The Weekly has been printed at Idaho's Snake River Printing for the past seven years, but that will change next week. The paper will now be printed in another state -- at Utah's Print Works (which also prints the Salt Lake City Weekly). "This has been a difficult decision because of our desire to keep our business local," publisher Sally Freeman says. "But circumstances beyond our control have forced us to make this difficult decision." Editor Rachael Daigle says that there just weren't many local printers that could handle the paper's print run of 30,000 each week; as an added bonus, she notes, the printer switch will allow for more color in the Weekly.

Continue ReadingBoise Weekly Makes ‘Difficult’ Decision to Go with a New Printer

As part of a bankruptcy judge's August decision to turn Creative Loafing, Inc. over to its creditors, the Tampa paper had to vacate its old office building, which was owned by the Eason family. This week is Creative Loafing (Tampa)'s first in its new offices, located in the historic Ybor Square area, and editor David Warner is already impressed with a seemingly simple aspect: being able to get out of the office and walk around. "That may not sound like much, but after five (!) years cooped up in a former fruit warehouse where you had to get in your car to do anything outside the office, this was, literally, a dream," he writes.

Continue ReadingCreative Loafing (Tampa) Settles into New Digs

After Westword started taking applications for a position reviewing the Denver area's medical marijuana dispensaries, Phoenix New Times decided it would "do the same regarding the Valley's drug of choice" -- meth. "The column will focus on a few things: Quality of the drug, of course, but also the safety of users," James King writes. "We want to know where to find quality meth that won't kill you right away."

Continue ReadingPhoenix New Times Seeks Meth Critic

James C. Warren, who was previously co-managing editor of the Chicago Tribune and before that the Tribune's Washington bureau chief, was named the Reader's new president and publisher today. He will start on Nov. 2. "If I bought into much conventional wisdom concerning high-quality print journalism, I'd be entering the fields of clean energy solar panels or medical robots. But I don't," Warren said in a statement. "Rather, I believe The Reader can be an even greater success if it is provocative, makes those in power squirm and yet is willing to entertain and have fun."

Continue ReadingLongtime Chicago Journalist Named Publisher of the Chicago Reader

Audit Bureau of Circulation figures released yesterday show weekday newspaper circulation down more than 10 percent since last year. "The figures join a list of indicators of the industry’s health -- like advertising and newsroom headcounts -- that, after years of slipping, have accelerated sharply downward, as newspapers face the greatest threats since the Depression," the New York Times reports.

Continue ReadingCirculation at Daily Papers Continues its Slide

The New York Times reports that newspaper websites "are not holding on to ad dollars, even while overall internet advertising is creeping back." The reasons why are complicated, but a number of industry folks tell the Times that more ads are going to ad networks, niche sites and low-cost alternatives to newspaper websites.

Continue ReadingNewspapers May Miss Out on Online Advertising’s Growth

Last month, Robert Newman Design took a trip back through the Village Voice's cover archive to highlight some great design work; now he's trained his spotlight on Athens, Ga., alt-weekly Flagpole in a new collection posted to his Facebook page. "The Flagpole cover is a visual hybrid somewhere between the New Yorker and Seattle's The Stranger," Newman writes. "Flagpole's choice of illustrations (and the occasional photo) embrace a wide array of styles, but they are all cool."

Continue ReadingRobert Newman Highlights Some ‘Mind-Blowing’ Flagpole Covers

The Phoenix was surprised to learn -- via a press release -- that the liner notes to Juliana Hatfield's new album Peace and Love were written by "Boston Phoenix music editor James Parker." Problem is, while Parker does contribute to the alt-weekly, he "spends most of his hours these days toiling for the Atlantic Monthly" and definitely is not the paper's music editor, Carly Carioli notes. "I was wondering why my chair felt a little tight," music editor Michael Brodeur says when asked about Parker's sudden promotion.

Continue ReadingJuliana Hatfield Appoints New Boston Phoenix Music Editor