According to CL senior writer Steve Fennessy, Mike Sigman (pictured) and CEO Ben Eason "couldn't agree on a timetable for improvements." Eason will step in as interim publisher for the rest of the year.
Creative Loafing Inc. CEO Ben Eason informs us that he has named Michael Sigman to head the chain's flagship paper in Atlanta. Sigman worked at LA Weekly for 18 years, first as general manager, then later as president and publisher of both LA and OC Weekly, before leaving parent company Village Voice Media in Jan. 2002. Following his departure from VVM, Sigman took over as president of MajorSongs, the publishing house of his late father, the songwriter Carl Sigman, and issued a limited-edition box set of recordings of some of his father's songs.
Hartford Advocate Editor Alistair Highet calls the listings calendar his paper's "universal point of interest." The calendar is -- and long has been -- indispensable for most alt-weeklies, attracting readers who don't necessarily agree with a paper's perceived political stance. But the marketplace is increasingly crowded with online and print publications listing concerts and theater times. Freelance reporter Charlie Deitch speaks with AAN members to find out what they're doing to fend off competitors' attempts to infringe on the alts' longtime stronghold.
Scott Walsey, publisher of Creative Loafing (Atlanta), will leave the paper at the end of the year, reports CL editor-in-chief Ken Edelstein. Walsey has been at the paper for 26 years, and has served as its publisher since the 2000 merger between Weekly Planet and Creative Loafing, Inc. "He's provided employees with leadership, stability and a great sense of humor," writes Edelstein. "[Walsey is] a wise and decent person who did things like remind folks to place family and friends above work." CL's next publisher will be Scott Patterson, an experienced newspaperman who has published dailies, community papers and shoppers.
On Oct. 9, the Association of Food Journalists named winners in its 2004 AFJ Awards Competition -- and Association of Alternative Newsweeklies member papers came out looking like pigs in the "Under 150,000 Circulation" division. Willamette Week, Independent Weekly, Creative Loafing (Atlanta) and Cleveland Scene each took home an award, while Houston Press garnered a pair. According to the AFJ Web site, the awards "recognize excellence in reporting, writing, and photography in all media, and newspaper food section design and content."
