Jennifer Maerz's last column for The Stranger, "Goodbye to All That: Or, Our Music Editor Gets All Mushy on Her Way Out," appears in the Feb. 2 issue. Maerz is moving to San Francisco, where she will be the music editor for SF Weekly, in order to be closer to her boyfriend. Maerz writes, "I've really loved it here -- this paper carries a strong, funny, enthusiastic, and truly independent vision of what political and cultural coverage should be. That approach is rare to find." SF Weekly's former music critic, Garrett Kamps, wrote his final "OK Then" column for the Feb. 1 issue. Dave Segal will be the new music editor for The Stranger.

Continue ReadingThe Stranger’s Music Editor Moves to SF Weekly

Jan Caldwell, a classified sales rep for Creative Loafing (Charlotte), is the winner of the AAN CAN trip to Peru. Caldwell won by selling the most new advertising in the AAN CAN network between Nov. 10 and Jan. 31. When notified yesterday, she reacted with disbelief, then quickly called her daughter and the friend she is planning to take with her on her trip. Caldwell may rake in other goodies as well, since some classified managers decided to make the contest more interesting by wagering items such as wine and tour books via the AAN Classified Management mailing list.

Continue ReadingAAN CAN Winner Announced!

Editor Pamela White penned a 5,175-word article for the Feb. 2 issue of Boulder Weekly, detailing how an "expert" she had used was actually a fraud. David Race Bannon is the author of Race Against Evil, a supposed former Interpol assassin, and a source for the Weekly's Sept. 9, 2004 story "Suffer the Children" on the international child sex trade. On Jan. 27, Bannon was arrested by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation on suspicion of criminal impersonation, computer crime and criminal attempt to commit theft. White writes, "one quickly realizes that journalism, most especially alternative journalism, entails taking some risks. I don't say that to defend any lack of judgment on my part; it is quite simply a fact." Westword also included a short take on Boulder Weekly and Bannon in its Feb. 2 issue (here, second item).

Continue ReadingBoulder Weekly Duped by Fraudulent Author