The paper reported this morning that it has called off this year's Detour Festival. "Call it festival fatigue," music editor Randall Roberts writes. "Blame the economy, the industry, the biz, the Powers That Be, the health care system, or the glut of afternoon-into-evening music events." Roberts reports that there are rumors of "a different kind of musical event for the fall, to take place one of the city's gorgeous open-air facilities."

Continue ReadingL.A. Weekly Music Festival Goes ‘On Hiatus’

A few days after Byrd and Melanie Billings were murdered in their Florida home in early July, Independent News publisher Rick Outzen ran an exclusive on his blog disputing the state attorney's version of events and suggesting the murders may have been a contract killing. Despite the story being disputed by competing news outlets and other individuals, the local sheriff is now investigating the claim, saying that many of Outzen's sources have been correct. Outzen, whose Pensacola weekly has applied for AAN membership a few times and is a familiar face at AAN conventions, tells the New York Times that he feels vindicated, and his work has led to an assignment from The Daily Beast and praise from local officials. "I don't always agree with him, but he is the conscience of the community," the chairman of the Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce says. "People have come to trust that Rick's going to be out there, pushing us in ways sometimes we're not comfortable with."

Continue ReadingOn His Blog, Florida Weekly Publisher ‘Stirs a City’

The Tennessean is reporting that Village Voice Media and SouthComm Communications are discussing the sale of the Nashville Scene, which VVM acquired in 2006. SouthComm, which is based in Nashville and run by former Scene publisher Chris Ferrell, also owns AAN member LEO Weekly and a handful of Nashville websites and publications.

Continue ReadingIs VVM Close to Selling the Nashville Scene?

Tom Martino, a nationally syndicated talk radio host and Denver-area TV personality known as The Troubleshooter, apparently had an associate call in a fake tip to reporter Jared Jacang Maher so he could confront Maher on camera about a recent Westword article linking Martino to a multi-level marketing company. Once Maher got to the parking lot where he was set to meet the purported tipster, Martino ran after Maher's car with a cameraman. "Why won't you answer some questions?," he shouted. "Are you a coward?" Maher drove away, and Martino headed to the Westword office, where he confronted managing editor Jonathan Shikes. Eventually, Martino put together a short video (see below) on the episode, in which he calls Maher a "cowardly writer" over footage of a picture taken off the internet. But while Martino tells his audience that picture is of Maher, it is actually of standup comedian and former Westword staffer Adam Cayton-Holland, a fact Michael Roberts says Martino should have easily known. For his efforts, The Troubleshooter has earned "Shmuck of the Week" honors from the Denver alt-weekly.

Continue ReadingStory Subject Attempts to Ambush Westword Writer in Parking Lot

Dickerson, whose work for Phoenix New Times won him national recognition, recently left journalism to focus on his other vocation: being a pastor. "It really came down to there were not enough hours in the week to minister to people the way I wanted and to do journalism," Dickerson tells the Prescott, Ariz., Daily Courier. New Times managing editor Amy Silverman says the traits that led Dickerson to religious leadership were the same ones that made him a good reporter. "I believe it's the sincerity and goodness that led him to the clergy that make him such a terrific investigative reporter," she says.

Continue ReadingJohn Dickerson Goes from Writing Features to Writing Sermons

Yesterday, we noted that L.A. Weekly music editor Randall Roberts had been named one of the six journalists to receive a 2009 USC Annenberg/Getty Arts Journalism Fellowship. However, we neglected to note that Houston Press contributor Kelly Klaasmeyer will also be in the 2009 class of fellows when the three-week program begins this November. We apologize for the omission.

Continue ReadingUPDATE: Houston Press Contributor Also Named Annenberg/Getty Fellow