AAN News
Bay Guardian/VVM Trial Will Likely Go to the Jury This Week
The predatory pricing trial is winding down and it is now expected that the case will go to the jury either Tuesday or Wednesday (the trial takes a day off today). On Friday, the SF Weekly's expert CPA, Everett P. Harry, continued his testimony and Jeff Mars, Village Voice Media's vice president for financial operations, also took the stand. The Guardian says the Weekly's witnesses "make the Guardian's case," while the Weekly says the Guardian's lawyers were focusing on "imaginary evidence." Meanwhile, Editor & Publisher columnist Mark Fitzgerald checks in on the trial, and on the daily blog dispatches from each side, and finds that "the Guardian and SF Weekly are covering the trial with reports that are gleefully unconcerned about appearing objective, and recall the great newspaper feuds of yesteryear."
San Francisco Bay Guardian | SF Weekly | Editor & Publisher |
02-25-2008 9:33 am |
Industry News
Internet Ad Revenue Exceeds $21 Billion in 2007new
Associated Press via Editor & Publisher |
02-25-2008 2:43 pm |
Industry News
Dueling CPAs Take the Stand at the Bay Guardian/VVM Trial
Bay Guardian expert CPA Clifford Kupperberg continued his testimony yesterday in the paper's predatory pricing trial against SF Weekly and Village Voice Media. The next witness was the Weekly's expert CPA, Everett P. Harry, who argued that Kupperberg's testimony was flawed. For more on the trial, check out these blog posts from the Weekly and the Bay Guardian and this week's editor's note from the Guardian. The trial resumes today.
SF Weekly | San Francisco Bay Guardian |
02-22-2008 2:27 pm |
Industry News
Twelve Newspapers Apply for AAN Membership
This year's crop of applying newspapers hail from 10 U.S. states and one Canadian province, and seven of them have previously applied for membership. AAN's Membership Committee will review the papers over the next several months and will discuss their findings when the committee meets in Washington, D.C. on May 3. The committee will then issue its recommendations regarding each application prior to the Annual Meeting, which will take place in Philadelphia on June 7, the last day of the annual AAN convention. The 12 applying papers must be approved by two-thirds of the members voting at the meeting in order to join AAN. In addition, as we reported in December, the status of five current member papers will be reviewed this year.
(FULL STORY)
AAN |
02-21-2008 12:45 pm |
Association News
Bay Guardian Expert Testifies in VVM Trial
Damages expert Clifford Kupperberg continued his testimony on Wednesday in the Guardian's predatory pricing trial against SF Weekly and Village Voice Media. He put forth six "damage models," which estimated the financial toll on the Guardian by the Weekly's alleged below-cost sales at anywhere between $4 million to $11.8 million. For more details, check out the reports from the Bay Guardian and from the Weekly. The trial resumes today with continued cross-examination of Kupperberg.
San Francisco Bay Guardian | SF Weekly |
02-21-2008 12:14 pm |
Industry News
Google Plans Push to Sell Ads to Appear Inside Videosnew
The New York Times |
02-21-2008 8:55 am |
Industry News
Two More Witnesses Testify in Bay Guardian/VVM Trial
SF Weekly publisher Josh Fromson took the stand on Friday and remained there until Tuesday (there was a day off on Monday for President's Day), and Bay Guardian expert witness Clifford Kupperberg also appeared before the court Tuesday. For more details, check out the reports from the Weekly, which says Kupperberg talked about "imaginary profits and damages," and the Guardian, which says Fromson "dodge[d] the facts."
SF Weekly | San Francisco Bay Guardian |
02-20-2008 1:55 pm |
Industry News
Four Newspaper Companies Form Online Ad Partnershipnew
The Industry Standard |
02-19-2008 8:43 am |
Industry News
Witnesses Continue Testimony in Bay Guardian/VVM Trial
The predatory pricing trial resumed yesterday after taking Tuesday off. Village Voice Media chief financial officer Keating finished his testimony, and three more witnesses were called: Jennifer Vernon from Live Nation (formerly Clear Channel Concerts); James Higginbotham of International Demographics, the company that runs Media Audit; and the SF Weekly's expert witness, economics professor Joseph P. Kalt. For more details, check out reports from the Guardian and the Weekly.
