AAN News
Alt-Weekly Alum Running for Mayor in Vancouvernew
Peter Ladner defeated Sam Sullivan on Sunday for the mayoral nomination of the Non-Partisan Association (NPA), a civic-level political party in Vancouver. "He dresses well, runs a weekly business publication and is pleased to describe himself as a 'fiscally conservative' member of the generally right-wing NPA," reports the Globe and Mail. But the Canadian daily also notes that Ladner is an "ex-hippie" who was a back-to-the-land farmer raising goats and chickens in the 1960s. He later worked for "the respected alternative weekly, Monday Magazine," and had plans in the 1980s to launch a new weekly to compete with AAN member The Georgia Straight. Those plans fizzled out, and Ladner instead launched Business in Vancouver, a weekly business publication. The general election is scheduled for November.
The Globe and Mail |
06-11-2008 8:42 am |
Industry News
SF Weekly Asks for Stay of Judgment in Bay Guardian Casenew
Weekly attorney Rod Kerr last week argued for a stay of the predatory-pricing trial's $15.6 million judgment until 10 days after Judge Marla Miller rules on post-trial motions, which could have delayed the enforcement until July 28, the Guardian reports. Kerr said that the current economic turmoil combined with the company's belief that the judgment amount would be substantially lowered during post-trial rulings made it hard for Village Voice Media to secure a bond for the full amount. The judge granted a stay, but only until June 18. She also said she'd allow "the defendants to return to court to ask for more time if they can provide evidence showing how it will result in a bond being issued," according to the Guardian. When reached by AAN News, a representative from VVM said the company had no comment on last week's development. Both sides will appear in court July 8 for post-trial motions, including one by VVM to throw out the verdict and order a new trial.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
06-11-2008 8:29 am |
Industry News
Total Advertising Spending Stalls in Q1new
Editor & Publisher |
06-11-2008 2:05 pm |
Industry News
Milwaukee Daily Shutters MKE, its Free Youth-Aimed Weeklynew
Poynter Online |
06-11-2008 1:55 pm |
Industry News
Tags: Management
Philly Inquirer: Mood at Convention Was 'Resoundingly Upbeat'new
The daily paper stopped by this weekend's AAN Convention, and found "a shared belief that alternative weeklies will do just fine in the age of cyberspace and newsroom downsizing." Baltimore City Paper managing editor Erin Sullivan says that as the economy tanks, the paper is reallocating resources, concentrating "on investigative reporting and increasing our criticism. ... Things that the dailies can't or won't do with the same level of depth." Philadelphia City Paper founder Bruce Schimmel tells the Inquirer that competition from blogs and other media has pushed alt-weeklies to be even more aggressive. "Everyone has access to your morgue," he says, "so you better get it right."
The Philadelphia Inquirer |
06-10-2008 11:32 am |
Industry News
Independent Weekly Staff Writer Wins Second Straight Casey Medalnew
Mosi Secret received the 2008 Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism in the non-daily category for "Stolen Youth," a
story of 14-year-old Erick Daniels, who was convicted of robbery in 2001 and
sentenced to more than a decade in prison. There was no physical evidence
linking Daniels to the crime, and there were key discrepancies in witness
testimony and police reports. Daniels is expected to receive a new trial this year, largely due to Secret's investigation. He will be honored at an October ceremony, and will receive a $1,000 prize. Once again, AAN members swept this category: Seattle Weekly's Huan Hsu was the runner-up in the category, and two Westword writers -- Luke Turf and Joel Warner -- received honorable mentions. Secret won the same prize last year.
The Journalism Center on Children & Families |
06-10-2008 11:02 am |
Honors & Achievements
Chicago Reader Dropped as Defendant in Defamation Suitnew
The paper had been named as a party to a defamation suit by former assistant commissioner for the Chicago Department of Aviation James Sachay, which alleged that political activist Frank Coconate had written a comment on one of the Reader's blogs and attributed it to Sachay. The Reader "argued in its motion to dismiss that it enjoys immunity under Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act, which draws a distinction between a publisher that selects what to publish and the proprietor of a public web forum," Michael Miner writes. "This distinction holds even if the website provider makes some effort to police the site. (Someone here took down the offending comment sometime after it appeared.)" Last week the paper was dismissed as a defendant in response to a new motion filed by Sachay. His amended suit against only Coconate will continue.
Chicago Reader |
06-10-2008 9:41 am |
Legal News
Judge Says The Stranger Columnist Can Testify in Basketball Trialnew
A federal judge says the author and "Sonics Death Watch" columnist Sherman Alexie can testify for the city of Seattle in its trial next week against the Seattle SuperSonics, the Seattle Times reports. The team's ownership group wants to pay off the final two years of its lease at Seattle's arena and move the team to Oklahoma City for next season, while the city of Seattle is suing in federal court to force the team to fulfill the lease. The city's lawyers wanted to call Alexie because he's a season-ticket holder, a big fan and could discuss the team's importance in Seattle. Attorneys for the Sonics claimed he had nothing relevant to say, and had asked to get him off the witness list.
