As Toyota acknowledges design problems with the brakes in its hybrid Prius, it's worth taking a look back at Paul Knight's April 2009 story that ran in the Houston Press and several other alt-weeklies, which details the car's "unintended acceleration" problems. "Toyota spokespeople quoted in the story blamed misinstalled floor mats and simple driver error for the wild rides," reports the OC Weekly, which also ran the story. "But now that the U.S. and Japanese governments are applying heat, the world's largest carmaker seems to be taking Prius horror stories more seriously."

Continue ReadingAlt-Weeklies Reported on Prius Problems — Last Year

"I hear all the time from people who are just starting out who want media careers, who want to be writers, who want to broadcast," The Stranger editor and "Savage Love" columnist says in an appearance on the Too Beautiful To Live podcast. "Then the next thing out of their mouth, when they're applying for jobs, is that they need $60,000-$70,000 a year. I laugh and look at them and say 'The first three years that I did the column I got nothing." Savage adds: "There's no job in media for anyone anymore who isn't willing to do it for free at the outset." You can listen to the entire show, where Savage discusses everything from Dr. Drew to monetizing his "Savage Love" podcast, here (Savage comes on in the second half).

Continue ReadingDan Savage: If You Want a Media Job, Be Prepared to Work for Free

Mara Shalhoup, who was named the paper's new editor-in-chief last month, says she hopes to eventually bring back the investigative pieces and longer stories that have mostly disappeared from the alt-weekly. "The in-depth, investigative pieces, they take time, and they take resources, and right now those are two things that can be of short supply," she tells the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "We were under the gun to build page views and have a bigger presence online. We couldn't do both at the same time." Shalhoup also notes that she will likely be hiring more staff soon, a move that CL's new ownership team says it fully supports.

Continue ReadingNew Creative Loafing (Atlanta) Editor Talks About What’s Ahead

"Scott Brown Wins Mass. Race, Giving GOP 41-59 Majority in the Senate." This Voice headline on the day after Brown won the Senate seat vacated by the late Ted Kennedy caught the eyes of many observers at the time, and now the president himself has referenced it. "There was apparently a headline after the Massachusetts election," Obama said in remarks to Senate Democrats, according to Talking Points Memo. "The Village Voice announced that Republicans win a 41-59 majority. It's worth thinking about. We still have to lead."

Continue ReadingPresident Obama Quotes Village Voice Headline