AAN News
Ben Eason Offers CL Managers Equity If They Join Bid for the Companynew
The Creative Loafing CEO tells the Chicago Reader he is working on a bid for the company that consists of three components: Eason and his family; BIA Digital Partners, who CL owes $10 million; "and managers from all across the company." Eason says the idea is to couple the pay cuts taken by the 25-30 managers with an offer of equity in the company and a chance to join the bid. "If it loses, Eason says, they'll be paid their deferred salaries out of auction proceeds," the Reader reports. "Managers who remain on the sidelines will get paid back either way." The idea is one way Eason hopes to set his bid apart from the bid expected from Atalaya Capital Management, CL's main creditor. He hopes the show of unity will impress the bankruptcy judge, who will hold the auction for the six-paper chain on Aug. 25. "You've got managers clearly invested in the business, in continuing to run the business, and in looking to keeping it going," Eason says. MORE: In other CL news, a Chicago blogger gives his in-depth analysis of the company's value.
Chicago Reader |
08-12-2009 2:57 pm |
Industry News
Philadelphia Weekly Executive Editor Among Those Leaving the Papernew
Longtime PW staffer and well-regarded mental health columnist and blogger Liz Spikol has left the paper. Philip Dawdy reports that Spikol will return to blogging at some point, but is currently taking a bit of a break. Her departure comes on the heels of recently reported layoffs, pay cuts and furloughs at the paper, moves addressed by PW parent company Review Publishing's president and chief operating officer in a statement given to AAN News. "Like most organizations, we needed to take proactive and hopefully temporary measures to preserve as many jobs as possible while best positioning the organization for long term growth," George Troyano writes. "We remain very optimistic about the future and will continue to invest in new initiatives and technologies. We will maintain a strategic and creative approach to best
maneuver through these challenging times."
Philebrity |
08-12-2009 10:28 am |
Industry News
Metroland Contributor's Play Hits NY Fringe Festivalnew
Byron Nilsson, who reviews restaurants and writes about music and theater for the Albany alt-weekly, will premiere Mr. Sensitivity during the 2009 New York International Fringe Festival opening this weekend. Nilsson tells The Ridgefield Press that the play, which is a comedy about a man who gives his wife an hour with a porn star for her birthday, "combines the antic humor of a Neil Simon play with potty-mouthed drollery too crude even for David Mamet."
The Ridgefield Press |
08-12-2009 8:58 am |
Honors & Achievements
AAN Corrects Sen. Bernie Sanders on Comments About Alt-Weeklies
In his announcement yesterday about starting his own weekly internet TV show, the independent U.S. Senator from Vermont bemoaned media consolidation. Unfortunately, he also unfairly characterized alt-weeklies, claiming they "have been bought by a monopoly franchise and made a predictable shift to the right in their coverage of local news." In a letter responding to the Senator's claim, AAN president Mark Zusman and executive director Richard Karpel set the record straight, noting the absurdity of calling any alt-weekly a "monopoly franchise" and stating that "alternative newspapers across North America are still often among the few publications in their communities that consistently offer a progressive viewpoint on issues like poverty, racism, health-care reform and environmental sustainability."
(FULL STORY)
Mark Zusman |
08-11-2009 3:12 pm |
Industry News
| Comments (1)
Village Voice Classified Ad Sets Film Plot in Motion
We missed the news of the feature film WTC View when it was released in 2005, but this month Logo is airing the movie, which uses a Voice classified ad as plot springboard, so we figured we'd let you know about it. "[The] film is about a young gay man who places an ad in the Village Voice for a roommate the night before September 11," according to the Los Angeles Times' synopsis. "In the coming weeks, he desperately interviews potential roomies to share his pad that has -- you guessed it -- a WTC view."
AAN News |
08-11-2009 8:53 am |
Industry News
Survey: Marketers Still Under Heavy Pressure to Cut Costsnew
Marketing Daily |
08-11-2009 9:45 am |
Industry News
Washington City Paper's 'Key Players' Talk About the Past & the Futurenew
In a lengthy Post Magazine feature, City Paper alums like Russ Smith, Jack Shafer and David Carr join current leaders Erik Wemple and Ben Eason in discussing the paper's history, its legacy and its future. Even former mayor Marion Barry, who recently appeared on a City Paper cover that incited some controversy, weighs in on the alt-weekly.