The Seattle Times |
06-10-2008 9:23 am |
Legal News
Tags: The Stranger
Coalition Group Asks Cincinnati CityBeat to Halt Adult Adsnew
Citizens for Community Values, a group that "promotes moral values," is leading a coalition that yesterday held a news conference to publicly ask the paper to stop publishing adult-oriented classified ads, CityBeat reports. The group's letter is signed by various local sheriffs, county attorneys, pastors and others. "I do find it interesting that this organization wouldn't choose to reach out to us and to communicate to us in advance versus going about it in a public way, which strikes me as somewhat self-serving," general manager and co-publisher Dan Bockrath tells the Cincinnati Enquirer. "We cooperate with authorities in every instance when they're investigating one of our advertisers." CityBeat also released a statement to the press, which notes that "just about every public official" in this coalition has been the subject of negative stories in CityBeat, and that Citizens for Community Values has worked to get distribution points to drop the paper. "We make decisions about our business every day and on our own terms," the statement reads. "We won't be bullied or intimidated by any outside force that thinks they can make those decisions for us."
Cincinnati CityBeat | The Enquirer |
06-10-2008 9:16 am |
Industry News
Three AAN Papers Honored in Greater Bay Area Journalism Awardsnew
In the 31st annual awards competition, sponsored by the San Francisco Peninsula Press Club, the Palo Alto Weekly, SF Weekly, and San Francisco Bay Guardian all took home awards in the Newspapers: Non-Dailies division. Palo Alto Weekly -- and its online home, PaloAltoOnline.com -- won a total of nine awards, including first-place finishes in Analysis, Entertainment Review, and Page Design. The paper also finished in a second-place tie with SF Weekly for General Excellence. Speaking of the Weekly, it took home a total of four awards, including firsts in Sports Story and Technology Story, where it shared first place with the Bay Guardian. The Guardian also took home four awards total, with that shared first in Technology Story, plus firsts in Columns-News/Political and News Story.
San Francisco Peninsula Press Club |
06-10-2008 8:13 am |
Honors & Achievements
Los Angeles CityBeat Undergoes Makeover on its Fifth Anniversarynew
The paper will unveil a new design, logo and lineup of columns and features when it hits stands this week, LA Observed reports. Changes include: Content from Wonkette, a biweekly Neal Pollack column on sports, the return of editor Rebecca Schoenkopf's Commie Girl column, and a weekly news-in-review column from recently departed editor Steve Lowery. The redesign was overseen by new art director Paul Takizawa (formerly of LA Weekly), and CityBeat is throwing a celebratory party this Friday.
LA Observed |
06-10-2008 7:47 am |
Industry News
Village Voice Staff Writer Michael Feingold's Play Opens in New York
Japanoir previews Friday, June 6th and Saturday, June 7th; opening Sunday, June 8th in the
(FULL STORY)
Village Voice Press Release |
06-10-2008 7:58 am |
Press Releases
Four New Member Papers Admitted into AAN
After a vigorous and sometimes philosophical discussion of media ownership and the changing media landscape, AAN members approved four of the 11 membership applications that were considered during the association's annual meeting on Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia. City Pulse (Lansing, Mich.), Fast Forward (Calgary, Alberta), Hawaii Island Journal (Hilo, Hawaii) and Las Vegas CityLife (Las Vegas, Nev.) were each welcomed into the association. Members also voted to affirm the continuing membership of five papers whose ownership had changed in 2007.
(FULL STORY)
AAN |
06-09-2008 9:55 am |
Association News
AAN and Medill Announce AltWeekly Awards Winners
At the 13th annual AltWeekly Awards luncheon in Philadelphia on Saturday, no one paper left with the lion's share of first-place awards. L.A. Weekly led the large-circulation division with three first-place awards, including wins for Jeffrey Anderson for Investigative Reporting and Nikki Finke for both Media Reporting/Criticism and Blog. And among the smaller papers, The Texas Observer led with three top prizes for Nate Blakeslee's investigative reporting, Jake Bernstein's long-form news and a special section dedicated to the late Molly Ivins.
(FULL STORY)
AAN Staff |
06-07-2008 7:21 pm |
Honors & Achievements
Tags: Design & Production, Editorial
Attorney Wants Phoenix New Times Suit Against Him Thrown Outnew
Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas asked a federal judge last week to dismiss the lawsuit from New Times accusing him, Sheriff Joe Arpaio and attorney Dennis Wilenchik of violating the constitutional rights of the paper, its owners and its readers, the East Valley Tribune reports. Thomas claims he has "absolute immunity" from such cases while in office. Arpaio and Wilenchik have also asked the court to throw out the lawsuit for similar reasons. In addition, Wilenchik has asked that the suit be moved from county to federal court because it deals with civil rights issues. Michael Manning, the attorney for New Times, says the change of venue means the case will likely move more slowly, but added that "we're happy in either place."
The East Valley Tribune |
06-06-2008 10:07 am |
Industry News
Tags: Management, Phoenix New Times
