Geov Parrish, a Seattle Weekly columnist who resigned in August, is airing his grievances with the alternative weekly. In a column in Eat the State!, a twice-monthly Washington state political and opinion journal, Parrish laments the acquisition of his paper's parent company, Village Voice Media, late last year by New Times. "The new Seattle Weekly is being run by an enormous corporation that will run it the same way they'd run a widget factory," he writes. While much of Parrish's criticism of the reconstituted, 17-paper VVM is familiar, he offers an up-close-and-personal account of the impact of the merger on a single paper.

Continue ReadingFormer Columnist Details Estrangement From Post-Merger VVM Paper

Fefer previously worked at the Weekly from 1995 to 2004: He was a staff writer until he was promoted to arts and culture editor in 2002. He has spent the last two years in New York City, most recently working as an editor for Bloomberg News. His first day will be Oct. 3, Village Voice Media announced in a press release Monday.

Continue ReadingMark Fefer Named Editor in Chief of Seattle Weekly

A wordsmith at Seattle Weekly who subscribes to the word-a-day email from Merriam-Webster Dictionary noticed a familiar name in her inbox this morning. A quotation from the Weekly's former Editor in Chief, Knute Berger, appeared as a usage example for the term "instauration." The complete definition and quote can be seen on Post Alley, Seattle Weekly's blog.

Continue ReadingMerriam-Webster Quotes Knute Berger

Geov Parrish, former staff writer for Seattle Weekly, and Sandeep Kaushik, ex-writer for the Stranger, last week participated in a "Podcasting Liberally" panel about "the fate of the post-purge Weekly in Seattle’s tech-savvy, blog-heavy media market." Parrish worked at the Weekly for eight years before resigning last week, and he doesn't pull punches when describing his differences with the new Village Voice Media management, especially his feeling that they "don't get" online content. Other panelists, however, argue that the Weekly is "oppressed by the weight of its own history" and the VVM changes may bring a younger audience to the paper. The panel also discusses Slog as guilty pleasure and Skip Berger's resemblance to Jerry Garcia. The complete podcast is available for download here.

Continue ReadingFormer Alt-Weekly Writers Dish the Seattle Media Scene

Uncertainty about post-merger changes has led to multiple staff resignations at the Weekly, The Seattle Times reports. Most recently, Editor in Chief Knute Berger announced his departure, although he may continue to write for the paper. Publisher Kenny Stocker, who moved to Seattle Weekly from Riverfront Times last month, says that the new management doesn't have immediate plans for "wholesale changes," but the paper will take on some attributes common to the chain. "Some may say that's a cookie-cutter approach. All I can say is, it's worked in every market in the country," Stocker says.

Continue ReadingSeattle Weekly Will Take on New Times ‘Look’