San Francisco Bay Guardian | SF Weekly |
02-14-2008 2:00 pm |
Industry News
Report: 85 Percent of World's Online Population Has Shopped Onlinenew
Center for Media Research |
02-13-2008 6:22 pm |
Industry News
Medill Survives Wave of AltWeekly Awards Entries
In its first year administering AAN's editorial contest, Northwestern University's journalism school processed 1,404 entries, a slight decline from last year's total of 1,490. The decline is probably due to rule changes that resulted in the elimination of two categories and a decrease in the number of entries allowed in other categories. Member participation continues to hover around the 100-mark, with 97 newspapers and seven independent cartoonists submitting work. Finalists will be announced on AAN.org in May.
AAN |
02-12-2008 1:37 pm |
Association News
Testimony Continues in Bay Guardian/VVM Trial
Village Voice Media chief financial officer Jed Brunst and former SF Weekly publisher Chris Keating took the stand yesterday in the predatory-pricing trial. In its wrap-up, the SF Weekly focuses on the part of Brunst's testimony that offered "evidence that Weekly rates have been going up over time," not down. The Bay Guardian, on the other hand, focuses on the "huge amounts of cash" the Weekly and the East Bay Express had lost under New Times/VVM control. The trial takes a day off today for Lincoln's Birthday, and will resume on Wednesday.
SF Weekly | San Francisco Bay Guardian |
02-12-2008 12:07 pm |
Industry News
VVM Witnesses Begin Taking the Stand in Bay Guardian Suit
On Friday, Village Voice Media executive editor Michael Lacey testified in the predatory pricing trial. The Guardian says Lacey "had some trouble answering some key questions" about SF Weekly's ad sales and a 1995 meeting where he met the Weekly staff shortly after purchasing the paper. The Weekly says Lacey's testimony illustrated that his and Bruce Brugmann's "editorial philosophies were worlds apart," and notes that Lacey's testimony showed he is not involved in the business side of VVM's affairs. This is key because of comments he made about being "the only game in town," which the Guardian is using as evidence he wanted to drive them out of business. Patricia Calhoun, editor of Denver's Westword, which New Times bought in 1983, also testified on Friday, and according to the Weekly, she "got on and off the stand in only about twenty minutes, a timely performance that drew appreciative nods from jurors." The trial resumes today.
San Francisco Bay Guardian | SF Weekly |
02-11-2008 12:21 pm |
Industry News
NEPA Names Boston Phoenix 'Newspaper of the Year,' Gives Alts Many Awardsnew
The Phoenix was named "Newspaper of the Year" in the alternative weekly division by the New England Press Association in its 2007 Better Newspaper
Contest. "After 40 years, the Boston Phoenix remains a model for alts, bristling with attitude and loaded with coverage of entertainment, culture, politics, and tweaking of the daily press," the judges say. The Boston alt-weekly led the pack of AAN papers represented in the awards with 12 first-place finishes. Boston's Weekly Dig was close behind it's crosstown competitor, grabbing seven first-place awards. The Portland Phoenix and Worcester Magazine each finished first in three categories, while the Hartford Advocate and the Providence Phoenix each took home one first-place award.
New England Press Association |
02-11-2008 8:50 am |
Honors & Achievements
Large Crowds Flock to San Francisco for AAN Conferences
More than 190 people attended the Web Publishing Conference and 288 attended AAN West last week as AAN members descended on the Hotel Kabuki and the First Unitarian Church in San Francisco for several days of education, networking and fun. Post-conference surveys for both events will be circulated later this week. In addition, Powerpoint presentations featured at the conferences will soon be uploaded to the AAN Resource Library.
AAN Staff |
02-05-2008 6:03 pm |
Association News
