Independent Weekly, Mountain Xpress and Yes! Weekly recently received accolades from the organization.
Texas Observer editor Bob Moser is leaving to become the executive editor of The American Prospect.
On Friday, we told you that Baltimore City Paper managing editor Erin Sullivan was taking over the editor's spot at sister paper Orlando Weekly. What we neglected to mention is where the Weekly's current editor, Bob Whitby, was going. In a farewell column, he says he is taking "a job editing a paper out west," in Las Vegas. He had been the paper's editor since August 2002. Weekly publisher Rick Schreiber tells the Orlando Sentinel that Whitby will be joining the rest of his family in Vegas; they moved there last summer because Whitby's wife's education required her to relocate.
"About five years ago, Carolyn [Fernandez, the paper's production manager] and I began to craft a succession plan for the newspaper," publisher Judy Hodgson writes. "What would the ownership look like when we are no longer actively working? Who will be at the helm for the next 20 years?" To answer that question, the two co-founders did not have to go far. On Jan. 1, editor Hank Sims, sales manager Mike Herring and A&E editor Bob Doran became co-owners of the Journal; they are now minority stockholders while Fernandez and Hodgson retain majority control.
Jeffrey Billman, who won first place for investigative reporting in the under-50,000 circulation category for his Orlando Weekly piece "Might Makes Right," will discuss the story with Weekly editor Bob Whitby in a conversation moderated by the San Francisco Bay Guardian's Tim Redmond. Like last week, the live chat will happen right here on AAN.org and will take place Friday at 3 pm EDT.
The Observer today announced that Bob Moser is the publication's new editor. He replaces Jake Bernstein, who left to become a reporter for ProPublica in June. Moser, who got his start as editor of North Carolina's Independent Weekly, has recently been writing and editing for The Nation, and is the author of the new book Blue Dixie: Awakening the South's Democratic Majority. "There is no place in the country evolving more rapidly, or changing more fundamentally, than Texas," Moser says in a release. "The Observer will aim to deploy our tough, thorough, hard-nosed reporting to nudge the state in a progressive direction."
The paper's director of digital development tells AAN News that the widget pulls its "I Saw You" listings into Facebook. "Our users love to check these out to see if they or someone they know has been spotted. Now they don't have to wait a week to read them," Bob Kilpatrick says. "The most recent three postings update on their Facebook profile every hour. It brings our brand to mind and increases readership: The widget connects right to our personals site so potential new users can create profiles and start making contacts." If you're interested in finding out more about the widget or having Seven Days build one for your personal ads, email Bob at bob (at) sevendaysvt.com.
Former South Florida Sun-Sentinel writer Buddy Nevins has sued the New Times Broward-Palm Beach writer and VVM for defamation and invasion of privacy/false light, the Sun-Sentinel reports. Nevins claims that Norman falsely stated that he was forced out from the daily paper over a story that later had to be corrected. Nevins also alleges that Norman falsely claimed he had an "unholy alliance" with lobbyist Ali Waldman that "ruined" him as a reporter. "This may get interesting, but there is no joy in Pulpville tonight," Norman writes on his blog, the Daily Pulp. "I like Buddy and believe he's done awesome work in his career ... but I stand by my work and wish Buddy the best."
Writing on the New Times Broward-Palm Beach's Daily Pulp blog, staff writer Bob Norman says "Ortega's announcement at a meeting yesterday left the staff under what I can I only describe as a funereal pall." He predicts Ortega "will sit in the editor's chair at the Voice for as long he wants to be there," because he has "the temperament to weather the shitstorm" and the "hard-earned trust" of Village Voice Media Executive Editor Mike Lacey.
