Alternative newsweeklies have found myriad ways to team up with competitors for lucrative cross-promotional arrangements. Radio is perhaps the most common partner for alt-weeklies and music events the most frequent vehicle for cooperation, Ann Hinch writes for AAN News. Television and even print, however, have been mined by AAN members “to reach a broader audience and more diverse demographic.”
Three AAN papers were awarded first-place in under 200,000 circulation division of the 2002 Association of Food Journalists competition: Robb Walsh of Houston Press for food news reporting; Marty Jones of Westword for food columns and Bonnie Boots, former food editor for the Weekly Planet (Tampa), for restaurant criticism. Willamette Week takes three awards from the foodie group, a second for restaurant criticism for Roger Porter and a second and third for special sections edited by Arts & Culture Editor Caryn Brooks.
“The Family” is taking on new meaning in Spokane, Wash. The Local Planet Weekly reports that the Cowles family, developers of River Park Square mall in downtown Spokane, has filed subpoenas in the long-running legal battle over the public-private partnership established to remodel the mall and adjoining parking garage. The Cowles family also owns Spokane’s daily newspaper, The Spokesman-Review, as well as the local business journal and NBC television affiliate. The subpoenas target political opponents, including The Local Planet Weekly and anyone who helped with its AAN first-place award-winning story, "All in the Family," which details the Cowles family's conflicts of interest.
Across the country, alternative newsweeklies ditched their planned front pages as the awesome events of Tuesday unfolded. East Coast papers like The Village Voice and Washington City Paper are sharing stories and pictures with colleagues from Maine to California.
Columbia Journalism Review delves into newsroom morale in its latest issue. Among the views presented are two from alternative newsweeklies. Former TV reporter Tom Grant is positively euphoric about his new job at The Local Planet Weekly . Meanwhile, over at East Bay Express, there's quite a different outlook.
The Local Planet of Spokane, Wash., which was approved for AAN membership last month in New Orleans, is changing its name to The Local Planet Weekly. President and Co-Publisher Matthew Spaur credits Folio Weekly Publisher Sam Taylor for the suggestion: “He said it would add $100,000 to our value. I’m still waiting for the check,” Spaur jokes in a news release posted on the AAN Web site.
In its summer issue, Columbia Journalism Review tenders "laurels" to three AAN members – The Village Voice, the Nashville Scene, and Tampa’s Weekly Planet – for “good old-fashioned criticism of the big boys in town.” The journalism-mag crowns the beneficiaries with a left-handed compliment: “Who says the alternative press has sold its birthright for a mess of personal ads and restaurant reviews?”
