YES! Weekly and Creative Loafing Charlotte were honored in the North Carolina Press Association's annual awards.
Carlton Hargro, editor in chief of Creative Loafing in Charlotte, N.C., was recently named as one of "The Root 100" by The Root.com.
Wendy Goldstein, a senior advertising executive with McClatchy Newspapers, has been named Associate Publisher of Creative Loafing Charlotte. As Associate Publisher, Goldstein will be responsible for all sales, marketing, and business functions of CL Charlotte, the Carolinas’ largest city weekly and Charlotte’s leading source of information about the arts, entertainment, dining, and other aspects of city life.
The Independent Weekly won seven total awards this year from the North Carolina Press Association, including the Hugh Morton Photographer of the Year, the highest honor given in the photography category. That award for non-daily photographers went to the paper's D.L. Anderson for the second year in a row, with the judges praising him for having "an eye for the unique, a great sense of composition, a technical touch and a natural knack." The Indy also placed first in the Online Breaking News, Best Video, General Excellence Website and Criticism categories. Mountain XPress took home two awards, including a first place win for Best Multimedia Project, and Creative Loafing (Charlotte) received one award.
The hearing scheduled yesterday was set to decide whether CL's creditors can declare their loans in default and take immediate possession of the company from CEO Ben Eason. According to Wayne Garcia, the hearing has been continued until March 11. Garcia says both sides in the case complained about the delay but worked together to develop a new timeline.
Tara Servatius will host a political radio show on Charlotte's WBT-AM from 3-6 pm, replacing Jeff Katz, "whose conservative zeal and verbal swordsmanship have been a mainstay of afternoon drive time for two years," according to the Charlotte Observer. Servatius stepped down as a CL staff writer, but remained as a columnist, when she was hired by the radio station in May 2007. She previously had been in the station's 9 pm-midnight slot. "She spends hours combing through the files researching her points," Rick Jackson, WBT general manager says. "People want facts rather than someone spouting an opinion. We may see a new kind of a talk show host in Tara."
The company, which owns Creative Loafing papers in Atlanta, Charlotte, Sarasota and Tampa, as well as the Chicago Reader and Washington City Paper, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this morning, the St. Petersburg Times reports. City Paper editor Erik Wemple reports that CEO Ben Eason discussed the filing with top company officials in a conference call this morning, and said that the bankruptcy filing would allow CL's six papers to establish a greater online presence while the company reorganizes its operations. A corporate memo on the filing says it "has little to do with the acquisition" of the Reader and City Paper last year. Eason also said that the move entails no liquidation or layoffs. In fact, the Chapter 11 filing will roll back editorial staff cuts at the papers, Wemple writes. MORE: Read more about the move from Creative Loafing (Tampa), the Reader, Crain's and Bloomberg News.
CL's publications in Atlanta, Tampa Bay, Charlotte and Sarasota have joined the company's Chicago Reader and Washington City Paper as members of Ruxton, according to a press release issued this afternoon by Village Voice Media's national advertising firm. Under the arrangement, Ruxton will serve as Creative Loafing's exclusive representative for national print advertising and also will provide non-exclusive representation for online advertising.