The Washington Post |
08-10-2009 11:12 am |
Industry News
Borrell: Newspapers Will Hit Bottom This Year, Then Reboundnew
Borrell Associates president Colby Atwood says in a new memo that he expects American newspapers to see a decline in 2009, then a mild rebound over the next five years. Although Atwood doesn't specifically discuss alt-weeklies, two of his key rebound factors seem to predict better times ahead for the industry. First, he notes that papers need to "reinvent themselves to serve smaller advertisers on the marketing side ... actively pursuing customers that
have never done business with newspapers before" -- a client base that many alts have traditionally tapped in a successful way. Editorially, he says the future is local, a space alt-weeklies have focused on for decades.
Borrell Associates |
08-10-2009 9:39 am |
Industry News
Tags: Financial, Management
Responses to Your Convention Complaints [members only]
Richard Karpel |
08-06-2009 9:30 pm |
AAN Staff Blog
| Comments (1)
Get the Monkey Off Your Back With BeedFack
Avenews Conducting Biweekly Webinars on BeedFack Survey
Publishing System
(FULL STORY)
Avenews Press Release |
08-06-2009 2:11 pm |
Press Releases
Tags: Avenews Software Co.
Sam Sifton Named New York Times' Restaurant Criticnew
In a move that once again demonstrates the enormous influence that alternative newspapers have had on contemporary food writing, the gray lady announced this afternoon that the former managing editor of the New York Press will replace Frank Bruni as the paper's restaurant critic. It's not necessarily a promotion for Sifton, who vacates his position as the Times' culture editor to take the marquee assignment. In his staff announcement, executive editor Bill Keller calls Sifton "a writer of discernment and wit and erudition."
The New York Times |
08-05-2009 2:14 pm |
Industry News
Tags: Editorial
Gannett Redefines the Meaning of a 'Local' Businessnew
Last week, Jackson Free Press became one of the 22 AAN papers that have published a version of Stacy Mitchell's story on "local washing," the phenomenon in which large, national corporations don the figurative garb of natives in order to co-opt the "buy local" movement. JFP editor Donna Ladd wrote a column in the same issue placing Gannett's ShopLocal(TM) squarely in the local-washing camp. Yesterday, Patrick Flanagan, the senior director of product management for ShopLocal(TM), answered JFP in a blog post purporting to "clear up the confusion around the meaning of 'local'", which he defines in a way that manages to include every bricks-and-mortar business in America, including CVS and Wal-Mart. So, according to Flanagan (whose post also caused collateral damage to the term "hyperlocal"), all shopping is local as long as it's done in a physical store.
Jackson Free Press |
08-05-2009 1:44 pm |
Industry News
| Comments (2)
Tags: Jackson Free Press, Donna Ladd
Veronis Suhler: 'Traditional Media' Will Continue to Declinenew
The New York Times |
08-05-2009 6:53 pm |
Industry News
Complete Village Voice Archives Now Onlinenew
The first issue of the Voice was published on Oct. 26, 1955. Now we all can read that issue and every one that followed, courtesy of Google. The archives are hosted by the Internet juggernaut as part of the company's effort to digitize historical newspaper archives. "Get mad at our coverage of ancient history as well as of current events!" enthuses the Voice.
The Village Voice |
08-04-2009 3:54 pm |
Industry News
OC Weekly Cleans Up in Local Press Contestnew
The suburban paper won 15 awards -- almost twice as many as the publication that came in second -- when the winners of the Orange County Press Club's annual contest were announced last week. Gustavo Arellano was a veritable journalism-award vacuum cleaner, sucking up three first-place awards and two third-place finishes. R. Scott Moxley nabbed two first-place trophies, including best columnist, and one second-place award. Matt Coker and Nick Schou were also honored with multiple awards.
OC Weekly |
08-04-2009 7:42 pm |
Honors & Achievements
