On Friday, when the Senate finally got to vote on the OPEN Government Act of 2007 (S. 849), they unanimously approved the bill and advanced it to the House. The bill had been blocked from a floor vote for months by Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), who was acting as a legislative conduit of the Department of Justice, which had several objections to the FOIA reforms. The legislation would be the first major reform to FOIA in more than a decade if passed by the House, which already approved a similar bill (H.R. 1309) by an overwhelming vote of 308-117. "FOIA will still be far from perfect with these changes, but they do provide important new tools that will help requesters get public information faster and hold agencies more accountable when they don't comply with the law," says Dave Tomlin, associate general counsel for The Associated Press.

Continue ReadingSenate Unanimously Passes FOIA Reform Bill

In an interview with the New York Observer, Manhattan Media president and CEO Tom Allon says his new paper will no longer accept any "explicit" advertising. "We're probably kissing away about a million dollars a year in revenue," Allon says. "We're not making a moral or puritanical decision. We just believe in the long term, it's not best for the publication." Allon also announced that the Press's weekly circulation will be cut by approximately 50 percent, to 50,000, and that a Brooklyn edition of the paper will be introduced after Labor Day. He also tells the Observer that The Press will now be classified as an "independent" paper. "I've told all the people in the office that 'alternative' is a four letter word," he says, dubbing it "very '70's."

Continue ReadingNew Owner of New York Press Announces Changes

Earlier this year, Steve Horner filed a discrimination complaint against Denver's alt-weekly for running an ad for a ladies' night promotion at a local bar. Yesterday, a Denver county judge dismissed Horner's claim. "Now I know how black people in the early part of the last century felt about being cheated out of their civil rights," said Horner, perhaps overreaching. The Rocky Mountain News reports that as the trial ended, Westword editor Patricia Calhoun announced that she was running to the ladies room. Turning to Horner, she added, "You don't object, do you?"

Continue ReadingWestword Triumphs in Suit Over ‘Ladies Night’ Ad