After talking pop culture on MSNBC's Countdown from a remote location for four years, the Village Voice columnist got to meet Olbermann in the flesh last week when the TV news anchor was awarded the first annual Molly Ivins Award by AAN. "The patron saint of skeptical liberals turned out to be as appealing as he is on the tube," he says in his La Dolce Musto column.

Continue ReadingMichael Musto Meets Keith Olbermann … Finally!

A new feature of the 2007 Convention is the D&P Buzz Lounge. Take advantage of this dedicated area in the Trade Show to network with fellow D&P professionals in a casual atmosphere. Meet colleagues and outside experts during scheduled breaks or use the Lounge to set up informal one-on-one critiques or mentoring sessions. Look for the ad in the Convention Program with more details.

Continue ReadingDesign & Production Buzz Lounge

When CVS took over Osco Drug in Milwaukee, the Shepherd Express was told to remove its news racks from the stores. Since then, free-lance journalist Jeff White has been standing vigil in protest outside one of the stores for about 20 hours a week. Last week, White and a man he was chatting with were arrested after a CVS manager called the cops to complain. Shepherd publisher Louis Fortis says he's called the company's headquarters to determine why they stopped carrying the paper, but hasn't received a response. But he says he's heard that a customer complained about the paper's criticism of President Bush and the Iraq War. "CVS has every right to not carry the Shepherd, but I don't believe that the top management at CVS would want to politicize their retail stores," Fortis says. "It would be a shame if CVS became a pharmacy that only catered to conservative Republicans."

Continue ReadingCVS Stops Carrying Alt-Weekly; Protests & Arrests Ensue

That's his take after picking up a copy this week, though he says he has "hurt feelings" about City Pages "running the Twin Cities Reader [a now-defunct AAN paper he used to edit] out of business." Carr, who also served as editor of Washington City Paper and is now a reporter for the New York Times, tells the Minnesota Monitor: "I share newspaper approaches with [Village Voice Media]. I've always been equal opportunity in terms of choosing opponents and choosing targets." He adds that VVM papers "in general are far superior to most weeklies, and they fund great journalism, pay a living wage, pay healthcare."

Continue ReadingDavid Carr: City Pages is ‘A Great Paper’

Phoenix New Times and Tucson Weekly took home a total of 13 first-place awards, with New Times winning in eight categories and the Weekly placing first in five. New Times staff writers Sarah Fenske and Paul Rubin both triumphed in two categories, and the Weekly's Margaret Regan managed the same feat. Both AAN papers also received a number of second- and third-place prizes. Winners of the awards, which honor the best in Arizona print journalism, were announced last week at a Phoenix banquet.

Continue ReadingAlt-Weeklies Clean Up at Arizona Press Club Awards

In response to last week's Voice cover story, which raised questions about whether the presidential candidate's four New York Yankees World Series rings were obtained in a legal and ethical manner, Giuliani told an Alabama crowd that Wayne Barrett "sticks pins in a doll of me every night" and "almost never gets his facts right." The story quoted appraisers who approximated the rings' value at $200,000, while Giuliani only paid $16,000 for them. More importantly, the article called into question the timing of the deals, alleging that he received them while still mayor -- a violation of law that could still be prosecuted. The Voice's allegations, which Giuliani says are "totally untrue," have sparked a new round of criticism of his administration, especially given his last-minute approval of a $400 million new stadium for the Yankees.

Continue ReadingRudy Giuliani Says Village Voice Reporter is ‘Obsessed’ With Him

The Drinky Crow Show, based on Tony Millionaire's "Maakies" comic strip, hit The Cartoon Network's Adult Swim Sunday night. He tells the New York Times that after he started to draw the characters in exchange for beer at a Brooklyn bar, the New York Press eventually picked up the strip for $25 a week. "Maakies," which now runs in other alt-weeklies, remains the driving force behind Millionaire's creative output, even as he branches out into TV and books. "Without it I'd still be a bum, I'd still be drawing houses," he says. "I needed a deadline. That's the code of the cartoonist: make the deadline." He also explains to Baltimore City Paper why the TV show doesn't share the strip's name: "Maakies" works better visually than aurally. "But 'Drinky Crow' is a word that's very catchy, everybody loves to say 'Drinky Crow.' Little kids love to say 'Drinky Crow.'"

Continue ReadingAlt-Weekly Cartoonist Talks ‘Maakies,’ ‘Drinky Crow’