"Kevin Keane tore me a new asshole a couple weeks ago," begins the June 14 editor's note from Stephen Buel (here, second item). Keane, executive editor of ANG newspapers, was upset by East Bay Express' unfavorable coverage of his company's prospective purchase of Bay Area dailies. Buel says he stands by the Express' "overall conclusion," but he regrets "a few elements": not asking ANG for comment, using a fake byline on an article that rated reporters and not calling "attention to some of the good work done by reporters at ANG." As part of Buel's amends, this week's issue of the Express contains an interview with Keane.
That was one of the questions asked last night during a panel discussion in San Francisco on "The Coming Media Monopoly: Concentration of Press Ownership and Its Effects on Democracy." It will surprise few AAN members that panelists Stephen Buel, editor of Village Voice Media's East Bay Express, and Tim Redmond, executive editor of the San Francisco Bay Guardian, didn't see eye-to-eye on the matter. According to the "alternative online daily" BeyondChron, Buel said the Express' sale to VVM-predecessor New Times allowed the paper to hire more staff, purchase new computers and rent more office space. "In the past year, I've seen members of an alternative newsweekly buy houses in the Bay Area, and I think that's cool,” Buel said. Redmond disagreed, arguing that conglomeration results in homogenization of content and the pricing out of any true independent press.
After 24 years with East Bay Express, Editor John Raeside is hanging it up. Raeside has announced his resignation, effective March 1. Managing Editor Stephen Buel will take his place. Raeside says the paper has had some remarkable accomplishments in its first year under New Times ownership and that he feels he's leaving it in good hands.
