Shalhoup, who has been with the paper since 2000, will move into the EIC role from her current position as senior editor. "With Mara's rich history in the community and deep knowledge of journalism and Atlanta, she is the perfect choice to lead our editorial team," Creative Loafing (Atlanta) publisher Luann Labedz says. "Mara is a standout executive who has been a leader in innovation and is a great example of the paper's next generation of leaders."

Continue ReadingCreative Loafing (Atlanta) Names Mara Shalhoup Editor in Chief

In a press release, the Guardian says that New Times Media LLC, the holding company for Village Voice Media, failed in its attempt to suspend the charging order entered last week in San Francisco Superior Court in favor of the Bay Guardian. That charging order gives the Guardian a lien on more of VVM's assets as the two continue to fight in court over the 2008 jury verdict that found VVM paper SF Weekly had illegally sold ads under cost in an effort to harm the Guardian. In a response, VVM says it knew it would lose this latest court battle, and alleges that the Guardian has repeatedly sought to delay" the appeal process of the 2008 verdict. READ MORE on the ongoing court battles from Bloomberg News and The Stranger.

Continue ReadingBay Guardian: VVM Loses Another Court Ruling

The Independent has promoted Lynne Foland, who came to the paper in 2006 as general manager, to publisher. She succeeds Matt Gibson, who is stepping aside after 12 years to focus on his duties as company president and editor-in-chief of Montana Headwall magazine.

Continue ReadingMissoula Independent Names New Publisher

That's Robert Newman's take, as he continues to highlight the excellent work being done by alt-weekly art directors around the country. Jay Vollmar, who has been Westword's art director for 10 years, comes from a background doing rock posters, and he tells Newman his approach to the two are very similar. "I usually apply the same principles to Westword covers as I do to poster projects," Vollmar says. "It starts with trying to boil a story down to its basics and then illustrate that in a simple image that can grab you from across the street. I just try to basically capture the vibe of a story much like I do with a band, the specific lyrics, words or details aren't as important or workable as the overall theme."

Continue ReadingWestword’s Covers are ‘Original, High-Energy, and Incredibly Engaging’

In a message to all Village Voice Media employees sent out today, VVM CEO Jim Larkin and executive editor Michael Lacey say the ramifications of last week's court order that suggested the San Francisco Bay Guardian could seize assets from papers other than SF Weekly has been widely misunderstood. "[The order] simply says the Guardian can try and go after cash distributions New Times receives from its publications as a limited partner or member of the company," they say, pointing out that "the amount of those monies is zero," since the company's publications are "separately organized limited liability companies or limited partnerships that own, operate and publish in their respective communities." They say that as they continue their appeal of the original judgment, "our publications will continue to publish and conduct business as they have all along."

Continue ReadingVVM: Last Week’s Court Order is ‘Very Limited in Scope’

John Conroy has turned to the stage to tell the story of police brutality he spent more than a decade covering at the Reader. The two-act "My Kind of Town," Conroy's first effort as a playwright, fictionalizes some of the stories of police torture he encountered in the city. He tells the New York Times that for the play he tried to create characters with moral ambiguities in order to stimulate conversations about the audience members' own feelings on torture. "I'm not a 'gotcha' reporter, and I wasn't out to paint cops in any simplistic good-and-evil way," Conroy says. "And I didn't want to tell a story that said that the guilty cops have to be punished or the righteous have to win, but rather that these were real human beings who had to make choices that we as a society need to see -- and that those choices had consequences that we as a society and city need to deal with."

Continue ReadingEx-Chicago Reader Reporter Dramatizes His Work on Police Torture

U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth has filed paperwork with the Kentucky Secretary of State's office to run for a third term representing the state's Third District in the House of Representatives. Yarmuth, a Democrat, founded the Louisville alt-weekly in 1990 and sold it in 2003 before first running for Congress in 2006. His campaign says he has raised $660,000 during the 2010 election cycle to date.

Continue ReadingLEO Weekly Founder Will Run for 3rd Term in Congress