"Thanks primarily to a rather sensationalistic story on WREG Channel 3 Wednesday night, John Branston's City Beat column from this week's Flyer seems to be generating some controversy," writes editor Bruce VanWyngarden. In the column, Branston asks who should be "the HNIC" of Memphis City Schools, a term meaning "head [N-word] in charge" that refers to the film Lean on Me. VanWyngarden writes that, as editor, he takes responsibility for the column and the phrase. "I apologize to those who were offended by the use of the term in John's column. It was not intended as a racial slur but as a cultural reference to a very real and important decision facing our school board," he writes. "Lost in the controversy is the fact that in his column Branston asks some very pointed and relevant questions of potential superintendent candidates -- questions we ought to be asking." Nevertheless, the one source the TV station has that is upset about the whole thing is still calling for Branston to be fired.
Publisher John Weiss says he was asked a couple months ago by one area Starbucks store to pick up the Indy's news racks there. When he asked why the paper was being kicked out, the manager told him an individual had complained and the corporate office decided to pull the paper, KOAA-TV reports. "Starbucks has a non-solicitation policy and the standard operating procedure is to carry only the New York Times and the local paper, i.e. the Colorado Springs Gazette," the coffee giant says in a statement. Weiss says it sets a double standard: "Just allowing one newspaper, which is very, very conservative, into their stores, we don't think provides the balance this community needs." The Indy went through a similar ban eight years ago at King Soopers grocery stores, according to KOAA. The stores eventually brought the paper back after receiving multiple complaint letters and phone calls from customers.
"This company has been my home for almost 13 years, I love it and own a tiny bit of it, so I won't disappear," the CL group senior editor, columnist, and shareholder says in announcing his retirement at the end of January. He says he'll "likely continue" writing his column, "in large part because our CEO, Ben Eason, and editor, Ken Edelstein, are guys who passionately care about Atlanta." Sugg plans on starting a think tank which will "look for radical, yet effective, alternatives to urban dilemmas."
John Harkness, the film critic for NOW since its inception on Sept. 10, 1981, was found dead in his home in Toronto on Tuesday. "John Harkness was simply the best film critic in Canada over the last 26 years," editor and publisher Michael Hollett says in a release. "He will be sorely missed by all of us at NOW, his family, friends and the film community as a whole." Harkness, who was 53, had been suffering from high cholesterol. "He had never missed a deadline in 26 years," Hollet tells the Globe and Mail, "so we sent somebody to his house when his copy didn't arrive." They then found his body and called the police.
John Conroy, Harold Henderson, Tori Marlan and Steve Bogira were laid off this week by editor Alison True, Michael Miner writes on his News Bites blog. True tells the Chicago Tribune that, given the mandate to cut costs by her new bosses at Creative Loafing in August, it became difficult to afford their work. "The numbers are part of a deal that was structured a long time ago," she says. "Even if [CEO Ben Eason] were the most passionate journalist in the world, he wouldn't have the option of saying, 'I'll give you a little extra this year so this doesn't have to happen.' He's bound to his deal." Meanwhile, Fishbowl DC is reporting that five editorial staffers were laid off at the Reader's sister paper today: Washington City Paper writers Joe Eaton, Amanda S. Miller, Tim Carman and Jessica Gould, and editorial assistant Joe Dempsey, are all no longer with the paper.
Former arts editor John Threlfall says he has been named the editor-in-chief of the Victoria, British Columbia, alt-weekly. After a lengthy stint as acting editor -- "a charming period of time I like to think of as 11 months of chaotic madness," he says -- Threlfall becomes the tenth editor in the paper's history. Amanda Farrell will replace him as Monday's new arts editor.
The columnist and Creative Loafing shareholder says his company's acquisition of the Chicago Reader and Washington City Paper is neither an "idealistic foray" nor a "hostile takeover of independent papers." The way Sugg sees it, the two papers were caught up in a "broader crisis in the publishing business" that their former owners weren't nimble enough to navigate. He also defends CEO Ben Eason, who hasn't exactly been welcomed with open arms in Chicago and Washington. "He believes alt-weeklies can help readers strengthen their communities," says Suggs. "Eason loves to see controversy in his newspapers. He admits mistakes, takes risks and has an ambitious vision for new media. His lieutenants often disagree with him; he listens ... sometimes."
John Citrone had been appearing each Wednesday on WJXT-TV to preview weekly entertainment options in Jacksonville, Fla., but his segment on the show was canceled yesterday after he made comments on-air that were "very inappropriate and insensitive," according to the station. "Do we really care if Georgia burns?" Citrone asked jokingly about recent brush fires that have afflicted that state. Reached by AAN News, Citrone explains that the question was asked "in a Groucho Marx-y" way, and was in keeping with his on-air shtick as "the crazy alt-weekly guy." Folio Weekly's managing editor admits he was unaware of the severity of the fires, and says his only intention was to have a little fun with an interstate rivalry. He offered to apologize on-air later in the broadcast but WJXT declined, although they included his written apology in a story about the incident posted on their website. Citrone tells AAN News that when he has had an opportunity to apologize to individuals who were upset by his comment, most have been understanding and supportive.
Last week, the entertainment magazine In Utah This Week ran an ad claiming that it has eroded the alt-weekly's readership by 20 percent in five months. But Weekly owner John Saltas sarcastically points out the ad -- which appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune, In Utah's sister publication -- grossly overestimates the magazine's readership by referencing the wrong numbers. "CUME numbers mostly impress young reps and rookie managers and are a crock when used to purposely mislead as the In Utah folks did in [the] ad," Saltas says.
