AAN News

Dan Savage: Sex Column Flap 'Doesn't Rise to the Level of Plagiarism'new

Last week, the New York Press got rid of its newly minted sex columnist after it was revealed that Claudia Lonow took the questions for her first column from old "Savage Love" columns. But Savage tells the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that he feels bad for Lonow, and that he thinks the "borrowing was an accident." In an interview with KING5-TV, the syndicated columnist and editor of The Stranger says that if Lonow would have just sourced the questions properly, there would've been no problem. "She just thought they were good hypotheticals and thought she could use them with impunity, and that's kinda not the way the media business works anymore," he says. Meanwhile, the Press is holding an open competition to become the paper's new sex columnist. Each week, the paper's editors will select one piece for publication, and those winners will become finalists in the quest. The new column will launch in the paper's 20th anniversary issue on April 23.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer | KING5-TV | New York Press  |  01-28-2008  8:39 am  |  Industry News

Deadline Approaching for SPJ's Sigma Delta Chi Awards Competition

Society of Professional Journalists Press Release  |  01-28-2008  1:36 pm  |  Press Releases

Why Did The Stranger Pull Negative Restaurant Review from Website?

The paper and its crosstown rival the Seattle Weekly are giving competing explanations for the review's disappearance. The restaurant's co-owner tells the Weekly that The Stranger agreed to give him "a deal" on advertising and take the story off the website after he complained about the review when it ran in the Jan. 3 print edition. But Stranger publisher Tim Keck says the review wasn't fair, and a note on the Stranger's website says the review was taken down because the restaurant was visited within the first three months of its opening, which is against the paper's editorial policy. Keck tells the Weekly that the restaurant was given free ads, but it wasn't part of a deal to quiet the owner, but rather due to "production errors" in earlier ads the restaurant had run.
Seattle Weekly | The Stranger  |  01-25-2008  3:01 pm  |  Industry News

Is a 'Generational Shift' Afoot in the Alt-Weekly Industry?new

That seems to be the opinion of Ed Avis, who looks at the challenges alt-weekly owners are facing in a piece for Quill, a magazine published by the Society for Professional Journalists. Not surprisingly, he says the biggest challenge to the business is the internet. He talks to the Austin Chronicle's Louis Black, Creative Loafing's Ben Eason, and Times Shamrock's Don Farley to see where they are at in relation to the internet, and, more importantly, where they're trying to go. Ultimately, Avis thinks that the challenge of the online market -- in concert with the aging of the original alt-weekly founders -- is what's behind the industry's increased consolidation. Northwestern University professor and Academy for Alternative Journalism director Charles Whitaker agrees. "I think the (older owners) have had difficulty adjusting and figuring out the new media landscape, particularly the internet and things like Craigslist," he says. "At the same time, a group of new owners said, 'We can do this as a chain. We still have our alternative press sensibilities, but by pooling our resources we can run these papers more efficiently than they had been run in the past.'"
Quill  |  01-25-2008  10:34 am  |  Industry News

Court Rules Against Santa Barbara Independent Photographer's Appealnew

The Court of Appeals has ruled against the Indy's appeal of contempt charges stemming from photographer Paul Wellman's refusal to turn over about 300 photographs taken in the aftermath of the murder, the paper reports.
Santa Barbara Independent  |  01-25-2008  8:46 am  |  Legal News

Jackson Free Press to Launch Glossy Magazinenew

Boom Jackson will be an annual glossy celebrating "urban living, working and creating in Jackson," Todd Stauffer writes in his publisher's note this week. The magazine will be a joint partnership between the JFP and Downtown Jackson Partners, the Hinds County Economic Development District, the Jackson Convention and Visitors Bureau, and others.
Jackson Free Press  |  01-25-2008  8:42 am  |  Industry News

New York Press Fires New Sex Columnist for Stealing from Dan Savagenew

Yesterday, the Press was proudly announcing its new sex column, "Lip Service" by Claudia Lonow. Today, editor David Blum says her first column will be her last, after it was revealed that some of the questions in the column were taken from Dan Savage's "Savage Love" columns. "It had been our understanding that the questions for her first column came from friends," Blum says. "She has told us she was unaware that using questions from Savage's column was a breach of journalism ethics. She has offered her resignation, and we've accepted it. We apologize to our readers, and to Dan Savage, for this error in judgment."
New York Press  |  01-24-2008  5:59 pm  |  Industry News

White House Attempting to Move FOIA Ombud to Justice Dept.new

The creation of an ombudsman to oversee disputes over the Freedom of Information Act was the centerpiece of the FOIA reform bill signed into law last month. Cox News reports that the Open Government Act placed the ombudsman at the National Archives because of criticism leveled at the Justice Department for failing to address chronic FOIA backlogs. Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and John Cornyn (R-TX) are speaking out against the administration's attempt to move the position to Justice. "Such a move is not only contrary to the express intent of the Congress, but it is also contrary to the very purpose of this legislation -- to ensure the timely and fair resolution of American's FOIA requests," Leahy said in a floor speech on Wednesday.
Cox News Service via the Austin American-Statesman  |  01-24-2008  1:29 pm  |  Legal News

Willamette Week Raises More Than Half a Million Dollars for Nonprofitsnew

"You made so many donations to our annual Give!Guide that we're just now finishing the tallies and making final deliveries of incentives," writes publisher Richard Meeker. The 2007 installment of the paper's annual fund-raising endeavor produced more than $518,000 for 49 nonprofits in the Portland area, more than doubling 2006's total of $228,000.
Willamette Week  |  01-24-2008  12:13 pm  |  Industry News

One Man Hopes to Rid an Entire Neighborhood of the Boston Phoenixnew

Attorney Bob Joyce has started a campaign to rid Boston's West Roxbury neighborhood of the paper, according to the West Roxbury Transcript. Joyce claims that the Phoenix's adult ads don't jibe with the "values of the West Roxbury community." But Phoenix Media executive editor Peter Kadzis says Joyce's motivations are purely political. "Attorney Joyce is active in the anti-choice, anti-gay marriage movements," Kadzis tells the Transcript. "He is trying to halt the Phoenix from circulating for political reasons. His recent crusade against the paper's Adult section is merely an extension of those efforts." Joyce claims he has gotten the paper yanked from six neighborhood businesses, but one merchant who talked to the West Roxbury Bulletin says he doesn't plan to stop carrying the Phoenix. "As far as I know, West Roxbury is still part of the United States of America and the Constitution still covers us over here," says Gary Park of Gary's Liquors. "He is not going to tell me how to run my business."
The West Roxbury Transcript | The West Roxbury Bulletin  |  01-24-2008  10:29 am  |  Industry News

After Brief Setback, Jury Selection in Bay Guardian/VVM Trial Begins

Yesterday, Judge Marla Miller denied Village Voice Media and SF Weekly's request to delay the predatory-pricing trial in order to further review some documents, and jury selection will get underway today at 8 am, according to reports in the Weekly and the Guardian. With jury selection expected to last two days, the judge has scheduled opening arguments for Monday.
SF Weekly | San Francisco Bay Guardian  |  01-24-2008  8:41 am  |  Industry News

2007 Sets a New Record for Online Readershipnew

Editor & Publisher  |  01-24-2008  11:48 am  |  Industry News

Print Inserts Pass TV Ads As Important Influence in Purchase Decisionsnew

The Center for Media Research  |  01-24-2008  11:47 am  |  Industry News

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