The Village Voice Media paper announced yesterday that Cleveland Scene managing editor Kevin Hoffman would replace Steve Perry, who resigned earlier this week. Former City Pages co-owner Tom Bartel (the brother of the paper's current publisher, Mark Bartel) tells the Minneapolis Star-Tribune that he thinks Hoffman and present VVM management deserve a chance. "They've produced some terrific editors and stories over the years," Bartel says. "But anybody who comes in from out of town will have a certain learning curve. He needs to know the community he's covering."
Steve Perry announced today that he will resign next month after 13 years as editor of City Pages, reports the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. In a memo circulated to staff, Perry said "philosophical and practical differences" with New Times management prompted his decision to leave the paper.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that Matt Bartel was invited to Katie Couric's town meeting despite a ban on media, because the local CBS affiliate that organized the event "apparently didn't recognize the name Bartel (ubiquitous in Twin Cities publishing circles)." AAN members may be familiar with Matt's uncle, City Pages Publisher Mark Bartel, or his parents Tom Bartel and Kris Henning, who co-founded City Pages as well as its competitor, The Rake. After learning that Matt Bartel had a blog, staffers confiscated his pen, but he reports that he wouldn't have used it anyway. "I didn't get anything out of it, which is exactly what the evening news is," Bartel says.
