Jim Holman "has loaned nearly $2.2 million since the start of the year to pay for a petition drive on behalf of the so-called 'Parents' Right to Know and Child Protection Measure,'" according to the Sacramento Bee. The initiative would require doctors to notify a parent or guardian before performing an abortion on a minor.
A recent survey of AAN papers revealed that the applications alt-weeklies are using to track circulation are as diverse as the newspapers themselves. A few papers rely on their in-house wiz for a custom-made program, but for the rest of the industry, a commercial package is the only sophisticated option. Alt-weekly circulation insiders describe their woes, successes, and dreams of better uses for the numbers.
Having endured intense criticism twice in the past six months after publishing controversial stories that sent some readers into fits of rage, the former Miami New Times editor tells the Miami Herald, "I certainly am devoted to journalism, but maybe it would be a good idea to give it a rest for a little while." Nevertheless, Mullin defends "Meth Made Easy," which included a recipe for methamphetamine and caused an uproar when it ran in the San Luis Obispo New Times earlier this month. Mullin says he knew he'd get heat for publishing the recipe, but he still thinks it served two good purposes: It let readers know about the "really awful stuff" that's in meth, and it grabbed people's attention, which kept it "from suffering the fate of so many meth articles -- they don't get read."
Jim Mullin (pictured) drew criticism for a Feb. 2 cover story containing a recipe for methamphetamine, but New Times General Manager Bob Rucker told the San Luis Obispo Tribune that the meth story didn't precipitate his resignation. "There was a problem knowing the audience," Rucker said. Until his resignation Friday, Mullin was working for the California weekly from his home in Miami Beach. He was previously the editor of Miami New Times, but resigned in 2005 shortly after the suicide of former city official Arthur Teele, whose alleged involvement with a transvestite prostitute was exposed in a Miami New Times cover story. (Unlike the Miami paper, SLO New Times is not part of the New Times/Village Voice Media chain.)
The public reaction to the alt-weekly's Feb. 2 issue, which contained a recipe for methamphetamine, dominates this week's issue. In the cover story, Jim Mullin, the paper's new editor, apologizes for provoking community outrage and laments lost readers, distribution points and advertising. Mullin, who was editor of the Miami New Times for 18 years before joining the San Luis Obispo paper, says the meth story "strained to the breaking point a trust that had steadily developed over two decades." He says the paper chose not to use a "scolding" tone in order to avoid alienating young readers, but the "use of sarcasm, designed to hold reader interest, alienated some who believed the subject was too serious to be treated flippantly." This week's issue also includes dozens of angry letters, including those sent by the city's mayor and chief of police.
Superior Court Judge Joan M. Lewis issued a temporary order preventing the San Diego Reader from publishing details about Polyheme, a blood substitute still in testing, that were obtained under the California Public Records Act. Northfield Laboratories Inc. had sued the Reader last month to stop publication of the information, which Northfield calls "trade secrets." On July 28, the Reader had published an article saying that Polyheme was being tested in downtown San Diego and in poor minority neighborhoods, on trauma patients who were unable to consent. A Northfield spokesperson said the two sides would meet next week in an attempt to reach an agreement.
Restaurant Reviewer Jim Dixon is under fire for his negative review of Portland's Castagna. Dixon summarized his own review thusly: "So what's my problem? In a word: salt." The restaurant owners then sent a 50-pound salt lick and a letter to the editor drawing attention to Dixon's side business importing and selling sea salt. Willamette Week's Nov. 2 issue contains two letters slamming Dixon and editor Kelly Clarke, as well as a lengthy response from Dixon in which he announces that a disclaimer will be added to future reviews. The commotion has been sufficient to draw the attention of the Portland Tribune.
