Citizens for Community Values, a group that "promotes moral values," is leading a coalition that yesterday held a news conference to publicly ask the paper to stop publishing adult-oriented classified ads, CityBeat reports. The group's letter is signed by various local sheriffs, county attorneys, pastors and others. "I do find it interesting that this organization wouldn't choose to reach out to us and to communicate to us in advance versus going about it in a public way, which strikes me as somewhat self-serving," general manager and co-publisher Dan Bockrath tells the Cincinnati Enquirer. "We cooperate with authorities in every instance when they're investigating one of our advertisers." CityBeat also released a statement to the press, which notes that "just about every public official" in this coalition has been the subject of negative stories in CityBeat, and that Citizens for Community Values has worked to get distribution points to drop the paper. "We make decisions about our business every day and on our own terms," the statement reads. "We won't be bullied or intimidated by any outside force that thinks they can make those decisions for us."

Continue ReadingCoalition Group Asks Cincinnati CityBeat to Halt Adult Ads

In the 31st annual awards competition, sponsored by the San Francisco Peninsula Press Club, the Palo Alto Weekly, SF Weekly, and San Francisco Bay Guardian all took home awards in the Newspapers: Non-Dailies division. Palo Alto Weekly -- and its online home, PaloAltoOnline.com -- won a total of nine awards, including first-place finishes in Analysis, Entertainment Review, and Page Design. The paper also finished in a second-place tie with SF Weekly for General Excellence. Speaking of the Weekly, it took home a total of four awards, including firsts in Sports Story and Technology Story, where it shared first place with the Bay Guardian. The Guardian also took home four awards total, with that shared first in Technology Story, plus firsts in Columns-News/Political and News Story.

Continue ReadingThree AAN Papers Honored in Greater Bay Area Journalism Awards

The paper will unveil a new design, logo and lineup of columns and features when it hits stands this week, LA Observed reports. Changes include: Content from Wonkette, a biweekly Neal Pollack column on sports, the return of editor Rebecca Schoenkopf's Commie Girl column, and a weekly news-in-review column from recently departed editor Steve Lowery. The redesign was overseen by new art director Paul Takizawa (formerly of LA Weekly), and CityBeat is throwing a celebratory party this Friday.

Continue ReadingLos Angeles CityBeat Undergoes Makeover on its Fifth Anniversary

After a vigorous and sometimes philosophical discussion of media ownership and the changing media landscape, AAN members approved four of the 11 membership applications that were considered during the association's annual meeting on Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia. City Pulse (Lansing, Mich.), Fast Forward (Calgary, Alberta), Hawaii Island Journal (Hilo, Hawaii) and Las Vegas CityLife (Las Vegas, Nev.) were each welcomed into the association. Members also voted to affirm the continuing membership of five papers whose ownership had changed in 2007.

Continue ReadingFour New Member Papers Admitted into AAN

At the 13th annual AltWeekly Awards luncheon in Philadelphia on Saturday, no one paper left with the lion's share of first-place awards. L.A. Weekly led the large-circulation division with three first-place awards, including wins for Jeffrey Anderson for Investigative Reporting and Nikki Finke for both Media Reporting/Criticism and Blog. And among the smaller papers, The Texas Observer led with three top prizes for Nate Blakeslee's investigative reporting, Jake Bernstein's long-form news and a special section dedicated to the late Molly Ivins.

Continue ReadingAAN and Medill Announce AltWeekly Awards Winners

Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas asked a federal judge last week to dismiss the lawsuit from New Times accusing him, Sheriff Joe Arpaio and attorney Dennis Wilenchik of violating the constitutional rights of the paper, its owners and its readers, the East Valley Tribune reports. Thomas claims he has "absolute immunity" from such cases while in office. Arpaio and Wilenchik have also asked the court to throw out the lawsuit for similar reasons. In addition, Wilenchik has asked that the suit be moved from county to federal court because it deals with civil rights issues. Michael Manning, the attorney for New Times, says the change of venue means the case will likely move more slowly, but added that "we're happy in either place."

Continue ReadingAttorney Wants Phoenix New Times Suit Against Him Thrown Out

Robbins won in the Continuing Coverage category for newspapers for his story that that questioned key testimony of a star witness against Lindley DeVecchio, a former FBI agent accused of helping the mob commit murder. The story, "Tall Tales of a Mafia Mistress," got Robbins subpoenaed by both the defense and prosecution in the case. Robbins and other winners will be honored at a formal dinner on June 16. A full list of winners can be found on the NY Press Club's site.

Continue ReadingThe Village Voice’s Tom Robbins Wins New York Press Club Award