AAN News
Ad Men: This Christmas Season Set To Be 'Jolliest in Years'new
According to a poll conducted by Leo J. Shapiro & Associates, almost a quarter of shoppers plan to spend more on Christmas this year than last, the highest percentage since 2003. It is thus time "to send out special marketing messages to the frantic folks who are not so happy about shopping," write three ad-industry analysts in Editor & Publisher. "Last minute holiday newspaper shopping ads should be written like efficient memos meant to aid in the decision making process of last-minute shoppers."
Editor & Publisher |
12-18-2006 3:01 pm |
Industry News
Tags: Management, Retail Advertising
NPR Picks Up OC Weekly Story Questioning Philanthropistnew
"All Things Considered" reporter Howard Berkes last week broadcast a segment based on a story by OC Weekly writer Gustavo Arellano that questioned the motives of local charity "Snowball Express," which brings the families of Iraq war casualties to Disneyland. Arellano found that the charity's organizer, Michael Scott Kerr, owes about $50,000 in child support in Arizona, where there is an outstanding warrant for his arrest.
National Public Radio |
12-18-2006 12:41 pm |
Industry News
Fresno Bee Buys 'Citizen Journalism' Site Fresno Famousnew
The McClatchy paper has purchased the two-year-old local news and opinion Web site to better target younger readers, Poynter Online reports. "Purchasing a strong franchise such as Fresno Famous gives The Bee another way in which to reach younger readers with information they seek," said Valerie Bender, vice president of custom publications for The Bee. Fresno Famous founder Jarah Euston will stay on for six months to ease the transition to new management. Poynter reports a mixed reaction to the sale by the site's readers, despite assurances from Euston that the sale will "only improve user experience."
Poynter Online |
12-18-2006 12:20 pm |
Industry News
Jersey Youth-Oriented Weekly 'Exit' Foldsnew
The North Jersey Media Group has pulled the plug on several of its publications, including what a local Web site calls its "faux-alt" weekly. "We at City Belt were never too impressed with Exit," writes Jon Whiten, editor of both City Belt and AltWeeklies.com. "As people who work inside the alternative press, Exit often felt like it was a labor of business, rather than a labor of love. The paper was improving, though -- becoming more substantial. But it looks like, as in so many other cases, business won out."
City Belt |
12-18-2006 12:04 pm |
Industry News
Boston Phoenix's Camille Dodero to Join Village Voicenew
The Phoenix staff writer is leaving Beantown to become yet another fresh face at the Village Voice, reports the Boston Herald. "Anyone who knows Camille realizes that going to NYC has been a long-time goal. Her exit reminds us of what it means to be bittersweet: glad for her, sad for us," writes Peter Kadzis in an internal Phoenix email, republished by the Herald. Dodero is the second employee to jump from the Boston alt-weekly to Village Voice Media. Former managing editor Bill Jensen recently departed to oversee Web operations for VVM.
Boston Herald |
12-18-2006 11:52 am |
Industry News
Busted Prostitution Ring Placed Ads in Alt-Weeklynew
Nancy Geraldine Scott, an advertising client of AAN-member Oklahoma Gazette, has pleaded guilty to felony counts of pandering, maintaining a house of prostitution and encouraging a minor into prostitution, according to Oklahoma County Newspapers. When a local detective responded to one of Scott's ads, which also ran in a Southwestern Bell publication, he was put in touch with a 14-year-old offering sex for $220, according to court records.
The Sun |
12-18-2006 11:41 am |
Industry News
Village Voice Releases Film-Crit Compendiumnew
Just in time for the gift-guide season, the venerable alt-weekly has released "The Village Voice Film Guide: 50 Years of Movies From Classics to Cult Hits," edited by former Voice film critic Dennis Lim. The anthology includes reviews from every era of the paper's storied history, and includes contributions by Jonas Mekas, Oliver Stone and J. Hoberman.
