Last month, Robert Newman Design took a trip back through the Village Voice's cover archive to highlight some great design work; now he's trained his spotlight on Athens, Ga., alt-weekly Flagpole in a new collection posted to his Facebook page. "The Flagpole cover is a visual hybrid somewhere between the New Yorker and Seattle's The Stranger," Newman writes. "Flagpole's choice of illustrations (and the occasional photo) embrace a wide array of styles, but they are all cool."
Tonight's birthday party for the Athens, Ga., weekly will feature a variety show modeled after a gong show, a contest for costumes made with flagpoles, and local bands, according to Red and Black, an independent student newspaper. "You'll see everything from people eating fire to singing," Flagpole editor and publisher Pete McCommons says. In the paper's own 20th anniversary special issue, McCommons reflects on Flagpole's history and its ongoing mission: "We have fought a 20-year battle against those who would exploit local resources for gain regardless of the impact on our community," he writes. "And we have continued to be the Colorbearer of Athens alternative music, along with other music and arts and entertainment."
Brad Aaron has resigned his position at Flagpole Magazine in Athens, Ga., due to "issues with some of our management practices and decisions," Editor and Publisher Pete McCommons writes in the April 23 edition (second item). Aaron's popular column, "City Dope," is "in abeyance," but "may reappear at some future time when government has run amuck and the bat signal beams to the sky," McCommons says.
