AAN News
Judge Allows Ben Eason to Retain Control of Creative Loafingnew
The bankruptcy court judge refused to grant a motion by lender Atalaya to give it ownership of the company yesterday, Creative Loafing (Tampa) reports. Judge Caryl E. Delano ruled that CL's reorganization plan should proceed, and that it was too early into the case to say the plan won't work. On a second part of Atalaya's takeover motion, the judge scheduled the final evidentiary hearing for Jan. 21, and a Jan. 26 hearing has been set to review CL's proposed reorganization plan.
Creative Loafing (Tampa) |
12-19-2008 3:52 pm |
Industry News
Willamette Week Drops Sponsorship of Inauguration Partynew
Editor Mark Zusman tells the Oregonian that WW is no longer involved with a Jan. 20 party the paper was slated to co-sponsor with the Democratic Party of Oregon. Zusman said earlier this week that he didn't know the paper was co-sponsoring the event with the Dems until the Oregonian brought it to his attention. The story hit Capitol Hill yesterday, with Republicans telling Roll Call that the co-sponsored party, together with WW's tough reporting on outgoing Senator Gordon Smith during this campaign season, was proof that the paper "was on a mission to oust the Senator."
The Oregonian |
12-19-2008 3:41 pm |
Industry News
North Carolina's Independent Weekly Announces Cutbacks, Two Layoffsnew
"After a year in which we had the most employees on staff in the paper's history -- 35 -- last week the Indy laid off two people, a reporter and the promotions coordinator, as well as reduced our freelance budget by 10 percent," Lisa Sorg writes in her editor's note this week. Sorg tells local blog Bull City Rising that the laid off employees are Vernal Coleman and Marny Rhodes, and that she and a number of other managers are taking voluntary pay cuts.
The Independent Weekly | Bull City Rising |
12-19-2008 3:28 pm |
Industry News
Advertisers Face Hurdles on Social Networking Sitesnew
The New York Times |
12-19-2008 12:04 pm |
Industry News
New Ad Network Launched With Nonprofit Ad
AAN's new eighth-page display ad network, known as AAN BRAN, published its first network-wide ad the week of Dec. 8. The ad, from the charity Direct Relief International, ran in scores of papers across the country and was sold by Evan Wells of the Santa Barbara Independent. Click through to learn more about the new program.
(FULL STORY)
AAN |
12-18-2008 11:41 am |
Association News
Augusta, Ga., Daily Paper Takes on Alt-Weekly in Adsnew
According to the Buzz on Biz blog, last week the Augusta Chronicle ran a half-page ad targeting businesses that placed ads only with that city's AAN-member paper, the Metro Spirit. It tried to persuade ad buyers that by ignoring the daily, they were missing out on 104,000 readers. "It is the first time in memory that the Chronicle has named a competitor by name," Buzz on Biz reports.
Buzz on Biz |
12-18-2008 9:26 am |
Industry News
Creative Loafing Files Reorganization Plannew
Creative Loafing (Tampa) political editor Wayne Garcia says the plan, filed Monday in the company's Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, makes the case for keeping the company in the hands of CEO Ben Eason. "The Debtor believes retention of existing senior management and existing publishers, editors, directors of shared services and key online personnel are vital to successful implementation of this strategy as the markets are shifting very quickly at this time," the plan reads. CL also filed a 10-year financial forecast and an analysis of how much the company would bring if it were liquidated. Read more from Atlanta Magazine's Steve Fennessy.
Creative Loafing (Tampa) | Atlanta Magazine |
12-17-2008 11:52 am |
Industry News
News & Review and Public Radio Station Team Up for 'Letters to Obama'new
In a joint special project with Capital Public Radio, the Sacramento News & Review is seeking short "Letters to Obama" through the end of the year. "The idea is to share our hopes and dreams for the new president with each other as well as with the new occupant of the White House," the paper writes. Some letters will be published in a special inaugural issue and read on the radio.
Sacramento News & Review |
12-17-2008 9:23 am |
Industry News
The Stranger Publisher Talks About the Web & the Future of Newpapersnew
In a round table discussion with representatives of other Seattle news organizations, Tim Keck discusses how The Stranger fits in to the transformation of the news business. He says that 2007 was the paper's best year ever, and '08 was slightly down due to the tanking economy. While he says that The Stranger has "probably three times the number" of online readers, he notes that print circulation hasn't dropped that much either. "The media compan[ies] that can navigate different mediums [are] going to be the ones that survive," Keck says. "The thing that really moors them is no longer the medium -- a print publication -- it's going to be the community and the brand."
The Seattle Channel |
12-15-2008 1:32 pm |
Industry News
Dilbert Pokes Fun at Surveys That Exclude Cell-Phone Usersnew
"We surveyed a thousand people who still have landline phones and no caller ID. We asked for their opinion on our new technology," reads the cartoon. "34 percent said 'Fiddlesticks,' and 23 percent couldn't hear the question. 43 percent thought we were in the room with them and offered us a hard candy."
Dilbert.com |
12-12-2008 9:21 am |
Industry News
Study: Online Ad Clutter Hurts Ad Effectivenessnew
Burst Media surveyed more than 4,000 web users in order to better understand how clutter impacts their experience and perception of advertisers. 75.5 percent of the respondents who remain on a site they perceive to be cluttered said they pay less attention to ads appearing on its pages. Nearly 30 percent of those surveyed said they leave a site immediately if they perceive it to be cluttered.
Online Media Daily |
12-12-2008 9:16 am |
Industry News
Laid-Off Daily Paper Cartoonist Publishes His Farewell in Alt-Weeklynew
After the news broke that Des Moines Register editorial cartoonist Brian Duffy was laid off as part of Gannett's nationwide cuts last week, Cityview editor/publisher Shane Goodman got in touch with Duffy and offered him a full page to publish whatever he wanted. Duffy took the alt-weekly up on the offer, and this week Cityview published his "farewell" editorial cartoon. "The Register lost an Iowa icon by dropping Duffy from their staff, and they are quickly finding that out ... the hard way," Goodman says in a note to readers.
Politicker.com | Cityview |
12-11-2008 9:23 am |
Industry News
Verve Wireless Rolls Out Mobile Coupon Applicationnew
Editor & Publisher |
12-11-2008 11:51 am |
Industry News
The Long Island Press Announces Fortune 52 Networking Event
Long Island Press Press Release |
12-11-2008 9:10 am |
Press Releases
Worcester Magazine's New Owners Talk Shopnew
When Holden Landmark, a subsidiary of Cracked Rock Media, purchased the alt-weekly in August, the new owners were "taken off guard by the backlash," the Worcester Business Journal Reports. New publisher Gareth Charter and his boss Kirk Davis say that economics forced them to make deep cuts to their newest property, a move that was heavily criticized. Though some observers have thought of the deal as an odd fit, with Landmark's focus on suburban community papers, Davis says the acquisition makes perfect sense to them. "Worcester is the capital of Central Massachusetts," he says. "We've got a lot of Worcester business in our suburban titles, so it's not like this market was unknown to us." Davis and Charter also say that fears of a "suburbanized" WoMag are unfounded, and point to a recent story to prove that Landmark wants to keep the alt-weekly's edge.
The Worcester Business Journal |
12-10-2008 11:03 am |
Industry News
