AAN News

NOW Magazine Creates Hybrid Documentary/Mockumentary About Itselfnew

The Toronto alt-weekly last week debuted NOW Magazine: The Movie, a nine-week web film series that simultaneously chronicles the paper's history and makes fun of it in the mockumentary style. In the movie, a fictional theater troupe is commissioned by NOW CEO Alice Klein to create a musical about the paper on the heels of its 25th anniversary in 2006, with that plot intertwined with archive footage from NOW's real-life history. "It is actually truly funny, and one of the only ways you can achieve that is to be prepared to take the piss out of yourself," editor and publisher Michael Hollett says. "It's entertaining, but at the same time there is real information that emerges about our history, which is a pretty proud one." The five-minute episodes, directed by Second City alum Brian G. Smith, will all be released on the NOW Magazine: The Movie microsite. You can check out the trailer below.

NOW Magazine - The Trailer from NOW Magazine on Vimeo.
CARD Online  |  10-20-2009  12:23 pm  |  Industry News

Secret Service Denies Access to White House Visitor Logsnew

Despite the Obama administration's recent legal settlement to begin releasing White House visitor logs later this year, it has denied Judicial Watch's recent request for those same records. "In refusing to abide by FOIA law, the Secret Service advanced the erroneous claim that the records belong to the Obama White House, not the agency, and are therefore may be kept secret under the Presidential Records Act," Judicial Watch says in a release.
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press  |  10-20-2009  10:36 am  |  Legal News

Isthmus Partners With Other Local Media for Collaborative Reportingnew

Nearly two dozen media outlets in and around Madison, Wisc., are taking part in "Madison RX: Our Ailing Health Care System," the first series to come out of the new collaborative journalism project All Together Now, Bill Lueders reports. The project was launched as a way for local media to work together to tackle big issues. "We could achieve collectively more than any of our outlets could individually," Lueders writes. "And we could demonstrate our ability to advance a common purpose, with each outlet doing what it does best." The project, which got a shout-out in CJR earlier this year, "could serve as a model for journalists across the nation," Lueders reports. "As news staffs shrink, cooperation becomes imperative," he writes. "The Madison model is an ambitious attempt to make this work on a community-wide basis."
Isthmus  |  10-20-2009  9:26 am  |  Industry News

Homeland Security Bill Bats .500 on Open Government [members only]

Richard Karpel  |  10-20-2009  7:54 pm  |  AAN Staff Blog

Another 'How I Got That Story' Live Chat Set for Friday

After a week off, AAN's "How I Got That Story" live chat series returns this Friday, Oct. 23, at 3 pm EDT. Patrick Michels will join us to discuss his award-winning Texas Observer feature "Private Trauma," which tells the story of a former KBR contractor struggling with PTSD after working for the company in Iraq. Michels will be joined by Jake Bernstein, who was his editor for the story, and the chat will be moderated by North Coast Journal editor Hank Sims. (FULL STORY)
AAN  |  10-19-2009  11:00 am  |  Association News

Study: Twitter is Driving Traffic to News Websitesnew

A new report from the online ad network Chitika says that, among clients in its network, news websites get the most referral traffic from Twitter, outpacing movies, tech and medical (and tying the all-encompassing "Other" category). "Given Twitter's unique ability to bring information instantly to large numbers of people, it's not surprising that news leads the way," Chitika notes. "Twitter's instantaneous and collaborative nature has made it out to be the bleeding edge of all news."
WebProNews  |  10-19-2009  9:47 am  |  Industry News

Republican Congressman to the Left of Obama on Shield Law [members only]

Richard Karpel  |  10-19-2009  7:12 pm  |  AAN Staff Blog

AAN Budget Approved ... Again [members only]

Richard Karpel  |  10-19-2009  6:55 pm  |  AAN Staff Blog

Remembering the Earthquake That Ended the Santa Cruz Sunnew

In this week's Santa Cruz Weekly, Stephen Kessler goes back 20 years in time to revisit the Loma Prieta earthquake, which destroyed downtown Santa Cruz -- and ended his alt-weekly, the Santa Cruz Sun. After surveying the quake's damage to not only his home but the city's downtown core (home to so many of the Sun's advertisers), Kessler "broke the news to the staff that we would put out one last issue and call it quits." That staff included sales manager Bradley Zeve, who went on to start the Monterey County Weekly, and many writers who would later contribute to Metro Santa Cruz (now Santa Cruz Weekly). Kessler says that final issue was the paper's best ever -- "a true-to-life account of the city's most apocalyptic event since the 1955 flood."
Santa Cruz Weekly  |  10-16-2009  3:30 pm  |  Industry News

Recession Brings Both Clouds and Silver Linings to New Haven Advocatenew

That's what the Yale Daily News finds in a report on how three local news organizations are faring in the downturn. While the Advocate's "circulation is steady," as managing editor John Stoehr points out, publisher Joshua Mamis admits that the paper's page count has decreased. Mamis also notes that although the paper has lost some national advertisers, many local advertisers have remained loyal.
Yale Daily News  |  10-16-2009  12:04 pm  |  Industry News

Santa Barbara Independent Staffer Helps Launch Music Festival

The Independent's senior editor Matt Kettmann is a co-founder of New Noise Santa Barbara, a music conference and festival that debuted Oct. 8-10 at venues throughout downtown Santa Barbara. "We're telling locals that it's like the wildly popular Santa Barbara International Film Fest, but with music," says Kettmann, the paper's former pop culture editor who more recently directed the editorial development of Independent.com. "And we're telling everyone else that it's like South By Southwest, but much smaller and on the coast." The Independent served as an official media sponsor and published the conference's program guide.
AAN News  |  10-16-2009  10:25 am  |  Industry News

Houston Press Food Critic Keeps Writing Through Swine Flu Quarantinenew

"If you are wondering why I am so quiet lately its because I have been quarantined with N1H1," Robb Walsh tweeted last week. But being stuck in his house under doctor's orders didn't stop him from doing his job, he tells Washington City Paper. "There was no change in diet at all. I didn’t even have to stop writing," he says of his quarantine, which ended this Tuesday. "I just reviewed take out food." (Walsh further explains the process in a blog post titled "How to Review a Restaurant When You're Quarantined.")
Washington City Paper | Houston Press  |  10-15-2009  1:21 pm  |  Industry News

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