The Scope will be run by three staffers from Editor Elling Lien's apartment in St. John's, Newfoundland. CBC Radio reports that Lien was inspired by the Montreal Mirror and that the new weekly will include "articles on such subjects as food and sex." St. John's already has two free publications, Current and Express.

Continue ReadingNew Canadian Alt-Weekly To Launch Next Month

The Independent News was not admitted as an AAN member this year, but its representatives decided to stick around Little Rock anyway, "to meet as many people as we could, learn as much as possible and have as much fun as we could stand." Judging by this week's cover story, mission accomplished. Editor Duwayne Escobedo includes trivia (the Rolling Stones stayed in the same hotel in March, and didn't tip well) and advice gleaned from seminars (alt-weeklies can go too far!?). "There's no question about it," Escobedo says. "Our next road trip is to Portland, Ore., in 2007 for the next AAN annual convention."

Continue ReadingLittle Rock and Back Again

"The Real World" is filming its next season in Denver, and according to writer Jared Jacang Maher, the Westword crew "desperately wanted to be a part of this celestial sphere of reality television." They put together a fake cast, added cameramen, producers, and security, and hit the town. Young Denverites in bars reacted as you might expect, hurling insults, mugging for the camera, and hitting on the cast. They even encountered a legitimate MTV celebrity -- Holly Shand from "Road Rules: Latin America." The cast also filmed fake "confessionals" and edited the footage into a four-minute "episode," available for download here in MP4 format.

Continue ReadingWestword Pranks ‘The Real World’ — Sort Of