Blum (pictured) is a veteran New York journalist who has worked at Esquire, New York magazine, and The New York Times Magazine. He is also an adjunct professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and the author of two books: Flash in the Pan: The Life and Death of an American Restaurant and Tick... Tick... Tick...: The Long Life and Turbulent Times of 60 Minutes. In a press release, Blum says, "I believe in the limitless possibilities of weeklies, and in the power of narrative journalism to change the way people think and feel. ... I want New Yorkers to read the Voice, and to be moved, entertained, amused, confronted and compelled by what it has to say." His first day at the Voice will be Sept. 12.
David Jones (pictured) tells AAN News that after "doing this particular job in this particular (very special) place" for such a long time, he plans to return to writing and possibly teaching. While he won't miss "squidging things around a (computer) screen," that doesn't mean it isn't difficult for him to leave the Reader. "We still do some amazing things here, every week, of course, and I'll feel strange not having my hands on any of it anymore," he says.
In an extensive interview in Rochester, N.Y.'s City Newspaper, the NY Times' media reporter and incipient blogger doled out some advice for the industry that used to provide him with a paycheck. Alternative journalism is "lippy discourse plus culturally literate recommendations plus listings," he said. Problem is, the same "fundamental assets" are also available on the Web, where they're "far more searchable." So alt-weeklies need to do a "better job of putting their brand into digital realms," and they need to compete with the Web "to keep refreshing that sort of children's crusade of talented young reporters (that) make alternative newspapers vital." Carr isn't troubled by the New Times-VVM merger because he's "a fan of the New Times version of newspapering. They do very robust, city-oriented coverage that I think is a force for good, or at least accountability in the cities that they do them in."
Editor Pamela White penned a 5,175-word article for the Feb. 2 issue of Boulder Weekly, detailing how an "expert" she had used was actually a fraud. David Race Bannon is the author of Race Against Evil, a supposed former Interpol assassin, and a source for the Weekly's Sept. 9, 2004 story "Suffer the Children" on the international child sex trade. On Jan. 27, Bannon was arrested by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation on suspicion of criminal impersonation, computer crime and criminal attempt to commit theft. White writes, "one quickly realizes that journalism, most especially alternative journalism, entails taking some risks. I don't say that to defend any lack of judgment on my part; it is quite simply a fact." Westword also included a short take on Boulder Weekly and Bannon in its Feb. 2 issue (here, second item).
This week's issue contains a defense of former Baltimore Sun columnist Michael Olesker by former Sun writer David Simon. Olesker was asked to retire earlier this month after City Paper's Gadi Dechter found that Olesker had lifted language from other writers at the Sun, the New York Times and the Washington Post. Simon argues that "most reporting -- unless it utilizes confidential sources or results from some investigative effort or special project -- has a short shelf life before it becomes nonproprietary," and says that if Olesker is a plagiarist, so are all journalists.
David Butow has photographed some of the most dangerous places on Earth, including war-torn Iraq, where he documented violence and destruction in his award-winning shots for Los Angeles Citybeat. Yet he says it doesn't take him long to readjust to the L.A. mindset. This is the 31st in a "How I Got That Story" series highlighting the AltWeekly Awards' first-place winners.
The details of the out-of-court settlement are confidential, but it does include the terms on which Sutcliffe Associates' SelectAlternatives program will license Tele-Publishing Inc.'s patents and other intellectual property, the two companies announced yesterday. TPI and SA are both AAN Associate Members and both will continue to provide personal advertising technology to newspapers. "The settlement provides publishers with some choices going forward," says TPI President David Dinnage. "We feel that this is a win for all parties involved."
