John Saltas pokes fun at Warchol, a former Dallas Observer journalist, in his Jan. 19 Salt Lake City Weekly column, claiming that a recent photo of Warchol reveals the true age of the alt-weekly business. Writes Saltas, "I can't speak for my peers .. but if the face of AAN is the face of Glen -- who by the looks of things can no longer "Do the Hustle" -- we're toast. If Glen's old, I'm old, and all my friends are old. Alternative papers are old. At least, thank God, I have my hair."

Continue ReadingIs Glen Warchol the (Old) Face of Alt-Weeklies?

The Current kicks off its 20th anniversary year with a Jan. 18 retrospective of the paper's two decades, from breaking news about then-Mayor Henry Cisneros' adulterous affair, to the phallic cartoon that prompted businesses to ban the paper, to award-winning stories about media ownership. Journalist Steven G. Kellman writes of the newspaper culture in San Antonio: "Though the entire editorial staff of the Current is outnumbered by just the sports department at the Express-News, they keep the Hearst daily on its toes often by stepping on the toes of the powerful." The Current will auction framed digital prints of its most notable covers at four anniversary events over the course of the year.

Continue ReadingSan Antonio Current ‘Grows Up, But Not Old’

This week's issue contains a defense of former Baltimore Sun columnist Michael Olesker by former Sun writer David Simon. Olesker was asked to retire earlier this month after City Paper's Gadi Dechter found that Olesker had lifted language from other writers at the Sun, the New York Times and the Washington Post. Simon argues that "most reporting -- unless it utilizes confidential sources or results from some investigative effort or special project -- has a short shelf life before it becomes nonproprietary," and says that if Olesker is a plagiarist, so are all journalists.

Continue ReadingBaltimore City Paper Publishes Rebuttal of Olesker Charges

The Stranger recently took a unique approach to address a significant error made by Theater Editor Brendan Kiley: Kiley confused Eugene O'Neill and Neil Simon, so The Stranger administered a "Eugene O’Neil Simon Quiz." Kiley was asked to identify photos of the two men, as well as biographical facts and excerpts of dialogue. Kiley achieved a perfect score, although The Stranger failed him on his essay (which could be summarized as "big deal"). The "correction" was picked up by Romenesko and Regret the Error, and the latter praised The Stranger's quiz as "fun, interactive, and it demonstrates that the paper takes accuracy seriously enough to do something innovative."

Continue ReadingThe Stranger’s Unusual Corrections Draw Praise

Ben Allen, a conservative Ward 1 Councilman in Jackson, Miss., is authoring a blog hosted on the Jackson Free Press Web site. The blog went live on Jan. 12 with a post in which Allen explains that Free Press Editor in Chief Donna Ladd is "a personal friend," and that he can "live with" the paper's liberal bent if his blog is a venue for two-sided political discussion. Allen goes on to say that he is "enthusiastic about the depth of many of the local ISSUES researched AND REPORTED in-depth by the JFP. We in government get so weary of the lack of real information in local and state issues as covered by our State's largest newspaper." In its first week, the blog generated nearly a thousand views and some polite questions about bike lanes and streetlights.

Continue ReadingJackson Free Press Launches Councilman’s Blog