Yes, alternative weekly readers are aging, but that's mainly because "there are just too many people in America getting too damn old," argues John Morrison of the Alternative Weekly Network. Analyzing Media Audit data, Morrison establishes conclusively that alternative weekly readers between the ages 35-54 are actually younger than the general population of 18 to 34-year-olds. Well, maybe they're not physically younger, but they go to more movies, attend more concerts, ride their bicycles more often, and even drink more beer than the Gen X and Y'ers who are young enough to be their children. If they had any children, that is.
Prosecutors investigating the New Times-Village Voice Media deal that closed New Times LA and Cleveland Free Times worked through the weekend taking depositions, according to the L.A. Times' Tim Rutten. Sources familiar with the depositions told Rutten that prosecutors "repeatedly returned to questions concerning the nature of alternative journalism and the impact of New Times' closure on local news coverage." One unidentified witness said many of the prosecutors' questions "seemed to be driven by their belief that unlike a mainstream daily newspaper, an alternative weekly is suffused throughout with a particular point of view. They seem to believe that losing an alternative paper is a greater hardship to the community in that way than losing a mainstream daily."
"We're relieved the Justice Department has decided to draw a line in the sand in this case," Michael Lacey, executive editor of New Times, sarcastically tells LA business columnist, Daniel Akst. The columnist chides New Times and Village Voice Media for being sanctimonious about the evils of "big-city dailies" but concedes Lacey's point: "If a generation's worth of media consolidation is OK because of new technologies and competition between broadcasters, print outlets, the Internet and so forth, it probably shouldn't be a hanging offense that a couple of unsuccessful weeklies are closing in concert."
Long-time General Manager Amy Austin was promoted to publisher of D.C.'s alt-weekly, taking over from Thomas Yoder, who also has responsibilities in Chicago with CP's sister paper. "I think we've gotten to the point now where this is just a mature, strong paper with not only a great person in Amy, but a good management staff under Amy," COO Jane Levine tells the Washington Business Journal.
John Cole, co-founder of former AAN-member Maine Times, died Tuesday of cancer. He was 79. Co-founder Peter Cox describes Cole as "a beautiful writer and passionate about everything." Jay Davis, the crusading weekly's former editor, said that Cole occasionally made people angry, but he was passionate about issues affecting the state he loved. "People who read the Times admired his spirit," Davis tells the Portland Press Herald.
Editor Mark Zusman tells E&P's Joe Strupp that going through the trash of city officials was "a straightforward and simple way to hold their feet to the fire." After all, police had used evidence found in a police officer's trash to obtain a search warrant, saying that trash is public property once it reaches the curb. The Oregonian and Seattle Times disagree on whether the stunt was warranted, and journalism ethics experts are equally divided. The Poynter Institute's Keith Woods says it "borders on abuse of the tool of journalism." Tim Gleason, dean of the School of Journalism & Communications at the University of Oregon, however, finds it "quite appropriate."
Chuck Colletti and Doug Meadow, the new owners of the New York Press, tell AAN News they don't plan any changes in its eclectic mix of politics, arts and commentary. They have made what they describe as "a few" staff reductions, fired Editor John Strausbaugh and promoted former Managing Editor Lisa Kearns to that position. As for taking on The Village Voice, they say the Press will compete with, but can't dethrone, that venerable alt-weekly.
Some alternative weekly publishers tell AJR they have cut back on ads from adult advertisers because raunchy ads scare away traditional advertisers. Others, like the Memphis Flyer, insist on tops for their advertisers' topless dancers. Alison Draper, publisher of the Dallas Observer, says she just wants to "clean up the book" to attract higher-end advertisers. Others are taking the same steps, breaking with a traditionally significant sector of alt-weekly advertising.
In the conclusion of his year-end review of media events and trends, John Powers notes that "it's striking that two comparatively small chains should face the scrutiny of the same DOJ that notoriously gave Microsoft a cushy deal in its antitrust settlement, takes no steps against America's broadband monopolies, and does nothing to limit huge 'synergistic' empires like Fox, AOL Time Warner and Disney.
- Go to the previous page
- 1
- …
- 684
- 685
- 686
- 687
- 688
- 689
- 690
- …
- 753
- Go to the next page
