AAN News

Tucson Weekly's 'Reality Journalism' Contest Makes Wavesnew

In Arizona nearly anyone can qualify for the presidential primary by filling out some forms and meeting a few basic requirements. With this in mind, the Weekly launched Project White House in November, and thus far has put 20 candidates (of 48 total) on the ballots. Yesterday, a drawing clarified in what order those candidates' names -- as well as more prominent ones like Obama and Romney -- will appear on the ballots. Some people think the long list of unknown names could be taxing on voters, but the Weekly's Jim Nintzel, who is coordinating the process, defended his candidates and the contest. "I think it's a wonderful opportunity to really get people engaged in the democratic process," he says. "A lot of people have dreamed of running for president for a long time, and this is really an opportunity for them to do so." He adds: "The Project White House candidates have just as good a chance at winning the Arizona primary as Ron Paul does."
Arizona Daily Star  |  12-19-2007  1:24 pm  |  Industry News

Food Writer Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl Leaving City Pagesnew

The five-time AltWeekly Award winner and recipient of numerous James Beard Awards is taking her food column to Minnesota Monthly starting in January, according to MinnPost. "It makes me sad to the bottom of my toes," Grumdahl says. "I've been a City Pages writer since I was a whippersnapper; it was my first job out of Carleton. That said, I couldn't be more excited about Minnesota Monthly. I'm interested in longer-form things, I have a couple of books in the works, and Minnesota Monthly is interested in having national platform and voice." MinnPost thinks the loss of "a certifiable brand that pulls in big advertising bucks as local chefs court her legions of drooling foodies" will hurt ad revenue in City Pages' restaurant section.
MinnPost  |  12-19-2007  11:27 am  |  Industry News

Village Voice Media Breaks Into Top Ten Newspaper Sites In U.S.

Backpage.com Ranked As 2nd Largest Free Classified Site In U.S. (FULL STORY)
Village Voice Media Press Release  |  12-18-2007  8:52 am  |  Press Releases

Two Veteran Staffers to Leave AAN

AAN director of sales and marketing Roxanne Cooper and her assistant, Tiffany Kildale, resigned last week after accepting new positions with different employers. Cooper will be leaving AAN in February to take over as associate publisher of the Philadelphia City Paper, and Kildale departs next month to assume the position of meeting coordinator at the Chemical Producers & Distributors Association in Washington, D.C. (FULL STORY)
AAN  |  12-17-2007  5:28 pm  |  Association News

Ben Eason Weighs in on the State of Creative Loafingnew

"While it is easy to blame mean and nasty CEOs for trimming budgets, the fact is that our journalism, advertising and our content needs to be and are being re-conceived," Creative Loafing CEO Ben Eason says in a memo to employees leaked to Poynter's Jim Romenesko. In the memo, Eason tells his employees that most of the post-merger integration -- including staffing decisions -- of the Chicago Reader and Washington City Paper into the CL family is complete. "I'm very pleased with how the new company has come together," he says. "We are positioned well to take advantage of the future."
Romenesko Memos  |  12-17-2007  10:08 am  |  Industry News

Oklahoma Gazette Loses Power, Publishes With Help of Generator

The paper lost electricity early on Monday, Dec. 10, just hours before the always-hectic press day. But this week's issue still came out, thanks to the hard work of Gazette employees ... and a generator. "We were first in line for a [generator] rental but weren't fully functional until nine hours later," associate publisher Jeffri-Lynn Dyer says. "We aren't returning it, though. With the next storm coming, we might need it next press day!" According to the latest forecast, a new storm is expected to bring two to four inches of snow heading into this weekend. The Gazette's rented generator is on standby in the paper's parking lot. (FULL STORY)
Oklahoma Gazette Press Release  |  12-14-2007  4:30 pm  |  Industry News

Web 2.0's Year-in-Reviewnew

CNET News  |  12-13-2007  3:13 pm  |  Industry News

Isthmus Announces Get Green Challenge

Isthmus Publishing Co. Press Release  |  12-13-2007  2:26 pm  |  Press Releases

Membership of Five Papers Up for Review in 2008

Due to a 2004 change in the association's bylaws, five papers that have taken on new majority owners in the past two years will have their AAN membership reviewed in 2008. The Membership Committee will evaluate The Other Paper, Boston's Weekly Dig, East Bay Express, Metro Pulse, and Cityview, and will issue a report to members a week before the 2007 annual convention. To retain their membership, each paper must be affirmed by at least one-third of the members voting at the annual meeting in Philadelphia, which is tentatively scheduled for June 7. (FULL STORY)
AAN  |  12-12-2007  11:46 am  |  Association News

Tribune Co. Daily Sells Valley Advocatenew

The Hartford Courant announced plans Tuesday to sell the Valley Advocate, an alt-weekly covering western Massachusetts, to Newspapers of New England Inc., which owns newspapers in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Editor & Publisher reports that the sale lets the Courant focus its attention on its properties in Connecticut. The Advocate will continue to share content and do cross-market sales with the remaining alt-weeklies the Courant purchased in 1999 from New Mass. Media: the Hartford Advocate, the New Haven Advocate and Fairfield County Weekly. The sale is expected to close later this month; terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Hartford Courant | Editor & Publisher  |  12-12-2007  8:14 am  |  Industry News

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