David Brewster, who sold his interest in the Seattle alt-weekly in 1997, has recruited two other former Weekly staffers to work on Crosscut, which will cover Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and parts of British Columbia, according to the Seattle Times. Former Managing Editor Chuck Taylor will be Crosscut's editor, while former Editor-in-Chief Knute "Skip" Berger will write for the site, set to launch March 12. Brewster says he started working on Crosscut about 18 months ago, to counteract "the growing fatalism of Seattle journalism."

Continue ReadingSeattle Weekly’s Founding Editor to Launch Regional News Site

In an examination of the growing influence of social bookmarking sites (like Digg.com, Del.icio.us, Newsvine.com and others), the Wall Street Journal ferrets out and profiles the "handful of users" who are key influencers, from a 12-year-old Canadian to the proprietor of an antique rug store in Italy. "The opinions of these key users have implications for advertisers shelling out money for Internet ads, trend watchers trying to understand what's cool among young people, and companies whose products or services get plucked for notice," the Journal says. "It's even sparking a new form of payola, as marketers try to buy votes."

Continue Reading‘New Generation of Hidden Influencers’ Builds Buzz Online

The ads for the upcoming film "The Number 23" featured confessions -- from obsessions with Justin Timberlake to fears of dying -- taped live at a bar in Washington, D.C. and broadcast online, the Times reports. "Big marketers are excited about video because it's a very familiar format," says John Paulson, president of G2 Interactive. "It doesn't feel as foreign to them as in the old days of a banner ad or Web site content."

Continue ReadingNew Line Cinema and DoubleClick Create Live Internet Ads

Britt Robson, who will leave March 1, tells the Star-Tribune his chief reasons for quitting were editor Steve Perry's recent resignation and the hiring of an editor from out of town to succeed him. "There was absolutely no pressure on me to leave," Robson says. "I just didn't want to be an unhappy, divisive force on the staff, which I would have been if I had stayed." He had spent over 10 years at the paper and was among Steve Perry's closest confidants, according to the Star-Tribune.

Continue ReadingSenior Editor Leaves City Pages

After testing mobile banner ads in the U.S. last November with Pepsi, Yahoo this week launched display advertising for cell phones in 18 countries, including the U.S., Online Media Daily reports. The ads will allow users to click-to-call marketers directly or link to mobile sites for more information on offers. The mobile ad market was $1.4 billion this year, and is expected to grow to $2.9 billion by 2011, according to JupiterResearch.

Continue ReadingYahoo Launches Mobile Display Ads

Newly elected Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN), the first non-African American representative since 1974 from Tennessee's majority-black Ninth District, will keynote this weekend's staff-training conference, AAN announced today. Cohen served Memphis in the Tennessee State Senate for 24 years before replacing Harold Ford, Jr. as the city's congressman. For the first time since it premiered in 2004, attendance at AAN East is likely to exceed the total at AAN West, which was held in San Francisco in late January. MORE AAN EAST NEWS: Helen Sutton, who spoke in Little Rock at the 2006 convention and racked up one of the highest scores in the history of AAN's post-convention survey, has been confirmed as the sales-track speaker on Friday afternoon.

Continue ReadingMemphis Congressman to Speak at AAN East