At Saturday's First Amendment Lunch in Tucson, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press executive director Lucy Dalglish expressed relief that the Bush administration was no longer in Washington, but said that challenges remain for open-government advocates.
Of the five newspapers that applied for AAN membership this year, the Membership Committee is recommending that two be voted into the association: See Magazine and Inland Empire Weekly. The committee is also recommending that six current members who've experienced ownership changes be reaffirmed. AAN members will vote on these applications, as well as other matters, at Saturday afternoon's Annual Meeting. In addition, the Membership Committee is recommending that AAN take a look at allowing only-online publications to join the association. UPDATE (3:17 PM EST): The membership committee's report as originally uploaded was incorrect when it said that See's owner, Great West Newspapers, was "the largest" media chain in Canada. It's a large company, but not the largest in the country. The document in the resource library has been updated with the correct information.
This morning's sessions have begun, and with them, the first full day of AAN's 32nd Annual Convention in Tucson is on its way. We'll have updates here at AAN.org over the next two days; for pictures of the confab, visit our Flickr page. To get short but sweet updates from various Twitterers here in Tucson, search for the hashtag #aan.
There will be up to ten board positions up for election at the annual meeting this Saturday in Tucson. So far, ten AAN members have thrown their hats into the ring for nine of the board spots; they tell us why they want to be on the board and what they think the most important issues facing the association are.
Of the five hopefuls, there are some familiar names: Three have previously applied for membership and one first-time applicant is a sister paper of a current AAN member. The status of six current member papers will also be reviewed this year.
Eight fellows have been chosen from about 350 applicants to attend the Academy for Alternative Journalism summer residency program at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. The Academy, which begins next Monday and runs through August, trains young journalists in long-form feature writing with the aim of recruiting them into the alternative press.
Tess Martinez died Monday in a car accident in New Mexico. She was 25 years old. Martinez was one of 10 Academy for Alternative Journalism fellows in 2008 and a former Tucson Weekly intern. The Weekly reports that she was on her way to the Chicago area to look for work when the accident happened. Her Twitter page lists her last message -- sent at 3:44 pm on Saturday -- as: "driving to Chicago tonight."
The former president's keynote remarks on running out of oil and our national energy strategy make an appearance in the new feature-length documentary Sprawling From Grace. The film, which was released on DVD last month, examines the transportation infrastructure and urban planning choices that have led to the current state of suburban sprawl and looks at possible ways forward. The film also features interviews with Michael Dukakis, Denver mayor John Hickenlooper and planning and environmental experts.
On Thursday, April 16, members of AAN's Executive Committee participated in a panel discussion and reception at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in Manhattan. The panel covered topics ranging from reader demographics and the future of newspapers to what editors are looking for in new hires. For audio of dean Nicholas Lemann's introduction and the panel discussion, click here. (All photos by Rebecca Castillo.)
AAN is once again offering free registrations this year for members who send several staffers to the convention. With every three paid registrations from one newspaper, that paper will get one registration for free. There's no limit to the offer, so the more people sent, the more money saved.
