All applications for press credentials at this year's Democratic National Convention (Aug. 25-28 in Denver) are due on Tuesday, April 15. AAN members interested in covering the convention should register via the House Periodical Press Gallery. Freelance photographers should apply through the Standing Committee of Press Photographers, and bloggers can register with the DNCC Press Gallery. Be sure to double-check the rules before applying, as there are many different types of credentials available. Hotels are sure to fill up fast, so book one soon if you're making the trip to Denver.

Continue ReadingApplication Deadline for DNC Press Credentials Rapidly Approaching

Steve Lowery, who reported as the new editor of Los Angeles CityBeat last Monday, resigned late last week. Publisher Charles Gerencser accepted his resignation today and named Rebecca Schoenkopf acting editor. "It's purely personal," Lowery tells LA Observed. "When I got there, it became immediately apparent that I just didn't have it in me ... my body and my soul were telling me, hey bud, maybe it's time." In an email to AAN News, Gerencser says Schoenkopf, who had just begun her tenure as the paper's arts editor last week, "is very passionate about creating a must-have; must-read newsweekly. I am looking forward to working with her on our effort to re-launch CityBeat with the June 12th edition." LA Observed is reporting the retooled paper will have "more of a magazine sensibility."

Continue ReadingLowery Out at CityBeat; Schoenkopf Named Acting Editor

Michael Hollett was hurt in the Juno Cup Friday night, and will likely be in the hospital for several more days, the Calgary Herald reports. The Juno Cup is a hockey game where rockers take on NHL old-timers. "He fractured his leg in three places and it's a pretty bad situation," team captain Jim Cuddy tells the Calgary Sun. "He's in pretty rough shape. They'll operate on him, they'll put a rod in his leg, they'll put some screws in. I think it'll be quite a long recovery."

Continue ReadingNOW Magazine Co-Founder in Hospital After Hockey Accident

Four top Bush administration officials are weighing in against The Free Flow of Information Act, which would allow reporters to protect the identities of confidential sources, the Associated Press reports. Attorney General Michael Mukasey, National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff all expressed concerns about the bill via letters to senators which were made public this week. The bill was passed by the House and the Senate Judiciary Committee last October, but has since languished, waiting to be called to the Senate floor for a vote.

Continue ReadingBush Administration Mounts Campaign Against Federal Shield Law

Reporter Christine Pelisek recently asked the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety for a list of all legal and illegal billboards in the city, which activists have been trying to get for months. When she did, the department gave a head's up to billboard giants Clear Channel and CBS, who then took the city to Superior Court to stop it "from even thinking about giving the Weekly the list," the paper reports. But the media conglomerates were quickly shot down in court by Judge James Chalfant, who ruled the list is public information, not proprietary information, as Clear Channel lawyers argued. The department must release the list by April 4.

Continue ReadingL.A. Weekly Quickly Wins Legal Fight with Clear Channel

Kill the Messenger will tell the story of Webb, the San Jose Mercury News reporter who "committed suicide after being the target of a smear campaign when he linked the CIA to a scheme to arm Contra rebels in Nicaragua and import cocaine into California," Variety reports. The Universal film will be based on two books: Webb's own Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion, and Weekly staff writer Nick Schou's Kill the Messenger: How the CIA's Crack-Cocaine Controversy Destroyed Journalist Gary Webb. The screenplay is being written by former New York Times Magazine correspondent Peter Landesman.

Continue ReadingOC Weekly Scribe’s Book is the Basis for Upcoming Gary Webb Film

The Nielsen Company has announced the results of its bi-annual Mobile Advertising Report, which found that 23 percent (58 million) of all U.S. mobile subscribers have been exposed to advertising on their phones in the past 30 days, and about half of those (28 million) say they responded to a mobile ad in some way. In addition, the study found that 13 percent of users are "open to mobile advertising if it improves the media and content currently available," and 14 percent is "already open to mobile advertising so long as it is relevant to their interests."

Continue ReadingStudy: 28 Million Subscribers Responded To At Least One Mobile Ad

"To paraphrase a paraphrase of Mark Twain, reports of my deportation have been greatly exaggerated," writes Gustavo Arellano in a blog entry. "I know I announced last Thursday that I was ending my ¡Ask a Mexican! column, but few people seemingly bothered to read the line where I stated my self-deportation was 'effective the feast day of St. Melito,' which happens to fall today. April Fools'!"

Continue Reading¡Ask a Mexican! As Extinct as Kudzu