AAN News

Anthrax Hoaxer Who Mailed Package to News & Review Sentencednew

Marc Keyser has been sentenced to four years and three months in prison for perpetrating a nationwide anthrax hoax in 2008. Before mailing out 100 packages in 2008, Keyser sent a hoax anthrax package to the Sacramento News & Review in January 2007. He was questioned and warned by FBI agents, but not arrested, after he mailed a cylinder marked "anthrax" to the alt-weekly because he wanted publicity for a novel he had written.
Sacramento Bee  |  04-27-2010  9:31 am  |  Industry News

Nine California AAN Members Take Home State Press Awardsnew

The California Newspaper Publishers Association recently gave out 480 first and second place awards in its 2009 Better Newspapers contest, and nine alt-weeklies received at least one. The Sacramento News & Review won ten awards, including firsts for Public Service, Columns, Sports Story, Front Page, Freedom of Information. SF Weekly won seven awards, including first-place finishes for Writing, Investigative/Enterprise Reporting and Environmental/Ag Resource Reporting. The North Coast Journal won six awards, including firsts in the Writing, Local News Coverage, Business/Financial Story and Environmental/Ag Resource Reporting categories. Palo Alto Weekly took home five awards -- all first-place wins -- in the Editorial Comment, Local News Coverage, Sports Coverage, Feature Photo, Best Website and General Excellence categories. Chico News & Review won two awards, both firsts, for Editorial Pages and Special Issue. Pacific Sun also took home two awards, both firsts, for Feature Story and Lifestyle Coverage. Metro Silicon Valley, Pasadena Weekly and the San Francisco Bay Guardian each took home one award.
California Newspaper Publishers Association  |  04-26-2010  11:14 am  |  Honors & Achievements

Sacramento Implements Modular News Racks in Downtown Areanew

"Slick, shiny new city-owned newspaper kiosks" have replaced the "untidy clusters of First Amendment funkiness" along K Street in Sacramento, the News & Review reports. The city, which implemented the new racks without consulting local publishers, is contemplating expanding the program citywide. While independent publishers lose the branding of individual boxes, the News & Review's distribution manager points out they save money with the new racks too, since the city is now on the hook for the cost and hassle of maintaining the racks, replacing broken windows and coin boxes and painting over graffiti.
Sacramento News & Review  |  03-10-2010  9:49 am  |  Industry News

News & Review's Waterless Urinal Gets the Local TV Treatmentnew

When a Sacramento TV channel did a story last week on the state EPA pulling its 50-plus waterless urinals out of its LEED-certified building, it also headed over to the News & Review's new green building to follow owner Jeff von Kaenel into the men's room. "Ours is working great," he says, showing off the waterless urinal.

Sacramento News & Review  |  03-01-2010  12:44 pm  |  Industry News

Sacramento News & Review Settles into New Digsnew

The News & Review has finally moved into the "leaky old supermarket" that it purchased a few years ago and then renovated to be as energy-efficient as possible. Co-owner Deborah Redmond looks back at the process and details some of the building's new green features (blue jean insulation, dual-flush toilets and lights that turn off automatically, to name just a few). "Several years ago, I was having green nightmares. Getting here was no easy task," Redmond writes. "Now, I'm inspired to explore ideas about how we can work in an even more sustainable manner."
Sacramento News & Review  |  01-21-2010  1:15 pm  |  Industry News

Sacramento News & Review Gets Ready to Movenew

After a few years and a few million dollars, the paper is finally moving into its new office -- a former supermarket that it purchased and renovated using green-building standards. As News & Review publisher Jeff vonKaenel points out, the move wouldn't have been possible without about $2 million in grants, loan guarantees and other incentives from the city -- but he says that doesn't mean the paper will all of a sudden go soft in its coverage of the city and its redevelopment agency. "During my 36 years as a newspaper publisher, there have been many instances where regular advertisers have called me to complain about a story and to cancel their advertising," he writes. "Our business relationship with the city is no different."
Sacramento News & Review  |  12-02-2009  10:54 am  |  Industry News

Sacramento News & Review is Holding Strong Despite the Downturnnew

Local TV station KCRA reports that the News & Review is "getting through the recession better than others" like Sacramento's daily, the Bee, which, like so many other daily newspapers, has laid off scores of staffers in the past few years. "We took a dip last year but it's really picking up, and as things for the dailies get worse it's going to get even better for us," News & Review president and CEO Jeff von Kaenel tells the station.
KCRA-TV via YouTube  |  10-13-2009  9:08 am  |  Industry News

News & Review Publisher: What Will Remain After the Dailies Go Away?new

in 1996, Jeff vonKaenel wrote a widely discussed piece predicting that most daily newspapers would be out of business in ten years. Although his timing was off, there's no question he nailed the trajectory. Now he's back to ask, What comes next? His "guess" and "hope" is that weekly newspapers will survive as "a viable economic model," and journalism that is "more cutting-edge, more controversial ... (and) less locally based" will flourish online through the joint support of nonprofits, corporations and individual citizens.
Sacramento News & Review  |  09-03-2009  11:24 am  |  Industry News

Sacramento Looks to Modular News Racks in Downtown Areanew

California's capital city is weighing an ordinance to replace news boxes on the K Street mall area and replace them with city-owned and operated modular racks, the News & Review reports. The city's proposed rule would allow dailies first pick of space in the modular racks, followed by weeklies, then semi weeklies and monthlies.
Sacramento News & Review  |  05-08-2009  3:30 pm  |  Industry News

Sacramento News & Review Celebrates 20th Anniversarynew

"In the early years, SN&R was panned, dissed, scoffed at and boycotted. We were also loved and welcomed," founding editor Melinda Welsh writes. "Somehow -- story by story, column by column, brainstorm by brainstorm -- the paper managed to take root and gain ground." The alt-weekly celebrates the anniversary this week with a special issue featuring pieces from a wide variety of folks involved with the paper over the years.
Sacramento News & Review  |  04-23-2009  8:12 am  |  Honors & Achievements

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

Anthrax Prankster Who Hit News & Review in '07 Seems to be Backnew

Marc Keyser is a familiar name to the staff of the Sacramento News & Review. Keyser, who is suspected of mailing out 120 hoax anthrax letters nationwide last week, first sent a hoax anthrax package to the N&R in January 2007. He was questioned and warned by FBI agents, but not arrested, after he mailed a cylinder marked "anthrax" to the alt-weekly because he wanted publicity for a novel he had written.
The Sacramento Bee via the Seattle Times  |  11-03-2008  9:19 am  |  Industry News

California Alt-Weeklies Take Home Dozens of State Awardsnew

The California Newspaper Publishers Association announced the winners of its annual Better Newspapers Contest on Saturday, and nine AAN members won a total of 38 awards. The Sacramento News & Review won a total of nine awards, five of which were first-place finishes, including a General Excellence win. "The News & Review is a salty and irreverent weekly packed with excellent coverage of news and culture, multiple voices in columns and two pages of letters," the judges wrote. "Its colorful design is inviting and, praises to the sales department, it is packed with ads." In addition, Palo Alto Weekly also won nine total awards; the North Coast Journal won eight; Chico News & Review won four; the San Francisco Bay Guardian won three; Metro Silicon Valley won two; and the Pacific Sun, Pasadena Weekly and SF Weekly each took home one award. CORRECTION: The Santa Barbara Independent also won five awards.
California Newspaper Publishers Association (pdf)  |  10-27-2008  9:09 am  |  Honors & Achievements

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