In this week's SF Weekly, New Times Media executive editor Michael Lacey (pictured) responds to a recent report in the San Francisco Bay Guardian about merger talks between his company and Village Voice Media. Lacey takes aim at Guardian publisher Bruce Brugmann, calling the report "his latest salvo against New Times" and calling Brugmann himself much worse.

Continue ReadingLacey Responds to Bay Guardian Merger Report

AAN's non-profit foundation on Tuesday deposited $37,865 in tax-deductible contributions it received from members who had pledged donations on Friday and were so anxious to assist displaced Gambit Weekly employees they Fed Ex'ed checks and called in with credit cards. Included in the deposit were ten individual contributions, ranging from $25 to $500, from Village Voice Media and New Times employees participating in their companies' matching-funds program.

Continue ReadingGambit Fund Nets Almost $38,000 in First Day

AAN announced today that it had established a multi-pronged effort to provide immediate relief to employees of its New Orleans-based member paper who have been displaced by Hurricane Katrina. The centerpiece of the effort is a special fund that the association has established in its Alternative Newsweekly Foundation to accept charitable contributions from members who want to provide immediate assistance to Gambit Weekly employees. Several AAN-member companies have already announced significant contributions to the fund.

Continue ReadingAAN Announces Relief Effort to Support Gambit Employees

Executive editor Tim Redmond says his paper has obtained documents that "include a May 27, 2005, draft of a merger agreement between Village Voice Media and New Times." According to Redmond, "the draft calls for the creation of a new company controlled by a nine-member board," with New Times owning 62 percent of the new venture and controlling five board seats, and VVM retaining the rest. New Times owns 11 AAN papers and VVM owns six.

Continue ReadingBay Guardian Report: Documents Detail New Times-VVM Merger Plans

Blood. Frogs. Vermin. Hail. Locusts. Slaying of your first editor. Whatever. If you publish a paper long enough, sooner or later you will be hit with a disaster. With eleven papers to worry about, the folks at New Times are always thinking about these things, and they have agreed to share their disaster-recovery plans with business-stream attendees on Saturday, June 18 at 4:45 pm.

Continue ReadingEmergency Preparedness Seminar Added in Business Stream