That's what a source told Boston Phoenix media critic Mark Jurkowitz after Village Voice Media's new Executive Editor Michael Lacey met with "about 30 staffers" in New York on Feb. 1. "This industry has been afflicted by this kind of shut-in mentality," Lacey told Jurkowitz. "Are people prepared to receive the message? There were a lot of people [at that meeting] who didn't like what I said." One of them was media columnist Sydney Schanberg, who said Lacey's "language was adversarial and pugnacious. ... He played the bully. I respond terribly to bullies." Voice columnist Nat Hentoff didn't respond well either, especially when Lacey criticized one of his columns and complained about "reporting that was stenography." But Hentoff decided not to resign because he's waiting to see how Lacey treats his work. Jurkowitz also covered the recent resignation of the editorial staff at the New York Press and interpreted the "turmoil" at both papers as "a sure indicator that the alt-weekly business ... is struggling for relevance in an increasingly fragmented marketplace."
San Francisco was invaded by 261 enthusiastic newspaper professionals last weekend when the AAN West conference hit town. The highly-anticipated Saturday keynote speech by Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist, passed without physical skirmish, despite a lively question-and-answer session. Many of the seminars were equally lively, and the parties -- well, you had to be there.
Geoff Kelly has returned to his former job as editor of Artvoice, according to representatives of the Buffalo, NY-based alt-weekly. Kelly recently returned from the Middle East after serving for two years as senior media officer for the Qatar Foundation. Before that he served briefly as the editor of the now defunct Pulp, an arts and entertainment paper in Pittsburgh. Artvoice also announced that Lauren Newkirk Maynard has left her position as managing editor and associate music editor Mark Norris has been promoted to replace her.
After a decade at The Boston Globe, the media critic left New England's largest daily to take back his old job at The Boston Phoenix. In this piece, Jurkowitz explains why a "middle-aged journalist with mortgages" left the influence and economic benefits of a large paper for an alt-weekly "with fewer resources, less clout, and a smaller audience."
Alternative Weekly Network executive director Mark Hanzlik reports that audited returns from a group of 96 Verified Audit Circulation clients, who are also members of AWN or Ruxton, have declined from 6.9 percent in 2001 to a current level of 5.7 percent. Hanzlik bases his findings on a spreadsheet analysis of recent VAC data, which he compares to a previous VAC report encompassing 76 alt-weeklies. "We sometimes use this return figure in conjunction with the circulation audit information and readership reports to reinforce the value of alternative newspapers on the street!" says Hanzlik. The spreadsheet can be downloaded by AAN members from this page in the AAN Resource Library.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune profiles brothers Tom and Mark Bartel, now operating competing publications, AAN-member City Pages (Twin Cities) and a new monthly, the Rake. Mark Bartel, publisher of City Pages, now seems secure out from the shadow of his older brother, reports Jon Tevlin. Tom Bartel and his wife and partner Kris Henning, are in their element spinning a new publication into existence.
Tom Bartel and Kris Henning, founders of City Pages (Minneapolis), are launching a glossy monthly called the Rake in March. Bartel sold City Pages to Village Voice Media-predecessor Stern Publishing in 1997. The Rake may compete with City Pages, published by Tom Bartel's brother, Mark Bartel. Tom says his brother is his best friend, but: "We've been rivals since we were kids. This is no different."
