Lance Gould, a veteran New York journalist, will begin his tenure in Boston in late April. Gould, formerly an editor at New York's Daily News and Spy magazine, was most recently a contributing editor at Radar magazine. He replaces Bill Jensen, who left the Phoenix to become director of online operations for Village Voice Media. Executive Editor Peter Kadzis says of Gould: "His recent work at Radar, where a premium was placed on the interdependence of print and online, will serve him particularly well at the Phoenix as we continue to work toward maximizing the convergence of our print, online, and radio content."

Continue ReadingBoston Phoenix Names New Editor

In a blistering investigation, Editor Julie Lyons, aka "Bible Girl," dives into Fort Worth Pastor Sherman Allen's decades-long history of alleged sexual abuse. She reports that since late January, when local TV station KXAS broke the story of a lawsuit against Allen by former church member and employee Davina Kelly, seven other women have come forward with tales of paddling and degradation at the hands of the Pentecostal pastor. The victims have also told her that Allen "is involved in the occult, employing such tactics as hypnosis, magic or illusions and the use of healing potions." GetReligion, a blog covering religion in journalism, says: "Lyons is an articulate, opinionated evangelical Christian who is doing some of the most freewheeling, confessional first-person religion writing I have ever seen."

Continue ReadingDallas Observer Reports Pentecostal Minister Abused Women

Just as the "hits" metric became outdated as web use evolved, the page view may be on the road to obsolescence, according to E&P. As an example, the story looks at Ajax, software used by Yahoo and others that is "enabling flashier, more convenient sites," but also is "contributing to Yahoo's decline in page views." While experts quoted by E&P say that an attachment to page views may hurt a site's usability, representatives from measurement companies say they are sticking with page views, while developing supplemental metrics for interaction and brand loyalty. "People kind of cling to it, even if they know it's flawed," says comScore's Gregory Dale. "They want to see this familiar metric."

Continue ReadingIs the Page View a Measurement Tool of the Past?

ESPN.com, FoxNews.com, and all of Cox Newspapers' sites are among the large media sites migrating from the two online giants to Quigo Technologies for contextual text ads, the small sponsored links that run next to related articles, the New York Times reports. The main reason, according to the Times, is that Quigo offers "transparency and control" by giving advertisers a list of sites where their ads have appeared and the option to buy only on specific sites. Google seems to be taking the competition seriously. A company spokesperson tells the Times that they will soon begin providing similar information to their clients.

Continue ReadingUpstart Challenging Yahoo and Google in Online Ad Market

A new study done by researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia analyzes financial data from papers with a circulation of 85,000 or less and finds that "news quality most directly affects the bottom line," according to DM News, which covers direct and internet marketing. The study will be published in April's Journal of Marketing.

Continue ReadingPapers Underspending in Newsroom, Overspending in Advertising

In today's citywide election, the Chicago Reader will "try a little experiment in citizen journalism" and have readers send in dispatches from the polls as election day unfolds, E&P reports. On Clout City, the paper's politics blog, Executive Editor Mike Lenehan tells readers: "Keep your eyes and ears open, ask questions if you need to, carry your camera or picture phone, and e-mail your anecdotes and photos." The best of this user-generated content will be posted on Clout City, along with reports from the Reader's regular bloggers. While Lenehan promises that editors "will be manning the inbox...until 8 pm at least, longer if it gets interesting," E&P says the biggest race will likely be a snoozer. "Mayor Richard M. Daley looks to be a shoo-in," E&P writes, before noting there are a few "spirited aldermanic elections" to watch.

Continue ReadingChicago Alt-Weekly Enlists Readers as Poll Watchers

Deborah Kolben, most recently city editor of the New York Sun, will join the Voice in April, reports the New York Observer. The winner of two National Newspaper Association awards for investigative reporting, she becomes the third former Sun employee to join the alt-weekly's staff since ex-Sun TV critic David Blum took over as editor-in-chief, according to the Observer. "I grew up in New York reading the Voice and I'm looking forward to being a part of a newspaper that plays such a vital role for so many in New York and elsewhere," Kolben says.

Continue ReadingVillage Voice Names New Managing Editor

The Maryland Army National Guard's recruitment chief was stripped of his command and about a dozen other recruiters were punished after an internal investigation revealed misuse of government money, fraudulent enlistments and improper relationships among Guard members, the Washington Post reports. The probe was sparked by recent stories in Baltimore City Paper that "alleged deceptive recruiting practices aimed at meeting quotas," according to the Post.

Continue ReadingMilitary Recruiters Punished On Heels of Alt-Weekly Investigation