Stephens Press, the book publishing division of CityLife's parent company Stephens Media, is launching the CityLife Books imprint, which will publish up to four titles each year. The imprint will be edited by CityLife publisher Geoff Schumacher, who says he will be looking for proposals and manuscripts that speak to regular readers of the alt-weekly. "We want to publish books that question the conventional wisdom and offer new ways of looking at this region and its people," he says in a release. "Great writing will be paramount."

Continue ReadingLas Vegas CityLife Gets a Books Imprint

Richard Mellon Scaife, the publisher of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, has been in the courts for the past few years battling a contentious divorce dispute with his wife. The case has been kept tightly under wraps, and Pittsburgh City Paper is asking a judge to open some of the records. "We're asking the court to release the decree sealing the case, so that we, and the public, can understand why even courtroom testimony in this case is under wraps," editor Chris Potter writes. The alt-weekly, which is being represented by the ACLU, is also asking a judge to open up the case's docket, "in order to keep abreast of future developments." The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that attorneys for Scaife and his wife don't want City Paper to obtain either, saying the request poses a risk to their client's privacy and safety. "As soon as they get it, it's going to end up in a newspaper," Scaife's lead attorney H. Yale Gutnick said in court.

Continue ReadingAlt-Weekly Petitions to Unseal Local Publisher’s Divorce Records

In the annual awards given out to "The Best in the West" by the Western Publishing Association, L.A. Weekly won in the overall Tabloids (Consumer) category and in the Best News Story (Consumer) category, while the San Francisco Bay Guardian took first for Best Signed Editorial or Essay (Consumer).

Continue ReadingTwo Alt-Weeklies Win Three Maggie Awards

Westword's Adam Cayton-Holland finished first in Arts and Entertainment Writing, while fellow Westword scribe Jared Jacang Maher finished third in the same category. Phoenix New Times took a second place win for Environment and Natural Resources Reporting and a third place win for Growth and Development Reporting, while OC Weekly's (not the Orange County Register's, as the award announcement says) "Navel Gazing" blog finished second in the Blog Writing category. The annual contest is open to newspapers and news websites in 13 western states.

Continue ReadingAAN Members Fare Well in ‘Best of the West’ Awards