Chuck Kerr is the latest alt-weekly art director to have his work spotlighted by Robert Newman on the Society of Publication Designers' blog. Kerr, who won an AltWeekly Award for Cover Design in 2007, says he has a "pretty simple" cover design philosophy -- "sell the story in under five seconds." He adds: "The more complex the story, the more I try to create imagery that elicits an emotional response or plays off a well-known pop culture icon -- anything to plant my idea in the reader's head as quickly and permanently as possible."

Continue ReadingSan Antonio Current’s Covers Have ‘Intelligence and Graphic Power’

Jim Warren, who was named publisher of the Reader last fall, told the paper's staff this morning that he's resigning to take on "enhanced duties" with the Chicago News Cooperative, a public-service news service launched last fall. The interim publisher will be Alison Draper, the former Dallas Observer publisher of the Dallas Observer whom was recently named vice president and chief sales officer of the Creative Loafing papers. MORE: Romenesko has the full memo from Warren.

Continue ReadingChicago Reader Publisher Steps Aside

"Both sides appear to agree in court that the case boils down to a fight over whether a pivotal section of California law should protect businesses or consumers," the East Bay Express' Robert Gammon writes in his in-depth update of the legal fight between the San Francisco Bay Guardian and SF Weekly. "If the Weekly wins, it could effectively eviscerate a section of California's Unfair Business Practices law, and thus make it nearly impossible for small, independently owned companies to fight off well-heeled competitors who try to drive them out of business. But if the Guardian wins, it could end up hurting consumers, because corporations may be fearful of offering steep discounts on their products because they will be sued for 'unfair business practices.'"

Continue ReadingInterpretation of One California Law is Key in SFBG/SF Weekly Case

A Sensitive Liberal's Guide to Life: How To Banter With Your Barista, Hug Mindfully, And Relate To Friends Who Choose Kids Over Dogs is being published this week by Gotham Books. The book is a collection of the Weekly's "Ask an Uptight Seattleite" columns, where the aforementioned Uptight Seattleite, as Gotham's press materials put it, "delights his loyal readers each week with snide insight on everything from fashion ('Can I pull off a Rasta beret?') to ear-bud etiquette."

Continue ReadingBook from Seattle Weekly’s ‘Uptight Seattleite’ Out This Week

A new study by the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project and the Project for Excellence in Journalism finds that a large majority of Americans -- 92 percent -- use multiple platforms to get their daily news, with the internet now the third most-popular news platform (behind local and national TV news). Other key findings in the study:

  • 33 percent of cell phone owners now access news on their phones.
  • 28 percent of internet users have customized home pages that include news from particular sources and about particular topics.
  • 37 percent of internet users have contributed to the creation of news, commented about it, or disseminated it via postings on social media sites.

Continue ReadingPew Study: News is ‘Becoming Portable, Personalized and Participatory’

Glenny Brock tells Media of Birmingham that the decision to leave the Weekly was "mutually agreed upon" after conversations with publisher Chuck Leishman. Her last day at the paper will be March 11, and she says that special projects editor Jesse Chambers has been tapped to take over as editor. "I will always consider the Weekly my proving ground and the first great love of my professional life. I've done a lot of good work there and perhaps some great work," Brock says. "Now, after overseeing the completion of more than 460 issues of the paper and dozens of supplemental publications, it's time to do something else."

Continue ReadingBirmingham Weekly Editor Leaving After 10 Years at the Paper