The Richmond alt-weekly has fired staff reporter Chris Dovi after Dovi accidentally sent an email meant for his editor, which referred to a blind motivational speaker a "blind [expletive]," to the speaker's public relations representative. Dovi tells the Richmond Times-Dispatch his language sprang from his frustration with the PR rep's frequent calls and emails about a potential story, but says he's "not making excuses." He adds: "I shouldn't have been flip." Style Weekly editor Jason Roop and publisher Lori Waran, in a joint statement, say Dovi's language "violated the core values" of the paper. "It showed an unacceptable disregard for one of our chief missions at Style: to honor diversity as a company in all of our dealings with the community, and within Style's hallways." MORE: Washington City Paper's Andrew Beaujon says Style "decided to assuage an awkward situation by cutting off a talented reporter at the knees."

Continue ReadingStyle Weekly Fires Writer Who Used Obscenity in Email

In response to some concerns "inside and outside the paper" about Ragnar Carlson's role as the Weekly's editor and his father's role as paid consultant to Parsons Brinckerhoff, Honolulu's prime contractor on the current stage of a massive rail project, Carlson says he's handing off all rail and rail-related stories to managing editor Adrienne LaFrance. "I've removed myself to avoid a conflict of interest, real or perceived, on this issue," Carlson writes, adding that he doesn't think that his father's role has influenced his editing or reporting. "[But] the perception of a conflict is as real a threat to our mission as any potential conflict itself," he writes. "Readers need to trust our coverage implicitly." On his blog, Carlson's father says it is "the right decision."

Continue ReadingHonolulu Weekly Editor Removes Himself from the Rail Beat

In an appeal brief filed yesterday, SF Weekly is asking the California courts to overturn the San Francisco Bay Guardian's $21 million judgment in the 2008 predatory-pricing case, marking the final written document that will be entered into the record as part of the Weekly's appeal. The court is now expected to schedule oral arguments in the case, with a final decision coming "anywhere from five to eighteen months," according to the Weekly.

Continue ReadingSF Weekly Asks Appeals Court to Overturn Bay Guardian Judgment

Savage's 2000 book The Kid: What Happened After My Boyfriend and I Decided to Go Get Pregnant has been turned into a musical by The New Group and will launch on Broadway in April. The Savage character will be played by Christopher Sieber, who has been nominated for Tony Awards for his performances in Monty Python's Spamalot and Shrek The Musical.

Continue ReadingMusical Theater Version of Dan Savage Book Coming to Broadway

Alison Draper, who was publisher of the Dallas Observer between 2002 and 2006, has been named the new vice president and chief sales officer of Creative Loafing, Inc. She will report to CL CEO Marty Petty, and will be based in the company's Chicago office. "We're all aware of the decline in the influence of daily newspapers and in their circulation and advertising sales," Draper says in a release. "I'm convinced that Creative Loafing's newspapers and websites can attract the readers and serve the advertisers who find daily newspapers irrelevant."

Continue ReadingCreative Loafing Brings on Former Dallas Observer Publisher

Editor-in-chief Marianne Partridge has sued publisher Randy Campbell in Santa Barbara County Superior Court for breach of contract in a legal dispute that Independent reporter Nick Welsh says "could have major ramifications for the ownership structure" of the paper. Partridge, a minority shareholder, claims that Campbell -- who owns 51 percent of the company -- is in violation of contract language that requires him to offer to sell his stock to Partridge or one of the other two minority owners before selling to anyone else. The dispute stems from Campbell's apparent desire to sell his share of the Independent to Valley Printers, which prints the paper and is owned by Southland Publishing, the parent company of four Southern California AAN member papers.

Continue ReadingSanta Barbara Independent Editor Sues Publisher Over Proposed Sale

That's Robert Newman's take, as he profiles yet another alt-weekly for the Society of Publication Designers' "Grids" blog. "The Reporter has an editorial budget for an entire issue that is less than what most national magazines pay for a spot illustration," Newman writes, praising cover designer Angela Moore's ability to create "engaging, timely covers, designed to drive circulation and appeal to the Reporter's readership." She says that despite her small budget, artists like to work for the Reporter because she trusts their instincts. "I'm always being told by illustrators how rare it is to work with someone who doesn't over direct, and I think that's why so many work for us even with our small budget," Moore says.

Continue ReadingSanta Fe Reporter is One of the Country’s ‘Best Venues for Illustration’