The Interactive Advertising Bureau this week announced the release of guidelines to the most widely used in-stream ad products, including linear video ads, non-linear video ads and companion ads. A committee of 145 leading interactive companies contributed to the guidelines, which aim to simplify video ad buying across multiple sites and make it more efficient.

Continue ReadingDigital Video Ad Guidelines Released

Both the Boston Phoenix and Boston's Weekly Dig have been "a springboard" for journalists from the university, BU Daily reports. Among the alums on the Beantown alt-weekly scene are Phoenix founder Stephen Mindich and senior managing editor Clif Garboden; Dig art director Tak Toyoshima and staff writer Chris Faraone; and countless others, including former Phoenix reporter Kristen Lombardi, who broke the story of Cardinal Bernard Law's protection of pedophile priests, and former Phoenix media critic Mark Jurkowitz, who is currently the associate director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism. "[BU] is a great resource for us," says Dig publisher Jeff Lawrence. "These kids come out with great energy and a sense that they want to do something different."

Continue ReadingBoston’s Alt-Weeklies Draw Heavily from Boston University Students

The Independent and the parent company of the Santa Barbara News-Press have settled a federal copyright infringement lawsuit, the Indy reports. The suit was brought against the alt-weekly in 2006 after a reporter for the News-Press wrote an article describing what occurred in the paper's newsroom the day a handful of top editors resigned. The story never made the paper; instead, the Independent got a hold of a draft and posted it on its website, which the News-Press claimed violated federal copyright law. Local media law blogger Craig Smith says that even though they won't admit it, the settlement is "a victory for the Independent."

Continue ReadingSanta Barbara Independent Settles Lawsuit With Daily Paper

Liz Garrigan says in a blog post that she'll be leaving the paper at the end of June to become editorial director of Magellan Media, an umbrella company of book imprints and (non-newspaper) publishing enterprises. "I'm attempting something pretty rare in journalism these days: a chance to make an exit while I'm still having an enormous amount of fun," she writes. "It might be a bit anticlimactic, but this is not a protest resignation, a corporate cost-cutting measure or a veiled firing." She says she hopes to continue contributing to the Scene, but "after 12 years at one place -- as political writer, news editor, associate editor, then editor -- it's time for this root-bound journalist to repot herself."

Continue ReadingNashville Scene Editor to Step Down

The national advertising firm announced today that all "AAN publications that meet a set of standards and practices specifications are eligible for non-exclusive representation by the Ruxton Digital Media Network." Ruxton currently represents 39 alt-weeklies and says it is on pace to deliver more than $2 million in digital sales this year to its partner publications. "Our growing success in digital sales to date and increasing demand from advertisers for more inventory has spurred us to open up the network to all AAN papers," Village Voice Media president and chief operating officer Scott Tobias says in a press release. "A large national digital advertising network will give everyone the opportunity to participate in the growth of national digital advertising sales."

Continue ReadingRuxton Rolls Out National Digital Network

In the non-daily print division, AAN members comprise 16 of the 30 finalists in the Society of Professional Journalists' Green Eyeshade Awards, which "recognizes outstanding journalism in 11 southeastern states." The Memphis Flyer and Miami New Times each has six finalists, New Times Broward-Palm Beach has two, and the Independent Weekly and Mountain XPress each has one.

Continue ReadingAlt-Weeklies Well-Represented in Green Eyeshade Award Finalists

The Weekly took home eight Idaho Press Club awards, including first-place finishes in four categories: Environment Reporting, Light Feature, Political Reporting, and Serious Feature. "The awards received by Idaho Press Club support our belief and efforts to be the best newspaper in Idaho," owner/publisher Sally Freeman says in a statement.

Continue ReadingBoise Weekly Nabs Idaho Journalism Honors