The Free Flow of Information Act of 2007 "seeks to reconcile reporters' need to maintain confidentiality, in order to ensure that sources will speak openly and freely, with the public's right to effective law enforcement and fair trials," according to a press release. The bill was introduced Monday by Senators Arlen Specter (R-PA), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Richard Lugar (R-IN). "It is time to simplify the patchwork of court decisions and legislation that has grown over the last three decades," Specter says. "It is time for Congress to clear up the ambiguities journalists and the federal judicial system face in balancing the protections journalists need in providing confidential information to the public with the ability of the courts to conduct fair and accurate trials." The bill modifies earlier shield law legislation introduced in the House by Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), and in the Senate by Sen. Lugar and Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT).

Continue ReadingSenators Introduce Federal Shield Law

Janet Reynolds, a 20-year veteran of publishing group New Mass. Media, will leave the papers on Sept. 28 as part of a company-wide restructuring. "Publishing a newspaper has always been a challenging business particularly in the last few years," says Reynolds, who began as a listings editor at the Hartford Advocate in 1986 and has since served as a reporter, managing editor, editor and publisher within the New England-based chain, which was acquired by the Tribune Company's Hartford Courant in 1999. "I feel that I met many of those challenges and am able to leave them in good shape and in good capable hands that will take them to the next level." Josh Mamis, currently group publisher of New Mass. Media's two other alt-weeklies, the New Haven Advocate and Fairfield County Weekly, was named group publisher for all four papers, their websites and other products. Sean Hitchcock and Do-Han Allen will assume associate publisher roles at Fairfield County Weekly and the Valley Advocate, respectively.

Continue ReadingHartford/Valley Advocate Group Publisher to Step Down

LA Observed reports the paper "is leaving its longtime physical and spiritual home on Sunset Boulevard in the heart of Hollywood" to head to L.A.'s Westside. The Weekly signed a ten-year lease valued at about $7.5 million to be the only tenant in the 24,000-square-foot, three-level building, according to a related press release. "We were looking for a larger building that could house all of our employees in one facility and give them more space and amenities," publisher Beth Sestanovich says. "In addition, we now have ample parking in a covered lot, and the building will have great branding visibility from all sides. I'm confident that we'll be very happy in this new facility and that it will provide us with the type of creative space we need to continue to produce an award-winning publication."

Continue ReadingL.A. Weekly Set to Move Across Town Next May

The Observer joined the Innocence Project and other groups in asking a Texas judge to stop local officials from destroying a hair they say could exonerate a man executed for murder, Reuters reports. Claude Jones was put to death by lethal injection in 2000, when President George W. Bush was governor of Texas. "If the state of Texas did execute an innocent man, the people of Texas deserve to know what was done in their name," executive editor Jake Bernstein says. "This case begs for further examination."

Continue ReadingTexas Observer Moves to Preserve Evidence in Case of Executed Man

As a newcomer to the state, new Anchorage Press publisher Bingo Barnes thought that a column modeled after Gustavo Arellano's syndicated "Ask a Mexican!," written by an Alaska Native writer, could work at the paper. Apparently, the former Boise Weekly owner and publisher was wrong. He posted the ad on Craigslist and then went on a week's vacation. "I anticipated some resistance to the idea, but I mainly expected to hear from candidates interested in writing such a column," Barnes writes. "Upon my return to the digital world, I was shocked to see what chaos I had unleashed." The Press no longer has any plans to run an "Ask an Eskimo" column.
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Continue ReadingProposed ‘Ask an Eskimo’ Column Causes a Stir in Alaska