Seattle Weekly reported Monday that the federal government will not intervene in the merger of its parent company, Village Voice Media, and New Times Media, LLC. The Federal Trade Commission posted a routine notice last Wednesday listing the merger among proposed deals that neither the FTC's Bureau of Competition nor the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice would challenge. Thus, the Weekly said, the way is clear "for the two companies to become one as soon as paperwork is complete." The Weekly also quoted an e-mail message to staff from Village Voice Media CEO David Schneiderman, in which he said, "the work on integrating the two companies will accelerate, but we will still be functioning as separate entities until the closing." The Village Voice ran its own story later in the day.

Continue ReadingFTC Won’t Block New Times-Village Voice Merger

Keith Rathbun has been the publisher of the Budget, a weekly newspaper for Amish and Mennonite readers, since he left the Cleveland Scene in 2000. Last week in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Rathbun announced plans to launch an online version of the Budget. (Of course, the Budget's typical reader doesn't access the Internet, so the Web site will be designed for those doing research.) Rathbun said the Budget is "a lot like the old Scene. That was a special paper, and I had a great time. I was a music fan, but I wasn't a big nightclub guy. I would rather kick back in this kind of lifestyle. It's fun again to publish."

Continue ReadingFormer Cleveland Scene Publisher Brings Amish News to the Web