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The New York Observer reports that Village Voice Music Editor Chuck Eddy was fired yesterday; he is the 17th employee to leave the paper since the merger with New Times. In a phone interview with the Observer, Village Voice Media Executive Editor Michael Lacey confirms that commentary will no longer appear on the Voice's pages. "I want our reporters to start reporting," Lacey says, adding that employees who aren't comfortable with the new dynamic should find employment elsewhere. "You want to sit in your room and ruminate? Not on my nickel," Lacey says. The Observer also notes that veteran Voice reporter James Ridgeway, who was fired on March 31, has retained an attorney to consider his legal options.

Continue Reading“Journalists Should Check Their Ego at the Door,” Lacey Says

"The 100 Unsexiest Men in the World," published in the April 18 issue of the Boston Phoenix, was the number-one story on MSNBC's "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" yesterday. (Transcript available here; scroll way down.) Associate Editor Bill Jensen was on hand to defend his choices, from Gilbert Gottfried at #1 to Brad Pitt at #100. Of course, Olbermann was most interested in #58, Fox News' Bill O'Reilly, with whom he has been feuding. Jensen explained that O'Reilly made the list because of his "splotchiness" and "bullying," and the falafel affair: "I think, any time you are going to, you know, talk to a woman on the phone and say you want to rub her with a sandwich full of chickpeas in the shower is -- is not going to help your sexual quotient."

Continue ReadingKeith Olbermann Weighs Boston Phoenix’s ‘100 Unsexiest Men’ List

In a March 14 letter, Veterans Affairs Secretary R. James Nicholson admitted VA nurse Laura Berg should not have been investigated for sedition for a letter to the editor she wrote to the Weekly Alibi in which she criticized Bush administration policies. The Albuquerque Tribune reports that Berg received a private apology from her supervisor in mid-February, but she continued to seek a public apology. "My concern about just having a private apology is because this happened to me it has frightened other people. It was intimidating," Berg told the Tribune. Nicholson's letter was addressed to U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman and was made public this week by the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, which represents Berg.

Continue ReadingV.A. Apologizes to Nurse Who Wrote ‘Seditious’ Letter to Weekly Alibi