Mayor Frank Melton and two of his bodyguards have been indicted by a federal grand jury for demolishing an alleged "drug house" in Aug. 2006, a story first reported by the Jackson Free Press in Sept. 2006. "The three men were charged in connection with a conspiracy to tear down a private home in Jackson and thereby violate the civil rights of the owner and resident of that home," a Department of Justice press release reads. They are also charged with using a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence. Melton, who is running for a second term, tells the Clarion-Ledger that he's "very disappointed, because I have worked so hard on fighting crime in this city."
"The idea, of course, is that with no competition to siphon off advertisers or keep ad prices rock-bottom, one alt-weekly might accomplish what the Free Times and Scene couldn't: make enough money to survive," Scene managing editor Joe Tone says of the recently announced merger. "And it's hard to bemoan the consolidation. Had they not become one, the two papers would have eventually become none." However, Tone notes that, for now, Cleveland "will lose some journalists." In addition to former editor Pete Kotz, who has already left for Nashville, Tone says staff writer Lisa Rab and food critic Elaine Cicora have departed. Frank Lewis, who last week was named the new paper's editor, reports on the Free Times blog that the other managers have been named. Sean Misutka and Joe Strailey have been plucked from the Scene to be ad sales manager and classified sales manager, respectively. And three additional Free Times managers have found homes at the new paper: Steve Antol is the circulation manager; Tim Divis is the business manager, and Steve Miluch is the production manager.
AAN News has learned that Frank Lewis has been named the editor of the Scene, which is being merged with the Free Times by new owners Times-Shamrock on July 23. The announcement was made to the two staffs yesterday. Former Scene editor Pete Kotz began his tenure as editor of the Nashville Scene this week. Lewis joined the Free Times in 2005 after serving as the Scene's managing editor. Before that, he spent close to seven years at the Philadelphia City Paper.
The San Francisco Bay Guardian executive editor offers his take on the deal announced last week that will merge the Cleveland Free Times and Cleveland Scene under new owners Times Shamrock. He wonders why "VVM couldn't create a monopoly, [but] another newspaper outfit apparently can." He's referring to when the Justice Department nixed a similar 2002 deal between New Times and Village Voice Media (then two separate companies) that shuttered the Free Times. Justice forced the sale of Free Times to a group of investors, and the paper reopened in May 2003. "I'll leave it to you to speculate on why we couldn't do this deal, but Times Shamrock could," VVM executive editor Andy Van De Voorde says. Redmond says the Justice Department has yet to respond to his request for comment.
The other shoe has dropped. Times-Shamrock just announced that it is buying Cleveland Free Times as well as the Cleveland Scene, and will merge the two publications into a single paper on July 23. The new paper will be called the Scene, and current Free Times publisher Matt Fabyan will run it. "This is a great addition to our existing group of alternative newsweeklies," says Don Farley, group publisher of Times-Shamrock's stable of alt-weeklies, which now numbers five. "We look forward to serving the greater Cleveland community for many, many years." UPDATE: Fabyan tells the Plain-Dealer that the deal had "been in the works for a while," and Crain's Cleveland Business reports that staffers at each paper are being asked to reapply to the new paper.
This year the high school in Charleston, Miss., held an integrated prom for the first time -- ending a system of parallel parties for black and white students. National Public Radio's Bryant Park Project covered the story after reading about it in the Jackson Free Press. "After we covered the story this week, a whole lot of people wrote in to say they were just plain shocked that any kind of segregation could still exist in this country," writes the show's web editor (and former Village Voice executive editor) Laura Conaway. She talks to Ladd about the story, the reaction, and where the conversation about race in America needs to go.
The South Carolina Press Association announced the winners of its 2007 news excellence competition Friday, and two AAN members were among the papers that were honored. Columbia Free Times finished first in three categories, including Mixed Media Illustration in the competition division open to all papers. In the weeklies division, Free Times swept the Illustrations category, placing first, second, and third; and took home a first-place award in Sports Column Writing. It also took home one additional second-place and one third-place award. The Charleston City Paper placed first in two categories -- Best Beat Reporting and General News Photo. City Paper also won one second-place and one third-place award.
Lawyers and economists from the U.S. Justice Department are investigating if the Cleveland Free Times can "be a viable business in the current media climate" in the city, according to the Plain Dealer. The Free Times was closed in 2002 when its owner, Village Voice Media, agreed to shutter it, giving Cleveland's other alt-weekly, the New Times-owned Scene, a monopoly. (The two parent companies merged in 2005.) The Justice Dept. investigated that deal and forced the sale of Free Times to a group of investors. Former Free Times editor David Eden tells the Plain Dealer he was recently questioned by lawyers from Justice about whether or not he thought the paper could be turned around. He says he told them that Cleveland needs the paper's independent voice and he hopes it is sold to a local group rather than being bought out by the competition and closed. "It feels like deja vu all over again," he says.
Boom Jackson will be an annual glossy celebrating "urban living, working and creating in Jackson," Todd Stauffer writes in his publisher's note this week. The magazine will be a joint partnership between the JFP and Downtown Jackson Partners, the Hinds County Economic Development District, the Jackson Convention and Visitors Bureau, and others.
Lance Hammer's Ballast, which will compete with 15 other films in the Dramatic Competition at this year's festival, has a certain familiar alt-weekly publisher in its credits. The Jackson Free Press' Todd Stauffer was production manager for the film, which is described by Sundance as "a riveting, lyrical portrait of an emotionally frayed family whose lives are torn asunder by a tragic act in a small Mississippi Delta town."
