The Louisville Eccentric Observer, which was acquired last month by Nashville-based SouthComm Communications, has named Stephen George as editor and Tammy Norkiewicz as sales manager, according to a press release. George, who previously served as managing editor, has been with LEO since January 2005, and Norkiewicz has been an account executive with the paper since December 2005. LEO has also named former associate editor Sara Havens as the new arts & entertainment editor, and has hired 2008 Academy for Alternative Journalism fellow Phillip Bailey as staff writer. Reached via email, George tells AAN News that Bailey will still participate in the scholarship program this summer; the paper is giving him a leave of absence to do so.
The Louisville Eccentric Observer was acquired by SouthComm Communications, a company headed by former Scene publisher Chris Ferrell, according to LEO. The change was announced to staff this morning. Pam Brooks will stay on as publisher, but other LEO staffers were not so lucky. Brooks told a local blog that editor Cary Stemle, sales director Kelly Gream, and two other employees weren't offered positions with the new company. SouthComm, which was formed late last year, owns a custom publishing company based in Atlanta, as well as various Nashville websites and magazines.
The Dallas Observer's Megan Feldman and Jesse Hyde, Phoenix New Times' John Dickerson, and Washington City Paper's Dave Jamieson are among this year's Livingston Award finalists. The contest awards three $10,000 prizes for Local, National, and International Reporting to journalists under the age of 35. The winners will be announced on June 4.
Carlton Carl is the new CEO and executive publisher of the Observer. He most recently was vice president of media affairs and policy and strategy for the American Association for Justice. The Observer is also bringing back Brad Tyer, who has been named its new managing editor. Tyer, who did a stint as the Observer's interim editor a few years ago and has worked at the Houston Press and Willamette Week, was most recently editor of the Missoula Independent.
Texas Observer publisher Charlotte McCann will emcee this special ceremony honoring the late columnist and former Observer co-editor on the one-year anniversary of her death from breast cancer. The event will feature an interfaith ceremony, a number of speakers, and musical entertainment. In addition, the winner of "The Ballad of Molly Ivins" songwriting contest will be announced at the Jan. 31 event. Tickets are $10, and more information can be found at www.raisehellformollyivins.org.
Robert Schulman, who joined John Yarmuth and three other investors to launch the paper in 1990, died on Sunday. "He was kind of a conscience of local journalism," says Yarmuth, who is currently serving in Congress. In addition to his role with the Observer, Schulman worked at the Louisville Courier-Journal and the Louisville Times and was "one of the first full-time media critics in the nation." He was 91 years old.
Mark Donald has been involved with the Observer on and off for more than ten years, including stints as associate editor and staff writer. Since leaving the paper in 2004, he has worked at Texas Lawyer and D magazine. He begins in mid-January, following the departure of Julie Lyons, who is stepping down to write a book based on her Bible Girl columns.
"In our issue before the Kentucky Derby, we ran an ad for a bar that was holding a 'no celebrities allowed' party," LEO editor Cary Stemle tells AAN News. "At that time of year here, there's lots of fancy parties that involve celebs and it gets tons of attention," he explains. The ad read, in part: "If you have an agent, publicist, third world adopted baby, or front row seats to the Church of Scientology, you have no chance of getting in." Alfonso Lanceta, the chairperson of the enforcement board of the Metro Human Relations Commission, filed a formal complaint against the paper, contending that the ad's text attempted to prevent not Angelina Jolie and Tom Cruise from attending its party, but anyone who's adopted a person from the Third World, as well as all Scientologists. After spending more than $5,000 in attorney's fees, LEO settled with the Commission, and had to print an ad this week reaffirming its commitment to uphold non-discrimination standards. "This advertisement is an appeal to the common man in every sense of the term," a University of Louisville dean tells LEO. "I have to believe that the Metro Human Relations Commission didn't get the joke."
The AAN member bi-weekly has been named the recipient of this year's Molly Ivins "Give 'Em Hell" Award from the Project, which promotes racial, social, and economic justice through education and litigation. "[The Observer] covers stories crucial to the public interest and provokes dialog that promotes democratic participation and open government, in pursuit of a vision of Texas where education, justice, and material progress are available to all," the Project says in a statement.
Julie Lyons, also known as "Bible Girl," announced yesterday that she's leaving the paper in January to write a book loosely based on her 1992 story "My Life as a Holy Roller" -- her first assignment at the Observer. "When I leave, I'm sure I'll write a long, meandering post about some of the strange and wonderful experiences I've had here over the years, but for now, that's all," Lyons writes. "I will continue writing for the Observer in some capacity. Bible Girl isn't ready to hang up her cape just yet."
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