The Madison, Wis., alt-weekly is "looking at ways to reduce expenses like everybody has to," publisher Vince O'Hern tells the Capital Times. "Nothing is decided. It may involve some people taking leaves, and some people not being on staff anymore." News editor Bill Lueders says A&E editor Dean Robbins will take an unpaid six-month leave to tend to "personal projects and other work." Other than that, he says talk of any staff changes is premature. Isthmus employs 10 editorial staffers, and the total staff size is about three dozen, according to Lueders.
Bill Lascher says in an email that June 25 will be his last day as editor of the Reporter, as he leaves to attend a new master's program in specialized journalism at the University of Southern California. He will be replaced by Michael Sullivan, who was previously a writer at the Fresno Business Journal and a freelancer with the Reporter and the Ventura County Star.
The Oklahoma Gazette founder and publisher will be inducted on April 4 along with eight other notable journalists. Bleakley started the Gazette in 1979 as a bimonthly publication with a circulation of about 2,000 and has grown it into a paper with a weekly circulation of more than 57,000. He also acquired the biweekly business newspaper OKCBusiness in 2003, and last year formed Tierra Media Group, an umbrella company for all of his papers. Bleakley also sits on AAN's Board of Directors as Organization/Bylaws Chair. "I share this recognition with the many staff members whose efforts achieved the successes of our publications while adhering to the highest journalistic standards," he says.
The last three witnesses took the stand yesterday in the Guardian's predatory pricing trial against SF Weekly and Village Voice Media. Guardian publisher and editor Bruce Brugmann and associate publisher Jean Dibble were brought back to the stand, this time by the Weekly's attorneys; they were followed by Bay Area publisher Bill Johnson, whose papers include AAN members the Palo Alto Weekly and Pacific Sun. The trial takes a day off today, and closing arguments begin Thursday morning. For more details, read the latest from the Weekly and the Bay Guardian.
Bill Bleakley has published the Gazette since he founded it in 1979, and four years ago, he purchased OKCBusiness, a biweekly business newspaper. Now he has moved both of those publications, along with High Plains Events LLC, which organizes events for the papers and other groups, under the umbrella of Tierra Media Group. Bleakley will take the title of president of the new company. In a statement, he says the company does not plan to expand out of its current geographic area. "We don't consider ourselves a chain because everything we do relates to niches right here in Central Oklahoma," he says. "Oklahoma City is a very hot economy and we're positioned right in the middle of it with no intention of acquiring properties outside of this market." Bleakley serves on AAN's Board of Directors as the Organization/Bylaws Chair. In other Gazette news, the paper and High Plains Events have announced Oklahoma City's inaugural Halloween parade, Gazette's Ghouls Gone Wild, featuring a performance by the Flaming Lips (singer Wayne Coyne will be the parade's Grand Marshal). Filter magazine reports that the band is currently looking for 1,000 fans to take part in the March of a Thousand Flaming Skeletons at the parade. CORRECTION: We originally noted that the Halloween parade would include a performance by the Flaming Lips. That is incorrect -- the band will only be appearing and leading the skeleton march, not performing music.
"This week's issue marks my last as editor," Bill Colrus writes in a farewell column. He's leaving the Chattanooga alt-weekly "for a new and exciting opportunity in the world of custom publishing," and will be replaced by current co-publisher Michael Kull. "This paper has been devoted to digging for bits of truth buried in mountains of dishonesty and spin, and I've been glad to man the shovel," writes Colrus, who was hired prior to the paper's launch in 2003. "As I leave, I am confident that The Pulse will continue its mission to give a voice to the voiceless, go deeper on stories when a superficial snapshot is not enough, and strive to tell the stories nobody else will tell."
In an intra-company switcheroo, Jim Parker takes over this week as publisher of a collection of publications in Victoria, British Columbia, including Monday Magazine. Meanwhile, the alt-weekly's former publisher, Bill Macadam, will fill Parker's old position at the News Leader & Pictorial, based 40 minutes north of Victoria in the Cowichan Valley. Both papers are owned by Black Press Group, Ltd.
The addition of the widely syndicated sex-advice column to the Eugene Weekly is "stirring up controversy," according to KEZI-TV 9 News. The local ABC affiliate, which led with the story on Friday evening, took to the streets to get reactions; two of the three locals interviewed didn't have a problem with the column, with one woman offering, "I lived in New York City for many years. I'm way beyond ever being offended by anything." KEZI also talked to Eugene Weekly editor Ted Taylor (pictured), who wondered: "What's the big deal? They are just words about sex. Why not be outraged by what I consider the real moral issues?" Director of Advertising and Marketing Bill Shreve tells AAN News the paper picked up Savage Love in October, and e-mails and calls to the Weekly have been split about evenly between supporters and opponents of the column. He also notes that the whole thing has "been good for business."
