AAN News
Journos for Small Orgs Face More Risk When They Go Overseasnew
The New York Times |
06-15-2009 10:24 am |
Industry News
Tags: Editorial, Management
VVM Files Appeal in Bay Guardian Casenew
As expected, Village Voice Media and SF Weekly filed an appeal to last year's decision in the Guardian's predatory pricing suit this week in the California Court of Appeal. "With this appeal, judicial error, attorney contrivance, expert witness puffery, juror confusion, and statutory imprecision are now cast in the edifying light of reason and clarity," VVM executive editor Michael Lacey says. The Guardian's Tim Redmond says nothing in VVM's appeal is new to them. "We're confident we'll prevail in the appeal, as we did at the trial court level," he tells AAN News.
SF Weekly |
06-12-2009 5:20 pm |
Industry News
Huffington: 'We Never Had an Issue' With City Paper Parodynew
Responding to yesterday's blog post by Washington City Paper editor Erik Wemple, Arianna Huffington tells the New York Times' David Carr that someone at HuffPo did contact City Paper to ask that the new blog posts on their HuffPo April Fool's parody be taken down, but that they "never complained" about the page linking back to HuffPo. "Bottom line: We didn't -- and don't -- have a problem with someone having fun at our expense," she says. "Indeed, we loved it and complimented it."
The New York Times |
06-12-2009 9:54 am |
Industry News
After Tough Story, Alt-Weekly Disappears from Farmers Marketnew
After Fast Forward Weekly ran a story last week about vendors who are frustrated with how the Calgary Farmers' Market is run, about 200 copies of the paper distributed at the market disappeared. Several people who work at the market tell Fast Forward the papers were taken into an upstairs office. "By partaking in that kind of activity and pulling a paper off a shelf, it's just kind of shining more light on the issue that was talked about in the article in the first place," one vendor says. "It's pretty embarrassing, and not exactly what a farmers' market should be about." Market officials say they don't "have a clue" about the missing papers.
Fast Forward Weekly |
06-12-2009 9:11 am |
Industry News
Tim Redmond Responds to VVM Appeal
Tim Redmond |
06-12-2009 7:48 pm |
Letters to the Editor
Huffington Post to Washington City Paper: Take Down Parody Pagenew
Faithful AAN.org readers may recall that on April Fool's Day, City Paper reworked its website to ape HuffPo's look. The parody -- The Huffington City Paper -- even received kudos from HuffPo itself. Now -- a day after the publication of a well-read City Paper column criticizing HuffPo -- the aggregator is asking the alt-weekly to remove the lightly trafficked page from its archives, in part because it contains a link to HuffPo. "Never thought I'd be scolded by a Huffington Post official for linking," writes editor Erik Wemple. "But I was!"
Washington City Paper |
06-11-2009 2:27 pm |
Industry News
National Archives Appoints First FOIA Ombudsmannew
Miriam Nisbet, who now heads the information society division of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization in Paris, has been chosen to direct the Archives' new Office of Government Information Services. The appointment is being hailed by open government advocates. Nisbet "has dedicated her entire professional life to working for open access to government records," Sunshine in Government Initiative (SGI) coordinator Rick Blum says. "This is a promising start for those who want the FOIA to work better." MORE: Read SGI's statement on the appointment.
The Associated Press via the Los Angeles Times |
06-11-2009 2:05 pm |
Industry News
Tags: Editorial, Management
City Ethics Commission Gives Folio Weekly Contributor Kudosnew
Marvin Edwards, a longtime contributor to the Jacksonville alt-weekly, recently received a commendation from the city's Ethics Commission for exposing the city's failure to respond to public-records requests. The 87-year-old writer went to great lengths to obtain public records from the city -- an effort that required hiring a law firm -- in his push to expose the true cost to the city of hosting the 2005 Super Bowl. Ultimately, the chief deputy in Jacksonville's General Counsel Office acknowledged the city "dropped the ball" and should have responded faster and more appropriately. "It shouldn't have taken that kind of effort to obtain the records or get the story," the Florida Times-Union editorializes. "Because of what Edwards did, perhaps it won't be as hard for the public or the media in the future."
The Florida Times-Union |
06-11-2009 9:30 am |
Honors & Achievements
Sunshine in Gov't Initiative Reacts to Miriam Nisbet Appointment
Sunshine in Government Initiative Press Release |
06-11-2009 2:11 pm |
Press Releases
VVM Sues Owners of East Bay Expressnew
Eastbay Express Publishing LP, an entity controlled by former Express owner Village Voice Media, has filed suit against two of the alt-weekly's current owners, Hal Brody and Stephen Buel, claiming they owe $500,000 under the terms of the 2007 deal in which the paper was sold. Brody admits they owe the money but says their debt is exceeded by the damage they suffered as a result of VVM's violation of a non-compete clause included in the original agreement. "The SF Weekly [also owned by VVM] is not supposed to solicit our advertisers in Alameda and Contra Costa, and they've been doing it, over and over," Brody tells the San Francisco Bay Guardian. "We have massive claims against them for violating those terms." But VVM's attorney disagrees: "(VVM) is not aware that it has violated the terms of any its agreements with the current publisher of the East Bay Express or with Mr. Brody or Mr. Buel," Randall S. Farrimond says. "We believe that any judge or jury who reviews the facts of this matter will conclude that Mr. Brody and Mr. Buel owe us the amounts stated in our complaint." More from the Express.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
06-10-2009 2:05 pm |
Industry News
Long Island Press' Shop Local Campaign Spins Off a Local Marketnew
The KIOLI Flea Market and Farmers Market, an extension of the Press' KIOLI (Keep It On Long Island) shop local campaign, kicked off last weekend on a Long Island college campus, the Daily News reports. The market, which features more than 200 vendors, will run every Saturday and Sunday this summer. Press publisher Jed Morey says he hopes the market will help bring a sense of community to shoppers. "The mall sort of took the soul out of the flea market, so I think this is us getting a little bit of our groove back," he says. "The malling of America is hopefully coming to a little bit of a close, and we will get back to promoting local business."
The Daily News |
06-10-2009 9:54 am |
Industry News
Alt-Weekly Food Column Expands to Include a Catering Businessnew
Four years ago, Alex Brown and Evan George started writing the "Hot Knives" column in AAN member LA Alternative Press (later known simply as LA Alternative). The paper went web-only in 2006 shortly before disappearing altogether, but the duo continued the column, and eventually expanded to catering after readers approached them to do a wedding. George tells the Los Angeles Times they love cooking for fans. "People who are like, 'Oh yeah, I've been up late at night at my computer and I've been hungry and I've totally wanted to hang out in that website, and now I can hire those guys to chill with me and drink beer and make me my wedding feast,'" he says.
Los Angeles Times |
06-10-2009 8:19 am |
Industry News
Tags: Editorial, Management
Report: Craigslist's 2009 Revenue Will Top $100 Millionnew
The AIM Group/Classified Intelligence estimates the online classifieds network will generate $100 million in revenue this year, an increase of more than 23 percent from Craigslist's estimated revenue of $81 million in 2008. "This is a down market for just about everyone else but Craigslist," AIM Group editorial director Jim Townsend says. To come up with what it calls a conservative projection, the firm counted the number of paid ads on the site for a month and extrapolated an annual figure.
The New York Times |
06-10-2009 7:50 am |
Industry News
We Have a Winner! [members only]
Richard Karpel |
06-10-2009 7:48 pm |
AAN Staff Blog
Facebook Rolls Out Vanity URLs This Weekendnew
CNET |
06-10-2009 8:32 am |
Industry News
