Corey Pein wrote a cover story last week on the College of Santa Fe, its party scene and its financial troubles, and now students have created a Facebook group called "People for a Public Apology from Corey Pein." The group says the story "grossly misrepresented" students and the college, and calls "for a retraction of the story, as well as a public apology by Corey Pein, also to be printed in the Reporter." The group currently has 83 members, including some SFR writers who seem to have joined to defend Pein and round out the conversation.

Continue ReadingFacebook Group Asks for Santa Fe Reporter Writer’s Apology

In a joint special project with Capital Public Radio, the Sacramento News & Review is seeking short "Letters to Obama" through the end of the year. "The idea is to share our hopes and dreams for the new president with each other as well as with the new occupant of the White House," the paper writes. Some letters will be published in a special inaugural issue and read on the radio.

Continue ReadingNews & Review and Public Radio Station Team Up for ‘Letters to Obama’

On the heels of Epicurious.com calling Portland, Maine, "the new Portland, Oregon," Portland Mercury food writer Patrick Alan Coleman decided that he "quite like[d] the idea of a cross-country Portland food rivalry," and baited the Mainers with a blog post detailing why the West Coast Portland is the real deal for foodies. Portland Phoenix editor Jeff Inglis has fired back with his point-by-point rebuttal, noting the superiority of Maine's beer, ingredients, mushrooms and bartenders.

Continue ReadingAlt-Weeklies Start a Portland-to-Portland ‘Food Fight’

In a round table discussion with representatives of other Seattle news organizations, Tim Keck discusses how The Stranger fits in to the transformation of the news business. He says that 2007 was the paper's best year ever, and '08 was slightly down due to the tanking economy. While he says that The Stranger has "probably three times the number" of online readers, he notes that print circulation hasn't dropped that much either. "The media compan[ies] that can navigate different mediums [are] going to be the ones that survive," Keck says. "The thing that really moors them is no longer the medium -- a print publication -- it's going to be the community and the brand."

Continue ReadingThe Stranger Publisher Talks About the Web & the Future of Newpapers

Rand Carlson, whose cartoons have appeared in the Weekly for more than 20 years, talks to local TV station KVOA about why he loves his job. "It's like one constant joke after another," he says. "I keep experimenting, I keep twisting words around, seeing pictures in my head about what to make fun of."

Continue ReadingTucson Weekly Cartoonist Talks About His Work

The Springfield, Ill., alt-weekly last week debuted a new-look paper with larger pages and stich-and-trim binding. Times publisher Sharon Whalen says Topaz Design consulted on the project, but the Times design staff had a major hand in the redesign as well.

Continue ReadingIllinois Times Unveils Redesign