AAN News
AOL to Buy Bebo, the No. 3 Social Networking Sitenew
The New York Times |
03-14-2008 9:01 am |
Industry News
Tags: Electronic Publishing
How to Overcome the Stigma of In-Text Adsnew
MediaPost's Kory Kredit recently did an informal survey to gauge internet users' and publishers' attitudes about in-text advertising, and reports, not surprisingly, that "it didn't take long to discover that there was a predominantly negative stigma." According to Kredit, the primary reason was "the invasiveness of in-text ad technology. More specifically, they 'hate' the fact that the ad automatically launches on a mouse-over (when their cursor moves over a highlighted word)." Kredit suggests two simple solutions to work towards reversing the negative attitude: change from mouse-over activation to click activation and provide contextually relevant content in the in-text window.
MediaPost's Online Publishing Insider |
03-13-2008 10:29 am |
Industry News
Creative Loafing (Charlotte) Set to Blog for 24 Hours Straight
Creative Loafing (Charlotte) Press Release |
03-13-2008 9:39 am |
Press Releases
Santa Fe Reporter Launches New Muckraker's Guide Websitenew
In honor of Sunshine Week, which is March 16-22 this year, the Reporter has launched "version 2.0" of MuckrakersGuide.com, "a toolshed of links and resources for digging up public records." The website began with a January cover story by Dave Maass and now features more than 200 links to databases and search engines that will help citizen watchdogs. The Reporter plans to continue growing the site, and welcomes all questions and additional links.
Santa Fe Reporter |
03-12-2008 12:36 pm |
Industry News
Media Coalition Urges Shield Law Approvalnew
A group of 50 media companies and organizations, including AAN, sent a letter yesterday urging Congress to take up a pair of federal shield law bills and enact them as soon as possible. Both bills (S.2035 and H.R. 2102) have passed through committees, with the House version receiving a full House approval months ago. The letter follows a federal judge's recent decision requiring a former USA Today reporter to personally pay contempt fines for refusing to reveal her confidential sources. UPDATE: USA Today is reporting that a federal appeals court yesterday temporarily blocked the judge's order on the fines.
Editor & Publisher |
03-12-2008 9:47 am |
Legal News
Tags: Editorial
AAN Hires New Director of Sales and Marketing
Rick Mundy has joined the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies as director of sales and marketing. He has a more than a decade of experience in newspapers, in sales, marketing, and publishing at various community newspapers, and also as federation manager at the Newspaper Association of America. Mundy's immediate focus will be on revitalizing the AAN CAN classified program. His first day on staff was March 4.
(FULL STORY)
AAN |
03-12-2008 8:56 am |
Association News
More on the Bay Guardian/VVM Verdict
"There's more to the Bay Guardian-VVM fight than ill will and purple prose," writes Boston Phoenix media reporter Adam Reilly. "The two sides have predictably divergent takes on the merits of the outcome. But they agree that its legal ramifications go far beyond the Bay Area and the alt-weekly universe." Guardian publisher and editor Bruce Brugmann tells the Phoenix that the suit sets an example for small businesses everywhere. "Everyone can use our suit as a model and template for any big chain that's coming in and trying to predatory-price them," he says. But SF Weekly attorney Jim Wagstaffe thinks that if the judge grants the Guardian's request for an injunction for the Weekly to stop all below-cost sales as the case winds its way through the courts, "the result here could dramatically harm consumers. If every one of [a publication's] ad sales is scrutinized to make sure it's not, quote-unquote, too low, then what'll happen is, publications will raise their prices to avoid getting sued." The Guardian notes that interest will accrue on the judgment at a rate of 10 percent a year. "That means the Weekly and VVM will be paying $4,000 a day in interest for as long as they seek to dispute and appeal the jury decision," the Guardian reports.
Boston Phoenix | San Francisco Bay Guardian |
03-12-2008 8:35 am |
Industry News
Village Voice Food Critic on Anonymity and 'Iron Chef'new
"It's actually rather easy to go unrecognized as a critic," says Robert Sietsema, who's been eating and writing for the Voice for 15 years. "Most critics want to be recognized since they love having restaurateurs kiss their ass and bring them free food. The Voice pays for what I eat, so I don't need any free food." The critic talks to Gothamist in advance of the Voice's first-ever Choice Eats tasting event tonight in New York, which features some of Sietsema's favorites. They also ask him about the response to his recent much-talked-about story on "how bogus" the popular TV show Iron Chef is. Sietsema says "the funniest responses came from crybaby Iron Chef judges ... it was like poking a hornet's nest, and I'd do it again in a second."
