Eight of the prospective members are previous applicants, and two are owned by alt-weekly veterans who had been members during a previous association with different papers. AAN members will also be asked this year to evaluate Boston's Weekly Dig and Des Moines' Cityview, the first two post-sale newspapers whose membership will be reviewed under a process established in 2004 when the association's bylaws were amended. The fate of all of these papers will be determined at the organization's next Annual Meeting, which will be held in Little Rock on Saturday, June 17, the last day of the 29th annual AAN convention.

Continue ReadingTen Newspapers Apply for AAN Membership

On Feb. 9 at Lemuria Books in Jackson, two of the Free Press' most distinguished journalists, Editor-in-Chief Donna Ladd and freelance writer Ayana Taylor (pictured), read their award-winning entries from "Best AltWeekly Writing and Design 2005." More than 25 books were sold, and the evening was an all-around success.

Continue ReadingJackson Free Press Hosts Signing of AAN’s AltWeekly Contest Book

Jonathan Gold has reviewed everything from opera to architecture, but it was his mouth-watering food criticism that won him a first-place AltWeekly Award. Gold tries to include as much description of the setting as of the food, to give readers a "vicarious experience" of "how the restaurant might integrate into their lives." And while he can easily drop a reference to béchamel, he is just as likely to mention Fatboy Slim. This is the 37th in a "How I Got That Story" series highlighting the AltWeekly Awards' first-place winners.

Continue ReadingJonathan Gold: Giving Cuisine a Context

J.J. Marley likes to dabble in different creative fields, from illustration to photography to music. His varied background and his desire to "generate a good vibe" resulted in three very different Orlando Weekly covers that won a first-place 2005 AltWeekly Award. This is the 36th in a "How I Got That Story" series highlighting the AltWeekly Awards' first-place winners.

Continue ReadingJ.J. Marley: Keeping Visual Options Open

In his prepared remarks at AAN West, the founder of Craigslist said his network of Web sites, which he described as a "public trust," are about "people giving each other a break and just addressing basic everyday needs." Newmark also discussed his inchoate "citizen journalism" venture, which would employ collaborative-filtering technology to identify "the most trustworthy versions of big stories." He thinks the venture will probably drive traffic to alt-weekly Web sites. The question-and-answer session that followed was quite lively, and included an accusation of empire-building as well as a comparison between Newmark and the pilot of a B-52 bomber. Both the speech and the Q&A are available in Quicktime video or an audio-only MP3 through AAN's members-only Resource Library. A transcript of the speech is also available.

Continue ReadingCraig Newmark’s Speech Available for Download

Jan Caldwell, a classified sales rep for Creative Loafing (Charlotte), is the winner of the AAN CAN trip to Peru. Caldwell won by selling the most new advertising in the AAN CAN network between Nov. 10 and Jan. 31. When notified yesterday, she reacted with disbelief, then quickly called her daughter and the friend she is planning to take with her on her trip. Caldwell may rake in other goodies as well, since some classified managers decided to make the contest more interesting by wagering items such as wine and tour books via the AAN Classified Management mailing list.

Continue ReadingAAN CAN Winner Announced!

San Francisco was invaded by 261 enthusiastic newspaper professionals last weekend when the AAN West conference hit town. The highly-anticipated Saturday keynote speech by Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist, passed without physical skirmish, despite a lively question-and-answer session. Many of the seminars were equally lively, and the parties -- well, you had to be there.

Continue ReadingAAN West: Craig Newmark, Ponytails and Belly Dancers