Austin announced the move in a staff meeting today. She currently serves as Vice President of the AAN Board of Directors.
At the AAN Annual Meeting in Miami on July 13, members voted in two new members, filled seats on the Board of Directors, and approved changes to the association bylaws.
Houston Press, L.A. Weekly, and Phoenix New Times each came out as winners in the Western Publishing Association's Maggie Awards.
L.A. Weekly has hired former Creative Loafing (Atlanta) food editor Besha Rodell as food critic and promoted food blog editor Amy Scattergood to food editor.
At the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies annual meeting on Saturday, July 23 in New Orleans, members voted unanimously to change the organization's name to Association of Alternative Newsmedia. The association also elected Colorado Springs Independent CEO Fran Zankowski as President and admitted its first online-only publication: The American Independent News Network.
In an open letter to readers, Washington City Paper publisher Amy Austin says that "more than 600 supporters have given checks, most of them for just $20, to ring up more than $28,000 to a legal defense fund" set up fight a lawsuit brought by Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder.
Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder is calling for the dismissal of Washington City Paper staff writer Dave McKenna and is threatening legal action against the paper for publishing "untruths" against him.
AAN members voted on several key matters during the association's annual meeting on Saturday, July 17. Eleven seats on the Board of Directors were filled, three publications were admitted into the association, and a bylaws amendment allowing online-only publications to apply for membership was passed by an overwhelming majority.
The Los Angeles Press Club held its annual SoCal Journalism Awards last night and four AAN papers went home with honors.
The cover of this week's paper -- with the provocative headline, "You put me out in Denver 'cause I wouldn't suck your dick" -- has some district residents upset, the Washington Post reports. City Paper says the city's Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs has received several calls complaining about the cover, which features a photo of councilman and former mayor Marion Barry with his arm around an ex-girlfriend who has accused him of stalking her. (The quote was taken from a recording of a confrontation between Barry and the ex-girlfriend.) "Some people are going to find that vulgar -- that's inevitable," editor Erik Wemple says. "If they find it vulgar, they can complain. It's worth putting it out there, and it's the truth. Sometimes the truth is vulgar." Publisher Amy Austin tells the Post that the negative reaction has been "much less than I expected," and that only three distribution spots have called to say they wouldn't display the paper while one has called to ask for more copies.
