In Dec. 2004, a jury awarded $950,000 to Maryland prosecutor Marc Mandel in a libel suit against the Boston alt-weekly. Twenty months later, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit overturned that ruling and ordered a new trial, which gets its first hearing before a judge today, the Boston Herald reports. Former staff writer Kristen Lombardi, editor Susan Ryan-Vollmar and attorneys for the Phoenix will argue that Mandel was a public figure.

Continue ReadingBoston Phoenix Libel Suit Returns to Court Today

Lance Gould, a veteran New York journalist, will begin his tenure in Boston in late April. Gould, formerly an editor at New York's Daily News and Spy magazine, was most recently a contributing editor at Radar magazine. He replaces Bill Jensen, who left the Phoenix to become director of online operations for Village Voice Media. Executive Editor Peter Kadzis says of Gould: "His recent work at Radar, where a premium was placed on the interdependence of print and online, will serve him particularly well at the Phoenix as we continue to work toward maximizing the convergence of our print, online, and radio content."

Continue ReadingBoston Phoenix Names New Editor

Gerald Peary, a film critic and columnist for the Phoenix for more than 10 years, is working on a documentary, "For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism." The feature film, which Peary is directing with his wife, Amy Zeller, includes an interview with the late Pauline Kael, reports the Boston Globe (see item at bottom of page). MORE MOVIE NEWS: Zoo, a documentary about a man's fatal sexual encounter with a horse, which was written by The Stranger's Charles Mudede, premieres next week at Sundance, according to the Seattle Times.

Continue ReadingBoston Phoenix Critic Working on Film-Crit Doc

Eric Benjamin, who previously served as a senior executive for the Advocate Newspapers in Connecticut and Gambit Weekly in New Orleans, has returned to his hometown, joining the Boston Phoenix national sales department as an account executive. Benjamin, who was also president of the Alternative Weekly Network for several years, most recently served as general manager of Gannett's Times of Acadiana in Lafayette, La.

Continue ReadingAn Alt-Weekly Vet Returns to the Fold

Bill Jensen is leaving Beantown to take command of Web operations for Village Voice Media. The math is simple: Jensen's departure is a loss for the Phoenix and a gain for VVM. "It's always a disappointment to lose solid talent,"says Peter Kadzis, executive editor of Phoenix Media/Communications Group. VVM Executive Editor Mike Lacey seems to have had his sights set on Jensen; according to the Phoenix, Jensen was offered, and declined, the job of editing the Village Voice earlier this year. “Like Vito Corleone, Mike Lacey must have made Bill an offer he couldn’t refuse,” Kadzis says. In a press release, Lacey and CEO Jim Larkin announce that Jensen's "arrival coincides with a major expansion of staffing as we move to hire a new group of dedicated Web editors and designers."

Continue ReadingBoston Phoenix Editor to Lead VVM Web Operations

The Boston Globe reports that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit yesterday ordered a new trial for the Phoenix, which had been ordered to pay $950,000 to former Maryland prosecutor Marc Mandel in a Dec. 2004 decision. The case stems from a 2003 article about custody disputes by former staff writer Kristen Lombardi; the story included allegations that Mandel had molested his children from two marriages. The U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the trial judge should have examined more evidence before deciding that Mandel was not a public figure.

Continue ReadingFederal Court Overturns Libel Verdict Against Boston Phoenix