Kevin McKinney, editor and publisher of Indianapolis's NUVO, subscribes to the tenets of reduce, reuse and recycle. Such thinking led to the alt-weekly's recent move to print on paper with nearly 80 percent recycled content. "We had gotten all our process worked out, so now we could look at more environmentally friendly options," says production manager Mike Fox (pictured). A box of factoids on NUVO's table of contents page lists the resources saved annually by printing on this paper, 6,256 trees and 442,777 gallons of water among them. And, says McKinney, "there's no noticeable difference in photos or art and no change in cost."
Craig Kapilow is a busy man. By day, he's a senior account executive and associate music editor at Boston's Weekly Dig. By night, he spins at highly marketable DJ nights, thus building relationships with venues around town -- many of which are clients of the paper. One of the longest running events, taking place each Saturday night, was profiled in the Aug. 19 edition of the Boston Globe (see below). Here Kapilow answers a few questions about his multiple roles at the alt-weekly and his side-career behind the turntables.
Potential advertisers in alternative newsweeklies want to know not only how many people their promotions will reach but what types of people. How old? How educated? How rich? To supply answers, publishers of AAN papers rely on firms that do market comparisons and readership surveys. But, sometimes, research techniques don't quite deliver what publishers are looking for.
Veteran reporter Savannah Blackwell is among those whose jobs were eliminated. Several other workers had their hours cut. Executive Editor Tim Redmond blames the downsizing on "a brutal economy that the president isn't making any better and a very difficult national ad sales environment." REDMOND TELLS AAN: "The Chronicle and E&P stories weren't accurate; the number of layoffs was fewer than six."
If the economy is reviving, many AAN papers are still waiting for the signs to show up in their ad revenues. Although national ad sales went up last year, papers reported mixed results in local advertising, their mainstay. Reasons to be hopeful in 2004 include increases in real estate and recruitment ads, diversification of ad categories, and the notion that merchants and the public have grown tired of brooding and want to feel optimistic about their economic prospects again. Sales staff need to "get the message out there" about what alternative newsweeklies have to offer, says Jim Wolf, Village Voice Media's vice president of national advertising.
President Jay Smith and his chief financial officer, Charles "Buddy" Solomon, voted against censuring themselves for "violating business and journalism ethical standards" but were overruled by the other six members of Creative Loafing Inc.'s board of directors. The resolution's author, Sterling "Jim" Soderlind, accused the Cox executives of getting "a very good education in the alternative newspaper business while sitting on our board," and then using that knowledge to launch a competing free newspaper, Access Atlanta. John Sugg's Nov. 20 report on the meeting was followed by Smith's response the next week.
Most publishers would like to soften New York's Local Law 23, which imposes fines for "dirty" news racks, and some contend the law is unconstitutional. Since last April, when enforcement began, the city's Department of Transportation has assessed more than 2,000 fines, totaling almost $1 million, Cynthia Cotts of the Village Voice reports. The burden is greatest for smaller businesses. New York Press publisher Charles Colletti says the weekly has received fines of almost $100,000 and has hired a cleaning contractor to comply with the law.
Richard Meeker, publisher of Willamette Week, says the alt-weekly made pre-tax profits of $365,000 on revenues of $6 million in the fiscal year that ended March 31, 2002, and expects to do equally well in the current fiscal year. In his "annual report" to readers, Meeker says the economy "stinks" but his paper has been able to hold its own because newsprint prices have dropped and " local papers like ours have been hurt less than big dailies by the economy's downturn." Meeker also estimates the profits and revenues of The Oregonian, the Portland Tribune, and his alt-weekly rival, The Portland Mercury. "Journalism isn't the Merc's focus; its real appeal is attitude and bargain-basement ad rates," Meeker says.
