In what he calls his final duty as editor of In Pittsburgh, Stephen Segal says farewell to readers in a column published by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "I still can't get over how lucky, how tremendously privileged I've been to be part of the team" at In Pittsburgh, he writes. The paper was sold last week to cross-town rival Pittsburgh City Paper.

Continue ReadingIn Pittsburgh Editor Says Good-bye

Longtime New Times exec Lee Newquist is the new owner of Fort Worth Weekly. Newquist bought the paper from his now-former employer, ending a 19-year career with the Phoenix-based chain. Prior to the sale, Newquist was executive vice president of operations for New Times and publisher of both Fort Worth Weekly and the Dallas Observer.

Continue ReadingPublisher Buys Fort Worth Weekly from New Times

The deal between Steel City Media and Review Publishing was announced to both staffs at 2 p.m. yesterday, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. In a press release, Review calls the deal an asset sale, and President Anthony Clifton praises the In Pittsburgh staff but says he was forced to sell "because the paper has not become economically self-supporting." City Paper Editor Andy Newman, who previously edited his former crosstown rival, tells the Post-Gazette, "I have to say I felt very somber about it. There are people over there that we like and respect ... We know this is a contact sport but it is not good news when the other guy hits the mat."

Continue ReadingPittsburgh City Paper Buys In Pittsburgh Weekly

Ben Eason, president of Creative Loafing Inc., has sold Creative Loafing of Greenville, S.C. , a non-AAN alt pub, to his mother, Debby Eason, founder of the chain; Lori Coon, publisher of the Greenville paper; and Kyle Sims, publisher of the Savannah, Ga., edition of Creative Loafing. Ben Eason says his mother now owns 51 percent of the Greenville paper and that he wants to concentrate on bigger markets. Also, former Loafing writer Greg Land joins Time magazine as an Atlanta correspondent.

Continue ReadingCreative Loafing Sells Greenville, S.C., Paper

Husband-and-wife team Bingo and Sally Barnes are the new owner/operators of Boise Weekly. The sale by City of Roses Newspaper Company was official on August 1 and formally inked on August 2. Present and former owners all agree the paper needs the kind of local stewardship the Barnes say they’ll provide.
• Read the Idaho Statesman's story on the sale.

Continue ReadingBingo Barnes Buys Boise Weekly

The folks at Willamette Week have agreed to sell the paper to Mark "Bingo" Barnes, and his wife Sally Gay Barnes, according to a report in today's Boise Weekly. Bingo, director of creative services for the Greenspun Media Group’s newspaper division (which includes the non-AAN alternative Las Vegas Weekly), is a familiar face to those who have attended the last few AAN conventions.

Continue ReadingBoise Weekly to be Sold to Owner-Operators (third item)

Brooklyn and Queens are about to get their own alternative weekly, say James Morrow, Erin Franzman and Mike Vago. The three are preparing an August launch of New York Metropolis, which, according to the New York Post, "will run on a basic alternative weekly model of a small editorial and design team complimented by freelancers and supported by local advertisers." Morrow is executive editor of the Webzine Ironminds, where Franzman is a writer.

Continue ReadingAn Alt-Weekly for the Outer Boroughs