Village Voice Media today confirmed the rumors that it is selling the Nashville Scene to SouthComm, Inc. VVM will also sell Nfocus magazine to the Nashville-based media company run by former Scene publisher Chris Ferrell. SouthComm also owns AAN member LEO Weekly. The deal is expected to close this Friday, and terms of the transaction are not being divulged. MORE: See SouthComm's statement on the transaction.

Continue ReadingIt’s Official: VVM is Selling Nashville Scene to SouthComm

The Reader this month published Judith Moore's A Bad, Bad Boy, which looks at the life of Frank Bompensiero, "the most feared mobster in Southern California for 30 years." Moore, who passed away in 2006, spent 10 years following the traces of Bompensiero, a Mafia hit man who later became the basis for the Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bompensiero character in The Sopranos.

Continue ReadingSan Diego Reader Releases Posthumous Book by Former Editor

BeedFack is a ballot and survey web engine "designed to take the headache out of conducting large-scale reader's polls and managing associated editorial workflow and output," Avenews says in a release. The product works for simple and complex surveys, including the ubiquitous "Best Of" reader polls so many alt-weeklies undertake. "My staff is embracing it, finding it easy and fast," Salt Lake City Weekly editor Jerre Wroble says. "The best part is that once we've used the system for a Best Of, it remembers all write-ups, winners and locations so each year the process is quicker and easier."

Continue ReadingAvenews Launches New Balloting and Survey Software

Stacy Eidson returns to her hometown of Augusta, Ga., to take the helm of the paper where she previously served for eight years as a reporter, according to a press release issued this morning by Metro Spirit. Eidson will be leaving the daily Bradenton Herald in southwest Florida for the position with the 20-year-old Spirit. She will be taking over for Tom Grant, who recently announced that he would be stepping down in late July.

Continue ReadingMetro Spirit Hires New Editor

The Massachusetts alt-weekly unveils a new format today with more color pages and a stapled bind. Savvy readers may also notice that the publication's title is five letters shorter: Worcester Mag is the official title of the paper now. "We are embracing the abbreviation so many readers have used for years," publisher Gareth Charter says. "We are not a magazine in the traditional sense of that term. We are an alternative news voice; in print once a week and online 24/7."

Continue ReadingWorcester Magazine Debuts New Design and Format, Shortens Name