Yesterday, the Press was proudly announcing its new sex column, "Lip Service" by Claudia Lonow. Today, editor David Blum says her first column will be her last, after it was revealed that some of the questions in the column were taken from Dan Savage's "Savage Love" columns. "It had been our understanding that the questions for her first column came from friends," Blum says. "She has told us she was unaware that using questions from Savage's column was a breach of journalism ethics. She has offered her resignation, and we've accepted it. We apologize to our readers, and to Dan Savage, for this error in judgment."

Continue ReadingNew York Press Fires New Sex Columnist for Stealing from Dan Savage

Ellen Forney has for several years been illustrating and interpreting the most interesting ad in The Stranger's "Lustlab" classified personals each week. Now they are collected in a new book, Lust: Kinky Online Personal Ads from Seattle's The Stranger, released this month by Fantagraphics. In addition to the illustrations, the book has interviews with some of the advertisers conducted by Forney, plus an introduction by syndicated sex columnist and Stranger editor Dan Savage.

Continue ReadingIllustrated ‘Lustlab’ Ads Collected in New Book

Michael Bowen (The Pacific Northwest Inlander), Skylar Browning (Missoula Independent), Brendan Kiley (The Stranger), and Ashley Lindstrom (San Antonio Current) have been named fellows in the fourth National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Arts Journalism Institute in Theater and Musical Theater at USC's Annenberg School. The fellows will participate in a rigorous 10-day program in February with guest faculty including L.A. Weekly theater editor Steven Leigh Morris.

Continue ReadingFour Alt-Weekly Journalists Named NEA Fellows

The Stranger editor and syndicated columnist's story about how he and his boyfriend became parents will get the Broadway treatment, The Village Voice's Michael Musto reports (see Web Extras at end of column). Musto hears that the adaptation of The Kid: What Happened After My Boyfriend and I Decided to Go Get Pregnant will be directed by Scott Elliott. "That's one more reason to hope the stagehand strike ends," says Musto.

Continue ReadingDan Savage’s Book to be Turned Into a Musical

"The Adventures of Strangie," an anonymous weekly strip distributed online and in at least one Seattle neighborhood, is hell-bent on getting the Stranger -- and other Seattle publications -- to drop advertising from tobacco companies, the Seattle Times reports. The strip's main character is -- you guessed it -- Strangie, a tabloid-sized newspaper who is always pushing smokes on folks. In an open letter, the strip's creator calls on Stranger publisher Tim Keck, Seattle Weekly publisher Ken Stocker and two other Seattle publishers "to meet with each other and create a pact to stop advertising tobacco altogether." (S)he is also "calling on all employees to consider where your paychecks are coming from, and to stand up to your employers." Keck says he's not swayed by the comic. "Our readers are educated adults who can make up their own minds about smoking, drinking and fixed gear bikes," he tells the Times. "We've added their site to our 'Friends of The Stranger' Slog roll. Who doesn't love a didactic comic with the Space Needle as the protagonist?" UPDATE: The Seattle Times now reports that 37-year-old Seattle artist Jeff Weedman is the creator of "Strangie."

Continue ReadingComic Strip Calls on The Stranger to Stop Running Tobacco Ads

"I'm not leaving The Stranger, and I'm still in charge of The Stranger's editorial content," says Dan Savage in a blog post, adding some detail to Wednesday's item in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer announcing Christopher Frizzelle's promotion to editor. "So Frizzelle is taking over the day-to-day management of the editorial department as well as overseeing more to most of The Stranger's features," Savage says. "I am still going to be sitting in my coveted corner office, watching helmetless hipsters ride by on their brand-new fixies, posting obsessively to Slog, working with Christopher -- and the rest of the editorial staff -- to create, shape, and direct our editorial content online and in print."

Continue ReadingThe Stranger Clarifies Post-Intelligencer Report

Christopher Frizzelle is replacing Dan Savage as editor of the Seattle alt-weekly, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. The 27-year-old Frizzelle has also worked at crosstown rival the Seattle Weekly, where "he was fired for leaking internal tidbits to the Stranger and trying to get a job there," according to the P-I. His time at the Stranger has thus far included stints as books editor, and most recently, as arts editor. "I'll report to Dan, who is now editorial director, and everybody else reports to me," he says. Asked what changes he wants to make, he said none. "The paper's really good right now. I work with 20 of the most talented people I know."

Continue ReadingThe Stranger Names New Editor

"We held many discussions during our redesign process -- a fresher, more confusing Stranger hits the streets today -- about how we could better serve the public," editor Dan Savage writes. Somewhere along the way the paper came up with the idea of creating a new position: the public intern. "Just as the public editor works on behalf of readers, the public intern interns on behalf of readers. Steven [Blum] is your intern, Seattle, he works for you." His first assignment? Cleaning a Seattle bus. "I expected that the bus driver would kick me off at some point -- in my head my first report was going to end with an angry bus driver marching me down the aisle," Blum writes. "I'd already planned my passive aggressive response: 'People can shit their pants on the bus but I can't 409 the floor?'"

Continue ReadingThe Stranger Redesigns, Creates Public Intern

Referring to a recent issue of the Seattle alt-weekly, Utne Reader asks: "Who else but the Stranger would have a picture of a very pregnant-looking man in his underwear adorning their cover?" In its weekly rundown of highlights from the independent press, Utne says the cover is "merely one example of the many wonderful and strange offerings from the staff of this Seattle alt-weekly ... known for its palpable disdain for the mainstream, which lends it a unique (and often hilarious) voice."

Continue ReadingThe Stranger Gets Kudos from Utne Reader