Designer Robert Newman leaves the mainland for his latest profile of compelling alt-weekly cover designers. He says Maui Time's Chris Skiles creates "bright, bold, passionate, provocative, and engaging" covers on an average budget of about $20 per issue. "Normally for each cover I have about a day or two to figure out what I'm going to do and execute," Skiles says. "I usually can pull off my covers without using any budget, so I try to save up those unused budgets to hire illustrators from time to time. But even then, it's a bit of begging and bartering to make it happen."

Continue ReadingMaui Time Art Director Creates Cool Covers on a Tight Budget

In an episode of the web TV show "This Week in Startups," Tommy Russo calls in via Skype to chat with host Jason McCabe Calacanis about new media and old (his bit starts about 5 minutes into the show). "Alt-weeklies were the innovative product to the daily newspaper 40 years ago," Russo says. "What's happened is that these papers haven't innovated; they haven't changed." He says that alt-weeklies, like the rest of the newspaper industry, have been barking up the wrong 'net tree. "'How do we get our papers online?' [is] not the right question. The question is: 'How do we dominate our market with news media through this new tool?'" Russo goes on to talk about how alts are well-positioned to become more robust multimedia outlets. "The advantage a weekly paper has is that we are on the streets," he says. "A lot of these online search companies are trying to get into the trenches with us -- but we're already there, we just don't realize it."

Continue ReadingMaui Time Weekly Publisher: Alt-Weeklies ‘Haven’t Innovated’ Online

Jacob Shafer has replaced Anthony Pignataro as the paper's editor, according to a press release. Shafer comes to Maui from Northern California, where he served as calendar editor and later staff writer for The Pacific Sun. "Jacob has a firm grasp of important environmental issues that are so critical to our delicate and precious market, an isolated island in the middle of the Pacific. He contributes a maturity level way beyond his years to this gift that we offer our community," says Maui Time publisher Tommy Russo.

Continue ReadingMaui Time Weekly Announces New Editor

Tommy Russo, owner and publisher of Maui Time Weekly, has been chosen as one of Pacific Business News' annual "Forty Under 40" honorees, AAN News has learned. Meant to highlight Hawaii's top rising young businesspeople, the awards were handed out at a June 26 ceremony. Russo, who founded Maui Time in 1996, was previously named Maui's Young Business Person of the Year in 2005.

Continue ReadingMaui Time Weekly Publisher Honored by Weekly Business Paper