Bob Mould, best known as the singer, guitarist and songwriter for the indie bands Hüsker Dü and Sugar, will answer reader questions on "music, cooking, travel, politics, religion, neighborhoods, sociology and more" in a column appropriately called "Ask Bob Mould," according to City Paper. Arts editor Mark Athitakis tells AAN News the idea "was kicking around for a while here at the office" and that the column will run "on the opening spread of the arts section."

Continue ReadingInfluential Musician to Write Column in Washington City Paper

Last week, the entertainment magazine In Utah This Week ran an ad claiming that it has eroded the alt-weekly's readership by 20 percent in five months. But Weekly owner John Saltas sarcastically points out the ad -- which appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune, In Utah's sister publication -- grossly overestimates the magazine's readership by referencing the wrong numbers. "CUME numbers mostly impress young reps and rookie managers and are a crock when used to purposely mislead as the In Utah folks did in [the] ad," Saltas says.

Continue ReadingSalt Lake City Weekly Owner Responds to Spurious Ad Claims

The Maryland Army National Guard's recruitment chief was stripped of his command and about a dozen other recruiters were punished after an internal investigation revealed misuse of government money, fraudulent enlistments and improper relationships among Guard members, the Washington Post reports. The probe was sparked by recent stories in Baltimore City Paper that "alleged deceptive recruiting practices aimed at meeting quotas," according to the Post.

Continue ReadingMilitary Recruiters Punished On Heels of Alt-Weekly Investigation

Britt Robson, who will leave March 1, tells the Star-Tribune his chief reasons for quitting were editor Steve Perry's recent resignation and the hiring of an editor from out of town to succeed him. "There was absolutely no pressure on me to leave," Robson says. "I just didn't want to be an unhappy, divisive force on the staff, which I would have been if I had stayed." He had spent over 10 years at the paper and was among Steve Perry's closest confidants, according to the Star-Tribune.

Continue ReadingSenior Editor Leaves City Pages

Admitting it "has had a rather checkered history when it comes to our commitment to the Web," the paper announces it is moving into "the mid-2000s" with its newly reconfigured site. Among the changes: the blogs are no longer using Blogger, i.e., an open-source software solution; a "toolbox" with listings and classifieds has been added to each page on the site; and the previously pay-for-access editorial archives are now free.

Continue ReadingWashington City Paper Launches Redesigned Website

The latest to leave are OC Weekly feature editor Rebecca Schoenkopf, whose Commie Girl column won last year's big-paper AltWeekly Award for best political column, and City Pages music critic Jim Walsh, who served two stints at the Minneapolis alt-weekly, the latest beginning in 2003. OC Register columnist Frank Mickadeit reports that Schoenkopf has "been ready to leave the Weekly for some time, simply because she needed a change" and that "her dream job would be editor-in-chief of an alternative weekly somewhere." In her farewell column, Schoenkopf puts the paper's recent ownership change into context: "It could have been worse: Dean Singleton could have bought our newspaper. At least this way, we still get to call people twats." (OC Weekly music editor Chris Ziegler also left the paper, Schoenkopf notes in her column.)

Continue ReadingMore Edit-Staff Departures at Village Voice Media

Mediaspan, which calls itself "the leading provider of digital content management and national advertising solutions for over 4,000 local media properties," yesterday announced the addition of several new clients, including AAN members Philadelphia City Paper, Austin Chronicle, San Antonio Current, Salt Lake City Weekly, Arkansas Times and Jackson Free Press. "Our drive to deliver new, national revenue for our affiliate partners goes hand-in-hand with our goal of meeting the demands of national advertisers who want to reach a specific local audience, in markets large and small, across multiple types of media," says a Mediaspan executive. "Whether advertisers seek online display ads on newspaper websites, pre-roll video on TV websites or online radio audio streams, we can deliver."

Continue ReadingOnline Ad Firm Signs Six Alt-Weekly Clients

The Village Voice Media paper announced yesterday that Cleveland Scene managing editor Kevin Hoffman would replace Steve Perry, who resigned earlier this week. Former City Pages co-owner Tom Bartel (the brother of the paper's current publisher, Mark Bartel) tells the Minneapolis Star-Tribune that he thinks Hoffman and present VVM management deserve a chance. "They've produced some terrific editors and stories over the years," Bartel says. "But anybody who comes in from out of town will have a certain learning curve. He needs to know the community he's covering."

Continue ReadingCity Pages Names New Editor