In an attempt to link Democratic challenger Rick Noriega to the infamous Howard Dean "scream" of '04, a new campaign ad from incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) "jacked" footage from an Austin Chronicle video showing Noriega excitedly giving his version of CNN's election-night broadcast. The Chronicle's Wells Dunbar says the paper is "considering all our options" in response to what he calls "the unsanctioned, unapproved, and unstatesmanlike" use of its video. But two of Cornyn's spokesmen tell the San Antonio Express-News and Houston Chronicle's Austin bureau blogger that they consider their use of the alt-weekly's video covered by the "fair use" exception in copyright law, and note their ad credited the paper as a source. "I don't think the Chronicle would be raising a peep of objection if their video didn't make Noriega look incredibly out of control," the campaign says.

Continue ReadingCandidate for U.S. Senate Lifts Austin Chronicle Video for Ad

Mark Gold is executive director of Heal the Bay, a Southern California environmental nonprofit, which can lead to some interesting exchanges with his brother, LA Weekly's Pulitzer-winning food writer. "I am already anticipating the nasty glare I will inevitably get from my marine-scientist brother," J. Gold wrote recently in a report on eating whale in Korea, "[who] has dedicated his life to pretty much the opposite of this." On his blog, M. Gold wonders: "If only Jonathan focused on sustainable seafood for a year, imagine the positive impact he'd have on local restaurants and the dietary choices of the food obsessed." But the food writer (who recently signed on for a column at Gourmet) gets the last word (thus far) in his brother's blog comments. "I stress the local-sustainable-organic trope in my columns almost to the point of self-ridicule," he writes, "and I would as soon amputate a toe as buy meat or fish from a supermarket."

Continue ReadingJonathan Gold’s Bro Asks: What About Food’s Environmental Impact?

Edward McClelland measures his former paper's hip quotient, using the fictional Reader music critic who appeared in the 2000 film High Fidelity as a yardstick. "Today, if you made a movie about Chicago hipsters, Caroline Fortis probably wouldn't write for the Reader," McClelland writes in Columbia Journalism Review. "She'd write for Time Out Chicago, or Pitchfork." Reader editor Alison True, Creative Loafing CEO Ben Eason, and former Reader staff writers Neal Pollack and Harold Henderson weigh in with their takes on the Reader's past and its future.

Continue ReadingFormer Staffer Asks: Is There Still a Place for the Chicago Reader?

"No one here told John Conroy to lay off police torture," is the headline to Michael Miner's blog post written in response to last week's Chicago Sun-Times column on Conroy's work on police torture at the Reader and a related piece from the Beachwood Reporter, an online newspaper. Editor Alison True strikes the same chord in a separate blog post, saying that "I encouraged John to explore other subjects," but "never asked him to lay off police torture."

Continue ReadingMore on the Chicago Reader, John Conroy, and Police Torture

When former Chicago Police Commander and alleged torturer Jon Burge was arrested this week for perjury and obstruction of justice, Chicago Sun-Times columnist Mark Brown knew exactly where to point some kudos. "[John] Conroy was probably as responsible as anyone for keeping the police torture issue in Chicago's consciousness," Brown writes. Conroy's 1990 story in the Reader marked the first time the allegations of police torture came to light, and after that, Conroy kept writing about the issue until he left the paper last year. "His editor suggested he move on to the next subject, and he tried," Brown writes. "After all, he told himself, he wasn't having much impact. But he kept coming back."

Continue ReadingEx-Chicago Reader Reporter Thanked for His Focus on Police Torture

Among 18- to-34-year-olds, consumers are more likely to be influenced to make purchases based on email marketing messages and direct mail than from ads or marketing on social networks, according to a new white paper from Ball State University and ExactTarget. "It is too easy to assume that the media consumers who (sic) choose for their own news, information and entertainment are by default the best media to use for marketing messages," says Mike Bloxham, director of Insight and Research at Ball State University's Center for Media Design.

Continue ReadingStudy: Young Adults More Responsive to Ads in Email than on Social Nets