That's what Review Publishing president Anthony Clifton is saying. (Review is the parent company of the Weekly.) "The word inside the PW offices is whatever possible deal was on the table is now dead," according to the paper's Philadelphia Will Do blog. This is the first time since rumors of the sale first surfaced in late March that Clifton has commented either way on the possible purchase.

Continue ReadingPhiladelphia Weekly Sale: ‘There’s Nothing Happening’

That's what we gleaned from an excerpt of Kara Jesella and Marisa Meltzer's new book, How Sassy Changed My Life. The book argues that the popular girls' magazine, "was less a teenage moment than an early feminist movement," according to NPR. In one excerpt, former Portland Mercury arts editor Julianne Shepherd recalls that "in the interview (for the job at the Mercury), I noted Sassy as a major influence on my inchoate writing voice," and Tim Keck, president of the parent company that owns the Mercury, "was essentially like, 'Right on! You're hired!'"

Continue ReadingThe Key to Getting an Alt-Weekly Writing Gig: Name-Drop ‘Sassy’

A coalition led by OpentheGovernment.org yesterday sent a letter (PDF file) to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales protesting a 2004 U.S. District Protective Order (PDF file) that doesn't require the government to retain a set of records relating to detainees at Guantanamo Bay. The letter, which was signed by AAN and over twenty other media and non-profit organizations, was also sent (PDF file) to Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein, Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) and the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Continue ReadingOpen Government Coalition Asks Feds to Keep Guantanamo Records

The memo seeks to avoid regulatory legislation of news box placement in the town of Greenfield, Mass. Under the agreement, labels with names and phone numbers of those responsible for it will be on each box, according to the Republican. Meanwhile, town officials are studying legislative approaches in case the publishers' agreement doesn't fix the problems of overcongestion, disrepair and poor placement.

Continue ReadingValley Advocate Joins Other Papers in Voluntary News Box Agreement

Zoo, a film co-written by The Stranger's associate editor Charles Mudede (pictured), has been accepted to the Directors' Fortnight segment of the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. The film about bestiality, loosely based on an incident in Washington two years ago, opened in New York this week and hits L.A. in May. The Village Voice's Nathan Lee says it "moves the mind to reflect on fundamental questions of culture and psyche: the relation of man to animal, the limits of sexuality, the contours of community." The New York Times also weighs in on Zoo, saying it "wraps its sensationalistic core in a seductive mantle, an approach that appeals to viewers already predisposed to art and the Enlightenment, Sesame Street and all things not Rush Limbaugh."

Continue ReadingAlt-Weekly Editor’s Film is Headed for Cannes

The Observer's spelling team edged out the Dallas Morning News yesterday at the Literacy Instruction for Texas spelling bee. Writer Andrea Grimes says the win is "sweet, sweet verbal revenge" for the "ass-kicking" the News gave the Observer in last year's softball league. She tells the News not to take the loss too hard: "We're sure those excellent batting averages are very helpful when it comes to putting out the daily paper."

Continue Reading‘Camouflage’ is the Magic Word as Dallas Observer Wins Spelling Bee