"This week's issue marks my last as editor," Bill Colrus writes in a farewell column. He's leaving the Chattanooga alt-weekly "for a new and exciting opportunity in the world of custom publishing," and will be replaced by current co-publisher Michael Kull. "This paper has been devoted to digging for bits of truth buried in mountains of dishonesty and spin, and I've been glad to man the shovel," writes Colrus, who was hired prior to the paper's launch in 2003. "As I leave, I am confident that The Pulse will continue its mission to give a voice to the voiceless, go deeper on stories when a superficial snapshot is not enough, and strive to tell the stories nobody else will tell."

Continue ReadingThe Pulse’s Founding Editor Steps Down

Matt Bors, whose "Idiot Box" comic appears in AAN member papers including Seven Days, The Village Voice, and the Cleveland Free Times, will now have his work syndicated three times a week by United Feature Syndicate. Bors "infuses the traditional format of editorial cartooning with comic-strip structures and biting humor," says fellow alt-weekly staple Ted Rall, who is also United's acquisition and development editor.

Continue ReadingAlt-Weekly Cartoonist Inks Distro Deal with United Media

Over 150 AAN member delegates and film industry types converged last Thursday at the Avalon Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles for TrAANsformers, an event designed to demonstrate gratitude to film ad-buyers for their support. Twenty-seven door prizes, all donated by AAN members, were handed out, including a Mexican Riviera cruise and an "Apple" fruit basket with an iPhone, an iPod Nano, and Apple TV. During the two hour event, attendees noshed on sliders and other hors d'oeuvres and drank from the hosted bar, but the party didn't end there. "One of the best signs was that both guests and AAN paper folks hung out way after the free booze was gone and the presents had already been doled out," says The Stranger publisher Tim Keck.

Continue ReadingSecond Annual AAN Film-Industry Event is a Hit