"The co-opting of the 'underground' tradition of journalism into the more socially responsible and sales-friendly 'alternative' press is now virtually complete," Miami New Times' John Lombardi writes in response to a letter to the editor from Dan Sweeney, calendar editor of New Times Broward-Palm Beach. The '60s gonzo journalism was "a rancid upchuck onto the desks of the reactionary old fart editors of those times." Now he suggests that young writers like Sweeney should look at Al-Jazeera, the independent Qatar-based television station that doesn't ask permission to make everybody furious.
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 trend toward international justice could force journalists to compromise their craft and profession by testifying in tribunals. What’s bad for the media is bad for the public, Richard Byrne writes in the Boston Phoenix. Major news organizations on this side of the Atlantic are fighting subpoenas from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), based in The Hague.
Taffy Akner interviews New York Press Editor John Strausbaugh for mediabistro.com and finds it "hard to tell if Strausbaugh is the coolest dude ever... or the world's biggest geek." Conclusion? Whatever, he's a rock star.
Greek shipping heir Taki Theodoracapolus, who writes Taki's Top Drawer for New York Press, is providing the financial backing for The American Conservative, a new magazine platform for Pat Buchanan's species of conservatism. The new magazine will be printed bi-weekly on newsprint, in a format similar to The Nation, and mailed to likely subscribers.
“This book, I hope, is a book of encounters, none of them predictable,” novelist and music writer Jonathan Lethem writes in his introduction to “Da Capo Best Music Writing 2002.” Seven of the 28 articles in the collection were originally published in alternative newsweeklies, including The Village Voice, Chicago Reader and City Pages (Twin Cities).
Dan Kennedy, the Boston Phoenix's media critic, originally opposed publication of the video and photo of Daniel Pearl's grisly slaughter. Now that his paper has carried through with its vow to publish the images, Kennedy has changed his mind. "It's important to see the Daniel Pearl video because it's important to look into the face of the pure evil we're up against," Kennedy writes. "It's important to see it because merely reading a description of it cannot do justice to its full horror."
"This is the the single most gruesome, horrible, despicable, and horrifying thing I've ever seen,'' Boston Phoenix Publisher Stephen Mindich says in an editorial accompanying his paper's link to the unedited video showing Pearl's decapitation. In an interview with the Boston Globe, Mindich decried the fact that the tape had not been more widely viewed and discussed.
Speaking at AAN's First Amendment Luncheon, Vanessa Leggett said she learned journalism "the same way an adolescent boy learns about sex -- groping and fumbling my way through, getting rejected and slapped occasionally." Slapping in her case included jail time for refusing to turn over materials from confidential sources to a Texas grand jury. "We must always work to ensure the free flow of information to the public," she said. "When the government gets involved, that can't occur."
