AAN News

Ten Candidates Running for Election to AAN Board of Directors

There will be up to ten board positions up for election at the annual meeting this Saturday in Tucson. So far, ten AAN members have thrown their hats into the ring for nine of the board spots; they tell us why they want to be on the board and what they think the most important issues facing the association are. (FULL STORY)
AAN News  |  06-22-2009  2:48 pm  |  Association News

Analyst: Some Paid Advertising Will Be Lost for Good in Downturnnew

PricewaterhouseCoopers' Marcel Fenez tells the New York Times that after a 12 percent plunge this year, global ad spending will not climb back to 2007 levels for five years, largely due to the emergence of cost-free avenues like social media to disseminate branding messages. "It's different this time," he says. "There's obviously some element of cyclical in it, but our belief is that it is largely structural."
The New York Times  |  06-22-2009  10:17 am  |  Industry News

Media Critic: L.A. Weekly's 'Aggressive Slant Erodes Quality'new

Los Angeles Times media critic James Rainey opined in a column last week that the recent departure of Weekly editor-in-chief Laurie Ochoa was the latest sign that the alt-weekly had "fallen far from the days it was required reading for those in the know about the city." Rainey attributed much of the decline to "bombastic" news editor Jill Stewart, saying "she pushes story lines that make some sense, with arguments that make very little." In response, Stewart says Rainey didn't bother to contact her for his "take-down attempt column," and that he also failed to mention a Weekly story she helmed that heavily critized Rainey. "I am very sad to see Jim launch a wrong-headed attack on me without disclosing that I assigned and edited a story critical of him in 2007," Stewart writes, while noting the Weekly's recent "hammering" of the Times in award competitions. "Our story about Jim was, in fact, far more extensively reported and much better sourced than his about me."
Los Angeles Times | L.A. Weekly  |  06-22-2009  8:34 am  |  Industry News

Online Publishers Association/comScore Study Looks at 'Silent Clicks'new

The study is "designed to move beyond the 'click' as a measure of online advertising success," Silicon Alley Insider reports. It assesses 80 branding campaigns across 200 websites over a month's time, analyzing consumer behaviors of users exposed to display advertising. "To date, measuring a brand campaign meant relying on the click," Online Publishers Association president Pam Horan says in a release. "In order to understand the value of the audiences that display advertising attracts, our study helps marketers think about real behavioral measures designed to move the needle."
Silicon Alley Insider  |  06-19-2009  9:43 am  |  Industry News

L.A. Weekly Story Wins National Science Writing Awardnew

The Foundation for Biomedical Research has named Max Taves' "UCLA Profs and Scientists Sued Animal-Rights Radicals" the winner of a 2008 Michael E. DeBakey Journalism Award in the Print (Large Market) division. The award "recognizes outstanding journalism demonstrating the essential role of humane animal research in medical discoveries and scientific breakthroughs," according to the foundation.
Foundation for Biomedical Research Press Release  |  06-19-2009  8:27 am  |  Honors & Achievements

Five Papers Apply for AAN Membership, Six More Will Be Reviewed

Of the five hopefuls, there are some familiar names: Three have previously applied for membership and one first-time applicant is a sister paper of a current AAN member. The status of six current member papers will also be reviewed this year. (FULL STORY)
AAN News  |  06-18-2009  12:39 pm  |  Association News

City Pages Launches 'Twin Cities Reader'new

The Reader, named for the Twin Cities alt-weekly that closed in 1997, is a local news aggregator being developed as a separate entity from the paper's Blotter blog. "This is it's own product, and it's meant to be a hub for finding the most important stories in the Twin Cities quickly," City Pages editor Kevin Hoffman tells AAN News in an email. "Whereas Blotter is highly voice driven, this is more like a map where the reader decides where to visit." The Reader apes the look of the notorious Drudge Report, a move Hoffman says was intentional. "The Drudge Report has long been the top national aggregator online, even for people who don't agree with Drudge's politics," he says. "We think that this is the format that people are used to for aggregators, and wanted to do something similar for local news."
City Pages  |  06-18-2009  11:23 am  |  Industry News

Report: Mobile Audience for Local Content is Upnew

comScore is reporting that the number of people who sought local information on a mobile device grew 51 percent from March 2008 to March 2009. The number of people accessing online directories has seen the greatest increase during the past year (73 percent), followed by restaurants (70 percent), maps (63 percent) and movies (60 percent).
comScore  |  06-18-2009  10:44 am  |  Industry News

Senate Approves Sunlight on Proposed FOIA Exemptions

Sunshine in Government Initiative Press Release  |  06-18-2009  1:10 pm  |  Press Releases

Subpoena for Web Commenters' Info in Las Vegas is Narrowednew

"The Las Vegas U.S. attorney's office appears to have relented in its demand for the identities of all of the people who wrote comments on the Review-Journal website about a criminal tax trial in progress," the Las Vegas daily reports. The revised subpoena asks for the same information about only two comments, and the paper says it will comply. "I'd hate to be the guy who refused to tell the feds Timothy McVeigh was buying fertilizer," editor Thomas Mitchell says. Meanwhile, the ACLU of Nevada has filed its own motion to quash the subpoena and stop the release of any identities.
Las Vegas Review-Journal  |  06-17-2009  1:39 pm  |  Legal News

Santa Fe Reporter Celebrates 35th Anniversarynew

The alt-weekly is commemorating the occasion with a host of features, including the video of 35 years of covers embedded below, a Q&A with co-founder Richard McCord, a look back at memorable ads through the years and more. Reporter editor Julia Goldberg tells AAN News that the city has also dubbed June 17, 2009, "Santa Fe Reporter Day" in honor of the paper's 35th birthday.

Santa Fe Reporter  |  06-17-2009  1:29 pm  |  Honors & Achievements

Lightning Strikes Fast Forward Weekly Office

The CBC reports that an afternoon thunderstorm yesterday "brought almost 500 lightning strikes to Calgary," and Fast Forward Weekly publisher Ian Chiclo says one of them hit his paper's office. "Publisher's computer fried, bits of wall land beside his chair," Chiclo wrote in an email to AAN News yesterday. Reached this morning, he tells us that the office is functioning again, but "limping," with only three computers having access to the internet and the paper's servers. "We think some of the wires are fried," he says.
AAN News  |  06-17-2009  12:23 pm  |  Industry News

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