AAN News

Salt Lake City Weekly Editor Departsnew

Holly Mullen left on Wednesday after nearly two years at the alt-weekly, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. Neither Mullen nor publisher Jim Rizzi would disclose the reason for Mullen's departure, which she described as a "mutual decision to part ways." Rizzi says Mullen has been replaced by Jerre Wroble, who joined the paper as a copy editor in 2002 and has been managing editor since April 2005.
The Salt Lake Tribune  |  02-27-2009  9:23 am  |  Industry News

Isthmus Editor's 'Jeopardy!' Run Ends on Second Daynew

Kenneth Burns, the arts and entertainment editor of the Madison, Wisc., alt-weekly, finished second on yesterday's episode of the syndicated quiz show and will not return today. On Monday, Burns took home $21,600 by coming in first place.
Isthmus  |  02-25-2009  4:32 pm  |  Honors & Achievements

Prediction: Mobile Ad Revenues To Hit $3.1 Billion By 2013new

According to the Kelsey Group, revenues from mobile advertising will jump to $3.1 billion in five years. Currently, mobile advertising sits at $160 million in 2008. The group also says expected revenues from local search will increase more than 130 percent per year to $1.3 billion by 2013.
Media Daily News  |  02-25-2009  10:59 am  |  Industry News

Isthmus Editor Wins on First Day of 'Jeopardy!'new

On Monday's episode of Jeopardy!, Isthmus arts and entertainment editor Kenneth Burns finished in first place with $21,600. He will take on two new challengers on the syndicated game show tonight. Burns tells 77 Square that his episodes were taped in California in January -- in fact, he happened to have a taping on the day Barack Obama was inaugurated. "I remember at about noon, (a Jeopardy! staffer) looked at her watch and said, 'Oh, we have a new president,'" Burns says. "It was a tense group of people, as you can imagine, but that was a tension breaker."
Isthmus  |  02-24-2009  3:56 pm  |  Honors & Achievements

City Pages Will Run Daily Webcast from Local Radio Legendnew

Last week, City Pages announced that it was bringing longtime local radio host TD Mischke on to host a webcast streaming live on its website for two hours every weekday. Along with the daily web broadcast, Mischke -- who brought his own advertisers into the deal -- will screen original videos on citypages.com and publish a weekly column in the paper. MinnPost's David Brauer says the deal "show[s] how old and new media can be woven together."
City Pages  |  02-24-2009  1:16 pm  |  Industry News

Willamette Week Critic Wins New York Times Oscar Ballotingnew

Aaron Mesh guessed correctly the winners in 22 of the 24 Academy Award categories, missing only on best foreign-language film and original score. That put him ahead of "tens of thousands" of other people and made him the winner of the Times' interactive Oscar prediction ballot.
Willamette Week | The New York Times  |  02-24-2009  9:44 am  |  Honors & Achievements

Former Washington City Paper Music Critic Diesnew

Rickey Wright passed away on Feb. 19 in Seattle after suffering from a series of small strokes. "He was a save-your-ass kind of writer," recalls former City Paper arts editor Glenn Dixon. "If someone didn't come through, and there were constantly people who didn't come through, Rickey would do the job. He'd write it well. He'd get it in on time -- always. He was never without ideas and he could cover any kind of music. I can't tell you how rare that is."
Washington City Paper  |  02-24-2009  9:34 am  |  Industry News

Consultant: For Local Media to Succeed, It Must Embrace Local Economynew

"In the new economic paradigm local economies will thrive and prosper based upon the vitality and engagement of local citizens, local businesses and local media," writes Terry Garrett in response to a Business Week story that claims "'local' doesn't mean much online." While Garrett concedes that local ad buying is down (along with just about all ad buying), he argues that in the future, media companies will do more than just sell ads. "If local media are to advance the prospects of a local economy, the definition of service has to include being the instigator, coordinator and (one of the) resource providers for local first initiatives," he writes. "It's a collaborative model that extends beyond ownership and control, and that I believe, is the biggest challenge for local media companies who are accustomed to owning media to extract ad value."
Don't Panic  |  02-23-2009  2:23 pm  |  Industry News

AAN's Executive Director Defends Ad-Only Revenue Modelnew

In a recent TIME cover story on the crisis facing journalism, former CNN CEO Walter Isaacson argued that newspapers that relied only on advertising for revenue were somehow more beholden to advertisers than readers. "It is telling that on the subject of the advertising-only revenue model, which Isaacson says is 'completely beholden' to advertisers, he turns to the opinions of Henry Luce, who has been dead for more than 40 years," Richard Karpel writes in a letter to the editor. He goes on to say that AAN's members "have generally written more critically of business -- and sometimes their own clients -- than most paid publications."
TIME  |  02-23-2009  1:50 pm  |  Industry News

Chicago Reader Reprints 1972 'Manifesto'new

Someone at the Reader office recently found an old manifesto written by the alt-weekly's founders in 1972, and the paper published it last week on its blog. Responding to the question "Why do we continue with this crazy project?," the manifesto reads: "1) We are convinced it will be successful eventually. 2) We really enjoy our work. 3) The paper seems to be fulfilling a definite need for 'alternative' publications which are nonetheless not 'radical.' 4) We are bringing exposure to some (potentially) great writers." MORE: "[The document is] a brash artifact of an era where, all across the country, small groups of news innovators took a flyer on an untested business model and editorial format," CJR's Clint Hendler writes. "And what they birthed, the alt-weekly, became the home to some of the country's best writers and best journalism."
Chicago Reader  |  02-23-2009  8:50 am  |  Industry News

More on Former Metro Pulse Owner's Offer to Buy Creative Loafingnew

Earlier this month, Knoxville, Tenn.-based real estate developer Brian Conley told Atlanta magazine he'd offered $13.3 million for the six-paper chain. Conley said the offer was based on cash flow estimates submitted last fall by CL in the company's bankruptcy proceedings, but CEO Ben Eason tells Metro Pulse that there was no such estimate submitted by his company. "Frankly, none of us has any idea what he's referring to," Eason says. "It sounds like he does not have a good enough handle of our plan to be making some of the comments he's been making."
Metro Pulse  |  02-20-2009  12:39 pm  |  Industry News

New York Press Film Writer Discusses His Criticismnew

Armond White, who recently took over as the new chairman of the NY Film Critics Circle, has tastes and opinions that have proved controversial in critic and fan circles. There's even a blog, "Armond Dangerous," devoted to "parsing the confounding film criticism of Mr. Armond White." But White says he doesn't mind, and that he's not stirring the pot just to stir the pot. "I don't say these things to call attention to myself or to get a rise out of people. I say them because I believe them," he tells New York. "We're living in times when critics get fired if they don't like enough movies. People don't need to hear what mouthpieces for the movie industry tell them. They need to hear the truth."
New York Magazine  |  02-20-2009  11:07 am  |  Industry News

Metro Pulse Parent Company Implements Pay Cutsnew

E.W. Scripps Co. exempt employees will see a 5 percent pay cut and the salaries of nonexempt employees will decline by 3 percent. The cuts also include a suspension of the company's 401(k) match and a freeze of the Scripps pension plan. The pay freezes are expected to last for at least a year.
The Knoxville News-Sentinel  |  02-20-2009  8:28 am  |  Industry News

Podcast