AAN News
The Stranger Launches Happy Hour iPhone Appnew
Cocktail Compass, which the alt-weekly rolled out last week, gives iPhone users information on the happy hours currently happening at bars close by. The app allows users to search for bars that have specific attributes, like wifi, dancing or outdoor seating, and it also includes a feature to call a local cab company when the drinking is done. Seattle Weekly responded to the Stranger's news by saying it had launched "the Ripper," a "game-changing new rotary phone app."
The Stranger |
05-05-2009 2:38 pm |
Industry News
Dan Savage to Host AltWeekly Awards Luncheon
The Stranger's editorial director and
syndicated sex columnist has been tapped
to reprise his role as host of the AltWeekly Awards Luncheon at this year's AAN
Convention.
(FULL STORY)
AAN |
04-01-2009 1:44 pm |
Association News
Is Dan Savage Really Running for Mayor?new
In a blog post on Monday titled "I'm Running for Mayor," The Stranger's editorial director threw his hat in the mayoral ring, saying "my entire platform is this: If elected I pledge to resign the office of mayor 24 hours after I'm sworn in." Seattle officials are trying to figure out if Savage is really mounting a run or just joking around. City rules say candidates must file paperwork with the city clerk within two weeks of publicly announcing an intention to run. "We've got to figure out whether he's serious or not," Ethics and Elections Commission chairman Wayne Barnett tells the Seattle Times.
The Seattle Times | The Stranger |
03-20-2009 9:36 am |
Industry News
Village Voice Media Social-Networking Site Draws Controversynew
"(VVM) ... is using a social-networking company it owns to erode the wall between editorial content and advertising by promoting its advertisers under the guise of community buzz," reports The Stranger. The Seattle alt-weekly made the claim after scouring the user-generated reviews on the Yelp-like LikeMe.net and purportedly discovering that a majority were thumbs-up recommendations written by VVM ad staff. But in a response posted on Seattle Weekly's website, VVM says its employees posted the reviews to "test drive" the new site, which had yet to be officially announced, and that the number of posts do not constitute a majority. VVM also notes that earlier reports that it owns a controlling interest in the new "local recommendation engine" are erroneous.
The Stranger | Seattle Weekly |
01-22-2009 6:24 pm |
Industry News
Film That Uses Alt-Weekly Porn Festival as Plot Conceit Hits Sundancenew
The plot of Lynn Shelton's Humpday centers on two straight college friends who decide to make a movie for HUMP!, the real-life amateur porn contest produced each year by The Stranger. "It's about the limitations and occasional absurdity of straightness, specifically male straightness," Shelton tells The Stranger. "These two guys try to 'outdude' each other by trying to 'do' each other, which is kind of ironic." Salon critic Andrew O'Hehir says Humpday -- which found a distributor this week -- is an "early candidate for Sundance breakout hit." MORE: Read an interview with Shelton at IFC.com.
The Stranger | Salon |
01-21-2009 8:58 am |
Industry News
Flooding Forces The Stranger to Reprint Last Week's Issuenew
"Since it's printed in Yakima, a semi truck filled with tens of thousands of copies of The Stranger is sitting on the other side of the 10-feet-deep body of water that used to be known as I-5," editor Christopher Frizzelle wrote last Thursday. The alt-weekly reprinted the entire issue at the Seattle Times printing facility and distributed it a little late. "Enjoy this week's paper," Frizzelle wrote. "It was very expensive."
The Stranger |
01-12-2009 11:19 am |
Industry News
Seattle Gay Bars and The Stranger Receive Threatening Lettersnew
Eleven gay bars received letters yesterday from someone claiming to be in the possession of ricin, a deadly poison. "Your establishment has been targeted," the letter begins. "I have in my possession approximately 67 grams of ricin with which I will indiscriminately target at least five of your clients." The Stranger also received a letter, which was addressed to the attention of "Obituaries," according to editorial director Dan Savage. It said that the paper should "be prepared to announce the deaths of approximately 55 individuals all of whom were patrons of the following establishments on a Saturday in January," before listing a handful of gay bars.
The Stranger |
01-07-2009 9:10 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
The Stranger and Ace Hotel Launch 'Trainsetters' Programnew
In collaboration with Travel Portland and Amtrak Cascades, Ace Hotel and
The Stranger have launched Trainsetters -- a program that encourages
train travel from Seattle to Portland and supports Portland's independent
shops this holiday season. The program is aimed at an emerging travel market: younger travelers who are sick of the hassle and high costs of driving
and air travel, and who prefer the train's practical and aesthetic benefits. Trainsetters will be promoted via design collaborations between The Stranger and Ace Hotel, including postcards, posters and custom coffee sleeves on the train, ads in The Stranger, and also on the web at www.trainsetters.com.
