Read more about the article Marty Petty Named New CEO of Creative Loafing, Inc.

Petty, the former publisher of the St. Petersburg Times and the Hartford Courant, has been named the new chief executive officer of the six-paper Creative Loafing chain. She will succeed Richard W. Gilbert, who has been interim CEO since the company emerged from bankruptcy. "I'm invigorated by the possibilities to deepen relationships with our readers and advertisers and expand our influence in our communities," she says in a release. "The coverage areas which have differentiated and distinguished the alternative press historically may be more important than ever." MORE from Creative Loafing (Tampa).

Continue ReadingMarty Petty Named New CEO of Creative Loafing, Inc.

After a guilty verdict was handed down in Dallas' high-profile political corruption trial last month, one juror told an Observer reporter that the jurors may have discussed -- or overhead outside discussion about -- some pieces of evidence during the trial, both of which are against the rules of the court. That revelation led one of the defense attorneys to request a new trial, which led the judge to request the interview tape from the Observer. The paper said no, drawing a snippy rebuke from the judge, who wrote that the alt-weekly was citing "some vague constitutional protection unknown to this Court" in its refusal to give her the tape. "But 'round here we call that 'vague constitutional protection' the First Amendment," notes Observer managing editor Patrick Williams, adding: "We're not in the business of becoming an adjunct to the government."

Continue ReadingDallas Observer Refuses to Hand Over Interview Tape to Judge

The paper will relocate its offices over the Thanksgiving holiday to the Metropolitan Arts building in downtown Dayton, "putting the City Paper in the middle of the scene it covers," Dayton Business Journal reports.

Continue ReadingDayton City Paper Moving Offices

"The appointment of Jim Warren as publisher of the Reader has made the position of associate publisher redundant, in the view of the Reader's owners, and Steve Timble, who held that position and has been acting as publisher, has left the paper," Michael Miner reported in late October. (Ed: We missed this news when it broke; our apologies.) Timble, who was also the founding publisher of Time Out Chicago, had held the associate publisher position since September 2008.

Continue ReadingChicago Reader Associate Publisher Leaves the Paper

Scott Foundas has been named the new associate program director of The Film Society of Lincoln Center, where he will work on series and event programs, including the New York Film Festival. "Scott's writing is an exhilarating dialogue with artists and audiences alike," society executive director Mara Manus tells Variety. "It is this vibrancy, along with Scott's deep film knowledge, that will contribute greatly to our growing organization, ensuring we continue to offer a vital place of serious film culture." IndieWire's Anne Thompson says Foundas' move is another nail in the coffin for the "dying art" of film criticism. "As one of the best critics working today, Foundas should be anticipating a long and happy career," she writes. "He's giving it up to program movies. This should not happen."

Continue ReadingL.A. Weekly Film Critic and Editor Leaves for Film Society

In a Q&A with The Onion's AV Club, Hodgman, the comedian who is probably best known as the PC in the ubiquitous Apple ads, discusses his lack of sports knowledge. He says he understands the "comforting" aspect of "watching millionaires hit balls with sticks," but offers the example of others who provide similar comforts. "Why isn't there a ticker-tape parade for the freelance magazine writers? Where's the ticker-tape parade for the guy whose movie review you read in the alt-weekly every week, and who lives down the block from you, and who gets drunk in the same bar as you, and, like you, will never go anywhere in his life?," Hodgman asks. "That guy gives you comfort as much as the millionaire who hits the ball with a stick or kicks it."

Continue ReadingJohn Hodgman: Alt-Weekly Writers Should Get Their Own Ticker-Tape Parade

Village Voice Media CEO Jim Larkin tells Forbes that for web revenues, the company is continuing to focus on its "Voice Local Network," which sells ads on niche websites that partner with VVM. Larkin also says that VVM is on track to pull in $120 million in ad revenue this year (down from $141 million last year), and that the company is running at a profit.

Continue ReadingVVM Building Web Revenues by Collecting Niche Partners

The new feature, which Twitter hopes to roll out in the next few weeks, will allow mobile phone users to include precise locations -- via GPS -- with each tweet they send. On the other end, users will be able to limit their searches to messages from any particular location, which could help news organizations that are trying to curate local tweets. "Proximity can be this proxy for relevance," Twitter's Ryan Sarver tells the New York Times. "We are about delivering the right information to the right people."

Continue ReadingTwitter to Unveil Geolocation Feature