Ted Rall, who is president of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists president, has written an open letter to the Overseas Press Club of America president over an increase in the awards entry fee from $150 to $175. Rall accuses the organization of using the fees as a "revenue enhancing" operation at the expense of "beleaguered cartoonists," and says that at least 11 cartoonists will not enter the contest this year. The list includes other alt-cartoonists Mikhaela Reid (The Boiling Point) and Jen Sorensen (Slowpoke).
"Get Out, the East Valley Tribune's Thursday entertainment tabloid will publish for the last time on Christmas Day," writes the Phoenix New Times' Martin Cizmar. He calls Get Out a "vanquished -- but respected -- foe of 11 years."
AAN's new eighth-page display ad network, known as AAN BRAN, published its first network-wide ad the week of Dec. 8. The ad, from the charity Direct Relief International, ran in scores of papers across the country and was sold by Evan Wells of the Santa Barbara Independent. Click through to learn more about the new program.
Robbie Woliver tells AAN News via email that Alphabet Kids - From ADD to Zellweger Syndrome: A Guide to Developmental, Neurobiological and Psychological Disorders for Parents and Professionals was "the book I could have used 15 years ago." Inspired by his own child, he chose to write the book to "provide a road map for parents to help them muddle through the alphabet soup of diagnoses so many children are receiving these days -- many of which are incorrect." In the course of researching and writing, Woliver says he and his wife became inspired to start a nonprofit called Your Day Away that provides a day of respite and support for parents of children with special needs. The nonprofit kicked off in November, and will run as a daily ongoing organization starting next month.
According to the Buzz on Biz blog, last week the Augusta Chronicle ran a half-page ad targeting businesses that placed ads only with that city's AAN-member paper, the Metro Spirit. It tried to persuade ad buyers that by ignoring the daily, they were missing out on 104,000 readers. "It is the first time in memory that the Chronicle has named a competitor by name," Buzz on Biz reports.
"Put it this way, if The Oregonian cosponsored an inaugural party celebrating any politician's victory, you can be sure Willamette Week would be all over it," writes Oregonian political correspondent Jeff Mapes. The party in question is the "Change Is Here Dance Party" at a local club, which is set to take place Jan. 20 and is cosponsored by the Democratic Party of Oregon and the Portland alt-weekly. But WW editor Mark Zusman tells the Oregonian he didn't even know about the joint-sponsored party. He says that he thought that the night was to feature two back-to-back parties, not one co-sponsored event. "For the record, I don't like what we have done," Zusman says. "At all."
Last week, we reported that axed Des Moines Register cartoonist Brian Duffy was given the chance to publish his farewell cartoon in Cityview. Now the alt-weekly has announced that it will continue publishing cartoons by Duffy each week.
Creative Loafing (Tampa) political editor Wayne Garcia says the plan, filed Monday in the company's Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, makes the case for keeping the company in the hands of CEO Ben Eason. "The Debtor believes retention of existing senior management and existing publishers, editors, directors of shared services and key online personnel are vital to successful implementation of this strategy as the markets are shifting very quickly at this time," the plan reads. CL also filed a 10-year financial forecast and an analysis of how much the company would bring if it were liquidated. Read more from Atlanta Magazine's Steve Fennessy.
