In a story published Saturday, the alt-weekly and its parent company, Creative Loafing, Inc., announced that return figures had been inaccurate, possibly for years, under former Circulation Director Zarko Bajsanski. The paper has taken steps to correct the problem, including firing Bajsanski and at least one driver. "I feel like I'm a victim in this as well," says publisher Amber Abram. Bajsanski blames the drivers for providing inaccurate return sheets. The Weekly Planet has also dropped its print run from 95,000 to 85,000 copies and eliminated financial incentives for drivers to keep returns low. Advertising materials have not been changed, and the paper's management expects an upcoming Media Audit report to be consistent with the quality of readership figures provided to advertisers.
New York Magazine's lengthy feature asks: Can the "potty-mouthed new owner" make the legendary downtown paper "relevant again?" In a colorful interview, New Times' executive editor reveals his hopes "that the Voice employees would realize a union wasn’t necessary" and says that he likes "the arts coverage. But we’ve got to work on the front of the book." In response to charges of conservatism, Lacey argues that his "papers have butt-violated every goddamn politician who ever came down the pike" before concluding, "Of course, you want people who love the place, but this is a business that is based on performance. It isn’t a legacy." VVM CEO David Schneiderman and several present and former Voice staffers also offer their thoughts on changes at the paper.
Michael Little, a freelancer for Washington City Paper, knows what he likes to write about: "failure and futility -- and losers." That fascination led him to write an arts feature about a woman consigned to an insane asylum in the early 1900s who produced a piece of lace that hinted at her dark sexual story. This is the ninth in a "How I Got That Story" series highlighting the AltWeekly Awards' first-place winners.
Even though Hurricane Katrina left its office (pictured) submerged under more than two feet of water, co-owners Margo and Clancy DuBos always knew the paper would make a comeback. "We're about to celebrate our 25th anniversary [at Gambit]," says Margo. "How could I work that hard and get the company where it is and walk away from that?" The paper will initially operate from a temporary office space in Metairie, La., but it will have to do so without editor Michael Tisserand, who has made the difficult decision to relocate with his family to the Chicago area.
In an entry in his MSNBC blog on Monday, network newsman Brian Williams called Part 4 of Michael Tisserand's AAN-commissioned series on the evacuee experience, "a fine piece of journalism" and a "sobering and instructive piece of writing." Speaking of the displaced Gambit Weekly editor, in addition to producing fine journalism, he and some of his former neighbors recently started a new school for their children in New Iberia, La. In case you missed it yesterday on CBS' The Early Show, you can read about the Sugar Cane Academy here.
Michael Tisserand (pictured at left, with family) this week launched a series of weekly columns available to all AAN-member papers that will focus on the evacuee experience in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. "Although the voice of these pieces will be personal," says Tisserand, "this is going to be a heavily reported column seeking to give specific voice to the general evacuee population." The 2,000-word columns will be available free of charge each Monday to member papers for use in their pages or on their Web sites.
The Gambit Weekly editor was one of three American guests on Late Night Live, an ABC Radio National program broadcast from Australia. He gives an account of his own family's evacuation from New Orleans and discusses the far more difficult plight of the city's poor. He also describes AAN's efforts to cover the issues raised by the catastrophe. You can download the September 5 program on Hurricane Katrina from this page.
"New Orleans is gone and I can’t say when it will come back," writes Gambit Weekly editor Michael Tisserand, encamped with his family (pictured) at a friend's home near Lafayette. Tisserand describes what it feels like after the floodwaters have washed away your home, your job, and your city, and you don't know whether they're ever coming back.
A lot of people in AAN are asking that question this evening as reports of flooding and chaos in New Orleans fill the news. Unfortunately, there is no good answer as communication along the Gulf Coast has been crippled in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. But one thing is clear: It will be weeks, if not months, before the paper is back on its feet again. Fortunately, we have learned the whereabouts of at least three Gambit staffers. Editor Michael Tisserand, managing editor Shala Carlson, and arts and entertainment editor David Lee Simmons, and their families, are all staying with friends 130 miles west in Lafayette. Tisserand has agreed to write something for AAN about his experience. We hope to be able to post it on both of our Web sites tomorrow afternoon.
