In a piece focusing primarily on his support for a statewide ballot initiative requiring parental notification prior to an abortion, the Times also tells us this about the owner of the San Diego Reader: His friends say he's a "a cerebral man who tilts libertarian but is defined mostly by his deep religious beliefs. He attends Mass daily and counts priests among his close friends. He once took an extended leave from his newspaper to work with a missionary group on Los Angeles' skid row." And, "(d)espite his substantial wealth," Holman (pictured) -- who served with the Navy in Vietnam and was awarded the Purple Heart -- "takes the bus to work, eats sack lunches and lives modestly."

Continue ReadingLA Times Profiles Reader’s Jim Holman

The owner of the Warfield Theater in San Francisco filed suit against Bill Graham Presents on Oct. 13, according to the Bay Guardian. The suit alleges that BGP -- a Clear Channel subsidiary which operates the Warfield under a lease that expires in 2008 -- damaged the value of the theater's name by changing it to the SF Weekly Warfield. The naming rights were sold by BGP in June to SF Weekly-parent New Times.

Continue ReadingClear Channel Firm Sued for Deal with SF Weekly

The non-profit Inter American Press Association will host its 61st General Assembly Oct. 7-11 in Indianapolis. "This is a great group, doing extraordinary work in the Americas (from Canada down to Argentina) and of particular interest to the alternative press for a lot of good editorial and business reasons," writes San Francisco Bay Guardian editor and publisher Bruce Brugmann. "Among them: a snapshot of the action in the Americas, lots of good news and editorial ideas, entree into the latest in technology and business developments, and most important a direct way to really lend a hand to supporting a free press in these critical countries." Registration information is available through the organization's Web site; the association has more than 1,300 members from newspapers and magazines throughout the Americas.

Continue ReadingInter American Press Association Announces General Assembly

AAN announced today that it had established a multi-pronged effort to provide immediate relief to employees of its New Orleans-based member paper who have been displaced by Hurricane Katrina. The centerpiece of the effort is a special fund that the association has established in its Alternative Newsweekly Foundation to accept charitable contributions from members who want to provide immediate assistance to Gambit Weekly employees. Several AAN-member companies have already announced significant contributions to the fund.

Continue ReadingAAN Announces Relief Effort to Support Gambit Employees

While San Francisco Bay Guardian's Bruce B. Brugmann was railing against a New Times-Village Voice Media merger that is still merely a rumor, his competitors at the New Times-owned SF Weekly were commissioning a handwriting analysis of the outspoken publisher. The handwriting expert says that B3's penmanship suggests that he's smart, respectful, and generous, and that he's "very much in control of himself and .... confident in how he impresses himself upon his environment." She also says he's a few other things as well.

Continue ReadingAnother Skirmish in the Alt-Weekly War in San Francisco