Reviews; Kristen Hinman of Riverfront Times in Newspaper Feature Writing Without Recipes; and the Chicago Reader's Mike Sula in Multimedia Food Journalism. Winners will be announced at a May 4 gala in New York.
The James Beard Foundation  |  03-24-2009  8:40 am  |  Honors & Achievements

GLBT Publications Also Feeling the Pinchnew

Queerty  |  03-24-2009  1:36 pm  |  Industry News

Boise Weekly Partners with GlobalPostnew

The Idaho alt-weekly is one of "a growing number of news outlets" signing up to partner with the online world news site GlobalPost, the New York Times reports. The Weekly subscribed to the service last week and is running a widget that feeds global news on the sidebar of its citydesk blog.
The New York Times  |  03-23-2009  2:54 pm  |  Industry News

Austin Chronicle 'Continues to Thrive' by Staying Localnew

The alt-weekly has revenue of approximately $8.5 million a year, has not laid off anyone and has no plans to do so, New York Times columnist David Carr reports. He says that part of why the paper has been successful is because of its ties to the community. "The Chronicle is knit into civic and cultural life in Austin to a degree that may make other newspapers nervous," Carr writes.
The New York Times  |  03-23-2009  10:51 am  |  Industry News

Alltop CEO Guy Kawasaki Bullish on Alt-Weekliesnew

During an interview before his SXSW keynote address with Wired editor Chris Anderson, Kawasaki says that he's been told that Village Voice Media papers are "doing quite well." The web publishing entrepreneur uses that example to say he doesn't believe all newspapers face the decision to charge for content or go under. "It's something to look at. It can be done," he says. "I don't think it's a situation where everything is going to die."
L.A. Weekly  |  03-23-2009  10:14 am  |  Industry News

Court Allows Dentist To Sue Writer Of Bad Yelp Reviewnew

Online Media Daily  |  03-23-2009  10:15 am  |  Legal News

City Pages' New Show is a 'Revolutionary Approach' to Talk Radionew

Local radio legend T.D. Mischke has begun his weekly web radio show (and print column) for the Twin Cities alt-weekly, and the Star Tribune says the experiment "is being observed by every publication struggling to adapt to a world in which paper and ink aren't enough to keep the lights on." Under the arrangement, Mischke is given a platform and he brings his own advertisers. That was a big sell to publisher Mark Bartel. "That and the fact that he's a known commodity made it a no-brainer," he says, adding that the cost for the webcasts would probably be a couple hundred dollars a month.
The Star Tribune  |  03-20-2009  1:00 pm  |  Industry News

Santa Fe Reporter Designer's Work Featured at a Smithsonian Museumnew

Jolene Nenibah Yazzie, who works in the alt-weekly's production department, has three digital prints on display at the National Museum of the American Indian, as part of the Comic Art Indigene exhibition. Yazzie talks to Smithsonian.com about her work, her skateboard company and how she got started as a comic artist. "I had two older brothers. They were really into skateboarding and comic books, and I think I was trying to impress them," she says. "That's pretty much how I got into it."
Smithsonian.com  |  03-20-2009  11:56 am  |  Industry News

Is Dan Savage Really Running for Mayor?new

In a blog post on Monday titled "I'm Running for Mayor," The Stranger's editorial director threw his hat in the mayoral ring, saying "my entire platform is this: If elected I pledge to resign the office of mayor 24 hours after I'm sworn in." Seattle officials are trying to figure out if Savage is really mounting a run or just joking around. City rules say candidates must file paperwork with the city clerk within two weeks of publicly announcing an intention to run. "We've got to figure out whether he's serious or not," Ethics and Elections Commission chairman Wayne Barnett tells the Seattle Times.
The Seattle Times | The Stranger  |  03-20-2009  9:36 am  |  Industry News

Obama Administration Set to Release FOIA Reform Memonew

Attorney General Eric Holder has approved new guidelines, expected to be released today, fleshing out President Obama's Jan. 21 order to reveal more government records under FOIA. The new standard essentially returns to what was in place under the Clinton administration, in which federal agencies are told to release records to the public unless foreseeable harm would result. It would replace the Bush administration policy of presumptive nondisclosure. MORE: Read the Sunshine in Government Initiative statement on the changes.
The Associated Press  |  03-19-2009  2:08 pm  |  Legal News

More Business Owners Step Forward with Accusations Against Yelpnew

Following up on its story last month in which business owners said that sales reps from the popular user-generated review site promised to move or remove negative reviews in return for advertising, the East Bay Express talks to six more business owners who allege similar practices. Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman complained about the original article's use of anonymous sources (even though "Yelp is a review site based entirely on anonymous sources," as reporter Kathleen Richards notes) so this time the Express relied only on sources who were willing to go on the record. "Several said that the reps would offer to move negative reviews if they advertised; and in some cases positive reviews disappeared when they refused, or negative ones appeared," the Express reports. "In one case, a nightclub owner said Yelp offered positive reviews of his business in exchange for free drinks."
East Bay Express  |  03-19-2009  10:03 am  |  Industry News

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