Gretchen Giles is one of 12 U.S. journalists to win a place in the first International Arts Journalism Institute in the Visual Arts. The program, which provides mid-career art critics and writers the opportunity to participate in a two-week intensive training, is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and the U.S. State Department.

Continue ReadingNorth Bay Bohemian Editor Tapped for NEA Program

Giordano, a former alt-weekly reporter whose Friday afternoon session at the AAN Convention is on "how independent journalism is thriving on the internet and in other parts of the hemisphere," decides to "do some thinking out loud on those themes" in a blog post titled "Black and White and Dead All Over." Giordano says that daily newspapers are dying because they are crippled by institutional biases. "Memo to my remaining daily print colleagues and their nostalgia club: Get over it and get over yourselves," he writes. "In your arrogance, you established calcified 'rules' of 'journalism' and false 'objectivity' that neutered and spayed all of your reporters, domesticated so they would never again afflict the comfortable or comfort the afflicted."

Continue ReadingAl Giordano Previews His AAN Convention Talk

At a panel discussion earlier this month at the 92nd Street Y in New York, Tony Ortega talked about web publishing and the print media industry, along with Voice publisher Michael Cohen, Gothamist publisher Jake Dobkin and Alana Taylor of Mashable.com. While noting that, like most papers, the Voice is struggling to do more with less right now, Ortega says the product isn't the problem. "Newspapers have never been more popular in their history," he says. "It's just that our advertisers have no money to spend."

Continue ReadingVillage Voice Editor: Industry Woes are a ‘Business Model Crisis’

Last year, John Sakowicz began writing "smartly prescient" pieces on the impending financial collapse for the North Bay Bohemian, editor Gretchen Giles writes, so she kept publishing him and even dubbed him contributing editor on the paper's masthead. However, as Sakowicz's work at the Bohemian landed him a local radio show and "expert" status at the Institute for Public Accuracy, some people started digging into his background. Ultimately, Giles found that she couldn't confirm some details of Sakowicz's biography, and the paper has cut ties with him. "It appears that Sakowicz, while talented at understanding and predicting the economic moonscape, does not have the exact background he claims to have, one that we underscored by repeatedly printing it at the end of his articles," Giles writes in a mea culpa. "A credible publication cannot publish the works of writers whose credentials cannot withstand scrutiny."

Continue ReadingAlt-Weekly Parts Ways with Writer After His Credentials Are Questioned

The Lark Street Business Improvement District's annual Champagne on the Park ball honored the Albany alt-weekly -- along with Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood -- because their "contributions to the neighborhood have been critical to the growth of the district," the Albany Times-Union reports. Metroland is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.

Continue ReadingMetroland Honored by Local Biz Group

As pressure mounts on Craigslist to tighten its erotic advertising policies in the wake of masseuse Julissa Brisman's death, Rhode Island's attorney general has expanded his focus to include thephoenix.com. But publisher and chairman Stephen Mindich isn't backing down. "I'm not apologizing for carrying adult advertising," he tells the Boston Herald. “What are you going to do? Take down the entire Internet?” ... (Brisman) wasn’t killed by an ad, but by a person."

Continue ReadingBoston Phoenix Publisher Defends Adult Ads

Independent senior editor Matt Kettmann tells us via email that the paper has published about 50 stories since the Jesusita wildfire started on Tuesday afternoon at www.independent.com/jesusita. The paper has been doing up-to-the-minute coverage with a staff of about a dozen -- on top of putting out a print edition this week as well. Kettmann says its an example of "how weeklies can handle pretty important and heavy loads."

Continue ReadingAs Fire Blazes, Santa Barbara Independent Reports — Often

California's capital city is weighing an ordinance to replace news boxes on the K Street mall area and replace them with city-owned and operated modular racks, the News & Review reports. The city's proposed rule would allow dailies first pick of space in the modular racks, followed by weeklies, then semi weeklies and monthlies.

Continue ReadingSacramento Looks to Modular News Racks in Downtown Area