The Stranger Press Release (pdf) |
11-25-2008 9:58 am |
Press Releases
Dan Savage Responds to Utah Invite: 'I'm Not Ready to Make Nice'new
"I get it, I get it: you're not all bigots and haters, and people marched against Prop 8 in Salt Lake City this weekend," Savage writes in response to Salt Lake Tribune columnist Sean P. Means' invitation for Savage to visit the state to see the "real" Utah. "But I'm not ready to make nice -- on purpose or by accident -- with the bigots and haters from Magic Underpants Inc. who donated money and time to Prop 8." MORE: Savage has been "a teeny bit over the top with his rhetoric, Salt Lake City Weekly's John Saltas says, before reprising Means' invite and offering to pay Savage's way. "We'll introduce him to local GLBT leaders, many of whom are equally pissed that he walked away from them."
The Stranger |
11-20-2008 9:12 am |
Industry News
Columnist Invites Dan Savage 'To See the Real Utah'new
Salt Lake Tribune columnist Sean P. Means says he doesn't "like that Savage and others have singled out Utah for their wrath" with a proposed boycott over the Mormon Church's support of California's ballot initiative banning same-sex marriage. But Means says he'd "rather engage Savage in this discussion," so he has invited him to come to Utah. Means says he'd even buy drinks for Savage and Salt Lake City Weekly founder John Saltas, who publicly dropped the "Savage Love" column last week, "to let the healing begin."
The Salt Lake Tribune |
11-18-2008 9:55 am |
Industry News
The Stranger Reworks 2004 Election Cover
If this week's cover looked strikingly familiar to readers of the Seattle alt-weekly, it's because the two papers are almost visually identical, with new text. The lead of the '04 cover, "Do Not Despair," has been replaced with this year's "Rejoice. Revel. Repeat."
AAN News |
11-17-2008 9:25 am |
Industry News
Salt Lake City Weekly Drops 'Savage Love' After Talk of Utah Boycottnew
In the wake of the passage of a same-sex marriage ban in California last week, an effort that was heavily funded by the Mormon church, Dan Savage and others have called for boycotting the state. "Trouble is, all Utahns aren't to blame, nor are all Mormons," writes Salt Lake City Weekly founder John Saltas. "A nonspecific call to boycott is never effective and is fraught with misdirected fire." He concludes that "since Savage hates Utah so much, there's no point in us playing in his sandbox by sending him a regular check." MORE:The Village Voice weighs in on the Weekly's decision. STILL EVEN MORE: Savage has been making the media rounds talking about Prop. 8 this week. Check out his New York Times op-ed, his appearance on The Colbert Report and his takedown of Tony Perkins on Anderson Cooper 360.
Salt Lake City Weekly |
11-13-2008 9:18 am |
Industry News
Dan Savage Talks 'Savage Love' and the Role of Alt-Weekliesnew
In the recurring "So What Do You Do?" column on MediaBistro, the editorial director of The Stranger and syndicated sex advice columnist discusses how he got started with "Savage Love," how sex-column writing has changed in the last 15 years, and why he loves his job. "I get emails from people all day long describing their sex lives and sex problems," he says. Savage also talks about the role of the alt-weekly in a deteriorating mainstream media landscape. "I think alt-weeklies have more and more of a role to play -- particularly as dailies continue to try and swim around with an anvil under each arm," he says. "One anvil is objectivity and the other is 'family newspaper.' Alt-weeklies have the luxury of publishing writing by adults, to adults, and for adults. And that's a real advantage. It's a style advantage, it's an attitudinal advantage, and it's also an urban advantage."
MediaBistro |
11-12-2008 12:52 pm |
Industry News
The Stranger's Election Night Party Spills Out into the Streetsnew
Thousands of people took to the downtown Seattle streets last night to celebrate Barack Obama's election in what the Seattle Post-Intelligencer describes as "exuberant mayhem." Police told the P-I that the crowd fueled by people leaving The Stranger's election party was peaceful, and as of midnight no injuries or vandalism had been reported. On the Slog, the Stranger sums it up: "Hundreds of people have been marching up and down 1st and Pike since our election night party got out a few hours ago. It's the most beautiful mob scene we've ever seen."
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer | The Stranger |
11-05-2008 9:19 am |
Industry News