The Village Voice |
12-18-2006 11:04 am |
Industry News
The Pitch Puts Public Utility Officials in Hot Waternew
An article by the Kansas City alt-weekly alleging that Board of Public Utilities officials have racked up excessive meal and entertainment expenses has resulted in an internal ethics commission investigation, according to the local ABC affiliate. The Nov. 30 article, by Pitch reporter Justin Kendall, details how BPU administrators spent $15,000 on meals and entertainment in 2004 and 2005 -- including alcohol tabs at numerous sporting events. The story breaks during a time of public anger over the rising price of electricity and water in Kansas City. The BPU Ethics Commission is scheduled to review the allegations next month.
KMBC-TV News |
12-15-2006 10:33 am |
Industry News
Senator Leahy Defends FOIA, Pledges Fight For Open Governmentnew
In an impassioned speech at the Georgetown University Law Center, incoming Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy of Vermont marked the 40th anniversary of the passage of the Freedom of Information Act and promised to improve transparency of government during the 110th Congress. The senator cited Texas Republican colleague John Cornyn as a strong ally in the fight to change the climate created by the Bush Administration, which has shown a "dangerous disdain for the free press and the public." Leahy says one of his priorities for the committee will be "to continue efforts to strengthen and improve our open government laws."
Burlington Free Press |
12-15-2006 10:26 am |
Legal News
PDF Versions of Newspapers Catching On in Canada, Europenew
Media Life Magazine |
12-15-2006 12:08 pm |
Industry News
Tags: Electronic Publishing, Management
Study of Americans' Media Use Finds Web Finally Passing Papersnew
AP via Editor & Publisher |
12-15-2006 12:06 pm |
Industry News
Indy Week Gets New Digsnew
After two decades in a ramshackle Durham house on Hillsborough Road, the Independent Weekly is moving up and out. "We've done it all from our drafty old patchwork quilt of a house, where our back-issues archive is a bathtub, our only meeting room is also known as the lobby and no one is that surprised to find mouse droppings in a drawer now and then," writes a slightly wistful Jennifer Strom in this week's paper. The Indy will produce next week's issue during its move to the third floor of the renovated Venable Tobacco Co. warehouse in downtown Durham.
Independent Weekly (Durham, N.C.) |
12-14-2006 12:33 pm |
Industry News
Nielsen: Ad Spending Up 5.1% -- But Local Print Media Is Left Outnew
New numbers released by Nielsen Media Research show ad spending for the first three quarters of 2006 up 5.1 percent over the same period last year. Increases are spread across most major media sectors, including the Internet, national newspapers and top television markets. Growth remained flat or decreased for several other media, including local newspapers, however. "As consumers continue to make the Web a part of their daily media mix, so do advertisers," a Nielsen spokesperson tells BrandWeek.
Brandweek |
12-14-2006 11:56 am |
Industry News
Tucson Weekly G.M. Moves Onnew
Joann Hardy Carranza, a frequent contributor to AAN listservs, has stepped down after six years as general manager at the Arizona weekly. "She's already missed around the office," writes Weekly Editor Jimmy Boegle. "Her newspaper-biz knowledge helped keep the lights on and the checks clearing." Carranza leaves the weekly to join her husband in a family business venture.
Tucson Weekly |
12-14-2006 10:10 am |
Industry News
AAN Diversity Intern Enjoys "Refreshing" Break From MSM
Victoria Williams returns to her campus newspaper after a highly productive four-month stint at the Oklahoma Gazette, AAN News reports. Williams says she found the freedom to write more in-depth stories at the alt-weekly a much needed break from the strictures and pressures of the daily newsrooms she worked in during earlier internships. Among the highlights of Williams' work for the Oklahoma weekly was her feature on a joint project linking female craft artists in Kenya to Oklahoma merchants. Established in 2001, the AAN Diversity Internship program awards four annual grants of up to $2,500 to talented young journalists of color.
(FULL STORY)
AAN News |
12-14-2006 6:42 pm |
Association News
Tags: Editorial, Oklahoma Gazette
