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Nineteen Papers Apply for AAN Membership

Nineteen newspapers have applied this year for membership in the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, a total that is almost twice the size of last year’s applicant pool and the most since 22 papers petitioned to join the organization in 2001.

The Membership Committee is currently evaluating the applications and will determine their recommendations during a meeting that will be held the day before this year’s convention in Portland. In addition to the 19 applying papers, the committee has already reviewed the status of the six Village Voice Media papers that were absorbed by New Times in January 2006, to determine whether the membership of those papers should be affirmed.

The six VVM papers under review are City Pages, L.A. Weekly, the Nashville Scene, OC Weekly, Seattle Weekly and the Village Voice. (The eleven remaining papers owned by VVM aren’t subject to an “affirmation” process, since their ownership has not changed.)

The committee’s recommendations regarding the applying papers and the six VVM weeklies will be distributed to AAN members as the convention begins on June 14. Members will then vote on each paper at the association’s annual meeting, which will be held two days later on the final day of the convention.

The committee members have already read and analyzed three issues of each applying paper to evaluate their suitability for membership in the association; in the case of the VVM papers, committee members reviewed three pre-merger and three post-merger issues to assess how the papers have changed since the new owners assumed control.

In a new twist this year, the Membership Committee directed the AAN staff to produce a report that provides background information on the companies and individuals who hold ownership stakes in each paper. The need for such a report grows out of the 2004 change in AAN’s bylaws that eliminated the so-called daily-paper clause, which prevented papers owned by a daily newspaper publishing company or its affiliate from applying for AAN membership. As an alternative to this blanket approach, the amended bylaws require a case-by-case examination of each applying paper’s ownership to determine whether it “reflect(s) and advance(s) the values of the association.” The report produced this year by AAN is designed to help members answer that question.

The ownership report for the 19 applying papers is here; the report pertaining to Village Voice Media is here.

The applying papers originate from 14 different U.S. states and Canada — both Georgia and Tennessee are home to two applying papers, while all three Canadian applicants are based in the province of Alberta.

Here’s a list of all 19 papers:

As always, there are some familiar names and faces in the bunch. The High Plains Reader and Independent News are applying for the fourth time, Chattanooga Pulse, City Pulse and Urban Tulsa Weekly hope the third time is the charm, and it’s the second stab at AAN membership for Yes! Weekly.

Several of the first-time applicants have pre-existing connections to AAN. Cascadia Weekly was launched by Tim Johnson after his Bellingham Weekly, a one-time AAN member, went into an indefinite hibernation in January 2006. The Hawai’i Island Journal, which has been publishing since 1999, was bought in May 2005 by Honolulu Weekly owner and publisher Laurie Carlson. Augusta, Georgia’s Metro Spirit, which has been around since 1989, was bought in April 2005 by Portico Publications, which also publishes AAN members C-Ville Weekly and the Columbia Free Times. And Montana’s Livingston Weekly is an AAN family affair: It was launched by Reilly Neill in June 2005; a few months later her father Kenneth Neill, AAN president and publisher of The Memphis Flyer, joined her as a 25 percent equity partner.

Nineteen Papers Apply for AAN Membership

Nineteen newspapers have applied for membership in the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies this year, and the status of six current member papers will be reviewed. The Membership Committee is currently going over all the applications, and will decide who they think should be admitted at a June 13 meeting in Portland, before the AAN convention begins. The committee’s recommendations will be distributed to AAN members the next day, and the votes will be tallied at the Annual Meeting on June 16, the last day of the convention.

In a new twist this year, every applying paper — and the six current members being reviewed — is the subject of a detailed ownership report. This grows out of the 2004 change in AAN’s bylaws that eliminated the clause stating that any applicant paper could not be owned by a daily newspaper publishing company or its affiliate. Instead, a case-by-case examination of each applying paper’s ownership was written into the bylaws. However, the Membership Committee wasn’t completely satisfied with last year’s procedures (the first year the new rules took effect) and decided to produce the ownership reports.

The ownership reports of the 19 applying papers are here; the ownership report of the six member papers being reviewed is here.

The papers originate from 14 different U.S. states and Canada — both Georgia and Tennessee are home to two applying papers, while all three Canadian applicants call the province of Alberta home.

As always, there are some familiar names and faces in the bunch. The High Plains Reader is applying for the fourth time, as is Independent News (though twice with a slightly different name), Chattanooga Pulse and Urban Tulsa Weekly are both applying for the third time, and it’s the second go-around for City Pulse and Yes! Weekly.

Even amongst first-time applicants, there are many connections to AAN. Cascadia Weekly was launched by Tim Johnson after his Bellingham Weekly, a one-time AAN member, went into an indefinite hibernation in January 2006. While the Hawai’i Island Journal has been publishing since 1999, it was bought in May 2005 by AAN member Honolulu Weekly’s owner and publisher Laurie Carlson. Metro Spirit is a similar case — the Georgia paper has been around since 1989, but it underwent an ownership change in April 2005 when purchased by Portico Publications (publisher of AAN members C-Ville Weekly and the Columbia Free Times). Lastly, we come to a family affair: Montana’s Livingston Weekly was launched by Reilly Neill in June 2005; a few months later her father Kenneth Neill, AAN president and publisher of The Memphis Flyer, joined her as a 25 percent equity partner.

Papers applying for AAN Membership:

In addition, because of a change to the AAN bylaws in 2004, the six papers owned by Village Voice Media before the company’s merger with New Times Media will have their memberships evaluated.

The change mandated that AAN papers that experience a change in controlling ownership submit to a review no earlier than nine months (and no later than 24 months) after the new owners assume control. The merger of VVM with New Times Media, LLC was closed on January 31, 2006. The other nine papers in the current VVM chain aren’t under review, since their controlling ownership did not change. The six papers under review are City Pages, L.A. Weekly, the Nashville Scene, OC Weekly, Seattle Weekly and the Village Voice.

Finally, one paper declined to renew its membership. Columbus Alive, which was purchased by the Dispatch Printing Co., owner of the Columbus Dispatch, in October 2005, is no longer an AAN member.

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