Earlier this week, CP web editor Neal Santos ran into President-elect Barack Obama while he was working out and filed a quick blog post about the encounter, noting offhand that Obama was listening to a Zune, the Microsoft device launched to compete against Apple's iPod. That small detail set off a wave of coverage worldwide, from tech blogs to mainstream outlets like the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post. "Zunegate" was born, City Paper was flooded with traffic, the site had to come down for 20 minutes or so, and Santos felt the need to post a clarification the next day. "I want to correct what I said yesterday about Obama using a Zune," he wrote. "I claimed that it was his Zune. I don't know for sure that it was his. It could belong to one of the many Secret Service dudes that were at the gym, Michelle, or even one of his daughters."

Continue ReadingPhiladelphia City Paper Sets the ‘Net Ablaze with Obama/Zune Report

In a farewell message to former Creative Loafing (Atlanta) editor Ken Edelstein, staffer Mara Shalhoup writes: "I think I speak for everyone here when I say, 'Thank you for giving me a chance. Thank you for working me hard. And thank you for making Creative Loafing aim higher. You will be missed.'" Edelstein, who had been with the paper for a decade, was fired last week after a reportedly "heated meeting" with CEO Ben Eason on implementing editorial cuts.

Continue ReadingEditor’s Departure Leaves ‘a Hole at the Heart’ of Creative Loafing

To help promote the Shop Local campaign that publisher Jody Colley is spearheading, the Express has made a public service announcement video featuring a number of local merchants. Editor & Publisher's Mark Fitzgerald notes that "there's an appropriately indie-folk soundtrack, though I'll confess I'm not hip enough to identify the uncredited singer."

Continue ReadingEast Bay Express Releases Promo Video for ‘Shop Local’ Campaign

TNS Media Intelligence says almost $2.7 billion was spent on political advertising this election season, up from $1.7 billion in 2004, according to Broadcasting & Cable. TNS predicts that political ad spending will remain robust in 2009, as a result of gubernatorial elections and advocacy groups that run issue-specific ads.

Continue ReadingPolitical Ad Spend Strong in ’08; Expected to Continue in ’09

Peter Koht, a former reporter and editor for Metro Santa Cruz who has been working in PR for the past year, began work Monday as Santa Cruz's temporary economic development coordinator. "While Santa Cruz leaders tout Koht's PR credentials as crucial to forming strong relationships between businesses and the city," the Santa Cruz Sentinel reports, "union leaders and others have raised eyebrows at the city's hiring practices and wonder if now is the right time to appoint someone with little business experience to a business job that pays $35 per hour."

Continue ReadingCity Takes Heat for Tapping Ex-Altie for Economic Development Post

Landmark Media announced Tuesday that the credit crunch forced it to take the Virginian-Pilot and its affiliates in the Norfolk, Va. area, including Port Folio Weekly, off the market. Landmark vice chairman Richard F. Barry III says the company will resume the sale when the economy improves, but in the meantime it remains open to offers. The move does not affect Style Weekly, the other AAN member paper based in Virginia that is owned by Landmark, because it is not part of the Virginian-Pilot Media group.

Continue ReadingParent Co. Takes Port Folio Weekly and Related Papers Off the Market

Tara Servatius will host a political radio show on Charlotte's WBT-AM from 3-6 pm, replacing Jeff Katz, "whose conservative zeal and verbal swordsmanship have been a mainstay of afternoon drive time for two years," according to the Charlotte Observer. Servatius stepped down as a CL staff writer, but remained as a columnist, when she was hired by the radio station in May 2007. She previously had been in the station's 9 pm-midnight slot. "She spends hours combing through the files researching her points," Rick Jackson, WBT general manager says. "People want facts rather than someone spouting an opinion. We may see a new kind of a talk show host in Tara."

Continue ReadingCreative Loafing (Charlotte) Columnist Takes Over Afternoon Radio Slot