But the men aren't hiding from the law. Incredibly, they were ordered to sleep under that bridge by state authorities, New Times' Isaiah Thompson reported last month. Residency restrictions for sex offenders have complicated the task of finding suitable housing for some offenders, especially those who leave prison homeless. "Probation officers just don't know what to do with cases like this," a Florida Department of Corrections spokesperson tells New Times. The alt-weekly's report has kicked up a storm of follow-up coverage, including stories by CNN and the Associated Press. But as New Times Broward-Palm Beach reporter Bob Norman complains on his blog (referring specifically to CNN), it's "too bad they're too arrogant and unprofessional to say whose scoop it is."
Rep. Mark Foley (pictured) announced Friday that he is stepping down from Congress after sexually explicit e-mails he sent to a 16-year-old male page were made public. Editor & Publisher notes that in May 2003, Foley "took the unusual step of calling a news conference to denounce a report in [New Times Broward-Palm Beach] that he is gay." The author of that 2003 article, New Times Staff Writer Bob Norman, has followed this week's controversy on his blog The Daily Pulp, and he argues that the newspapers that haven't mentioned Foley's 2003 news conference are "cheating their readers out of important context."
In the Sept. 28 issue of Miami New Times, Chuck Strouse reports on the current activities of Jim DeFede, a former columnist at the paper: He now has a daily radio show during morning rush hour, makes regular appearances on a local news program, and writes a column for LRM magazine. DeFede, who famously was fired from the Miami Herald in 2005 for recording a conversation with former city official Art Teele, says he may not "want to be waking up at 4:00 a.m. in ten years," but he is happy to have three jobs for now. "That way I can be fired from one and still be covered," he says.
"It's a bit mind-blowing ... to realize one's place of employment is perceived as a citadel of crunchy-granola neo-hippies," writes Pamela Robin Brandt in Miami New Times' Aug. 31 issue. Brandt is describing her experience dining at the Daily Creative Food Co. restaurant, where sandwiches bear the names of newspapers. Miami New Times' namesake comprises vegetables, mozzarella and pesto on ciabatta bread. Brandt suggests a better choice would have been the lobster club, which contains a Bacardi-spiked chili mayonnaise.
As noted on Gawker, and confirmed by a call to the Miami New Times office, the Florida alt-weekly is sponsoring a contest to "win a free breast augmentation." The drawing is part of a promotion for a new branch of the Center for Cosmetic Surgery, a New Times advertiser.
The finalists in the National Association of Black Journalists' 2006 Salute to Excellence Awards were announced Friday, and six of the nine nominations in the "Newspaper - Circulation Under 150,000" division are Village Voice Media newspapers. The other three finalists are not alt-weeklies. Riverfront Times is the leader with three nominations: "Newspaper - Enterprise" for Randall Roberts' "It Was Just Like Beverly Hills"; "Newspaper - Sports" for Mike Seely's "Alley Cat"; and "Newspaper - Features" for Ben Westhoff's "Rap vs. Rapture." Dallas Observer has two contenders in the "Newspaper - Sports" category: Keven McAlester for "Balls Out" and Paul Kix for "Alone No More." Finally, Chuck Strouse of Miami New Times is nominated in the "Newspaper - Commentary" category for "Free this Priest." The awards recognize exemplary coverage of people or issues in the African diaspora. Winners will be announced August 19 at the NABJ convention in Indianapolis.
Chuck Strouse's June 29 column addresses "hypocrisy, bullying, and misplaced priorities among the nation's top Latino journalists," specifically focusing on an argument between Sam Diaz, Washington Post assistant technology editor and financial officer for the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and Monica Rhor, an Orange County Register reporter who edited the newspaper for the recent NAHJ convention. The point of contention is a quote by Diaz printed in the convention newsletter: Diaz alleges it was inaccurate and misleading, but Rhor refused to run a correction. Both Rhor and the NAHJ president, Rafael Olmeda, respond to the Miami New Times column in letters printed on Romenesko. "It saddens me that the accomplishments of such a talented group are being overshadowed by a debate which I consider unwarranted," Rhor says.