Gothamist |
03-11-2008 3:48 pm |
Industry News
Alt-Weekly Editors on John McCain's Relationship with the Pressnew
On the heels of the presidential candidate's "testy exchange" with a New York Times reporter last week, Politico talks to some Arizona journalists who describe "a sometimes pugnacious politician whose media strategy is a far cry from joking asides and backslaps around the barbecue pit." Former Arizona Republic national editor Tina May, who now edits the Monterey County Weekly, recalls a Republic story on McCain's temper in 2006 that led to her reporter being kicked "off the bus." She tells Politico it's "a perfect example of how McCain people treated the Republic differently than the national media," which has, in exchange, often flattered the Republican senator. Politico says that Phoenix New Times' Amy Silverman -- "one of McCain's most persistent critics" -- documented the romance between McCain and the national press in 1997's "prescient" story, "The Pampered Politican."
Politico |
03-11-2008 3:33 pm |
Industry News
IAB Makes Headway In Online Video Industry Standardsnew
Late last year, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) put together a Digital Video Committee to try to "establish industry standards so agencies could compare apples to apples on a network by network basis," MediaPost reports. The committee presented findings from its first white paper last month in New York, and made the initial steps of defining some key terms and creating two working groups to further study ad format standards and core metrics. MediaPost reports that 120 companies are involved with the committee.
MediaPost |
03-11-2008 11:08 am |
Industry News
Traditional Media Lag Far Behind Web Companies in Data Collectionnew
The New York Times had the research firm comScore conduct an analysis of the amount of consumer data that is transmitted to internet companies, and finds magazine and newspaper publishers comparatively collect very little, making them "increasingly at a disadvantage when they compete for ad dollars" online. "Some advertising executives say media companies will have little choice but to outsource their ad sales to companies like Microsoft and Yahoo to benefit from their data," the Times reports.
The New York Times |
03-10-2008 12:32 pm |
Industry News
Palo Alto Weekly Building New $5 Million 'Green' Headquartersnew
Ground will be broken on the new three-story building within the next two months, the Weekly reports. It will be the first office project in Palo Alto to be certified LEED "silver" -- a designation given when a building incorporates numerous environmentally sensitive features. "While it adds considerable complexity and cost, we wanted to use this project as an opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to these environmental principles and to create a building that will be healthy and comfortable for our employees, as well as a model for future developers," Weekly publisher Bill Johnson says. Construction is expected to be completed by summer 2009.
Palo Alto Weekly |
03-10-2008 11:34 am |
Industry News
Phoenix New Times Recognized in Scripps Howard Journalism Awardsnew
The paper was a finalist in the "Distinguished Service to the First
Amendment" category for revealing that New Times was the target of a
grand jury probe, a dust-up that resulted in the paper's founders
being arrested. But despite the national honors and publicity surrounding the case, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio claims to still not know about the paper. "Is that a porno magazine?" Arpaio says in an interview with NPR, "feigning ignorance" upon reference of the publication's name. "You're talking about the weekly paper they have to give away free?" New Times founder Michael Lacey also talks to NPR about Arpaio, explaining the conditions that led to his being arrested. "What made them think they could get away with it is they've been gradually getting away with it for years here," Lacey says. "You begin with prisoners. Then you move on to Mexicans. Then you move on to editors and reporters."
Scripps Howard Foundation | NPR |
03-10-2008 9:10 am |
Honors & Achievements
Alt-Weeklies Win Handful of South Carolina Press Awardsnew
The South Carolina Press Association announced the winners of its 2007 news excellence competition Friday, and two AAN members were among the papers that were honored. Columbia Free Times finished first in three categories, including Mixed Media Illustration in the competition division open to all papers. In the weeklies division, Free Times swept the Illustrations category, placing first, second, and third; and took home a first-place award in Sports Column Writing. It also took home one additional second-place and one third-place award. The Charleston City Paper placed first in two categories -- Best Beat Reporting and General News Photo. City Paper also won one second-place and one third-place award.
The Associated Press via the Star-News |
03-10-2008 8:57 am |
Honors & Achievements
Federal Judge Orders Ex-Reporter to Personally Pay Contempt Finesnew
The Associated Press via the Boston Herald |
03-10-2008 12:35 pm |
Legal News
Tags: Editorial, Management
