"I can't lie to you -- this business is a struggle," CityBeat editor Dave Rolland writes. "Whereas we're dying to get into the neighborhood of 72 to 80 pages each week, we're still slogging along at 48 or 52." Looking back on the reasons behind the paper's Aug. 21, 2002, launch, Rolland writes: "There was no publication that represented the city's politically progressive population, no publication that focused on street-level arts and culture and no publication that told stories with lively, conversational flair. It's in these three areas that I believe CityBeat has done its job particularly well."
Former L.A. Weekly news editor Alan Mittelstaedt joined Los Angeles CityBeat yesterday as news editor, replacing Dean Kuipers, who moved to the Los Angeles Times. A little further down the coast, Rich Kane, who left OC Weekly in 2005 and ended up as editor of Inland Empire Weekly (a paper started by ex-OC Weekly staffer Jeremy Zachary that was later acquired by LA CityBeat-parent Southland Publishing), returns to the Weekly Aug. 2 as its new managing editor. Replacing Kane at Inland Empire is Charles Mindenhall, a former L.A. Weekly staffer.
Los Angeles CityBeat's Michael Collins won Print Journalist of the Year, while L.A. Weekly took two similar honors: Nikke Finke was named Entertainment Journalist of the Year and John Curry was named Designer of the Year. The Weekly's Jonathan Gold added to his growing trophy rack with a first-place win in the Entertainment Reviews/Criticism/Column category for his "Counter Intelligence" food reviews, while his colleague Libby Molyneaux won first in the Headline category. CityBeat's Anthony Miller placed first in the Entertainment Feature category, OC Weekly's Scott Moxley took home first in the Investigative Series category for "The New Crips," and Advice Goddess Amy Alkon won a first-place award for Headlines. L.A. Weekly also won a first-place award for Special Section, with "Who We Are: LA People 2006." OC Weekly's Gustavo Arellano received the President's Award. Winners were announced this weekend.
Dean Kuipers' Burning Rainbow Farm: How a Stoner Utopia Went Up in Smoke was selected as one of the 20 most notable books about Michigan from 300 nominees. Published in June 2006, the book examines the lives of Michigan marijuana activists Tom Crosslin and Rolland Rohm, who were shot and killed by the FBI and state police during a standoff at their 34-acre campground in the fall of 2001. Kuipers, a Michigan native, tells the Dowagiac Daily News that national interest in his book remains strong, and a movie deal could be in the cards.
Troy Johnson, the music editor at the San Diego alt-weekly, has been the host of the Emmy Award-winning Fox Rox for its run of nearly five years, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. "[The cancellation] was purely a financial decision," says the station's general manager Richard Doutre Jones. "I can't keep losing money on it." Fox Rox's last broadcast is scheduled for March 29. "The media exfoliates itself and it's our time to be shed," Johnson says. "Our ratings were on the slender side. We were Jared post-Subway."
Yesterday, Judge David Stockdale sentenced News Editor Greg Flannery and three other defendants to one day in jail. The defendants also received six months probation and were ordered to pay court costs and perform 20 hours of community service, Flannery writes on the CityBeat blog. The sentences were suspended pending appeal. The defendants were arrested last September when they conducted a sit-in at U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot's office to protest the Iraq War.
Kathy Y. Wilson has turned "Your Negro Tour Guide: Truths in Black and White," a collection of her columns written for the Cincinnati alt-weekly, into a one-woman play, according to the University of Cincinnati's student paper. Wilson, who teaches at the university, tells The News Record she hopes the seats are filled for this evening's one-time performance: "What can be more important for college students right now in America, in this time of political excitement, with a bi-racial man and a white woman running for president of the United States, than to hear some black woman stand up and talk about the shit that made that all possible: race, gender and class."
Judge David Stockdale denied a request to drag former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld before a Hamilton County court as a material witness in a trespassing case involving CityBeat news editor Greg Flannery, reports a local Fox affiliate. Flannery was one of seven anti-war protesters arrested after occupying the Cincinnati offices of congressman Steve Chabot, a supporter of the war in Iraq. A lawyer for the defendants admits that it was always unlikely that Rumsfeld would be forced to testify.
