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Five of those dismissed yesterday were senior arts editors, including Christgau, who had been a music critic for the paper on and off since 1969. The other three employees were design staff, including Art Director Minh Uong. In a statement, Village Voice Media describes the layoffs as an effort "to reconfigure the editorial department to place an emphasis on writers as opposed to editors." David Blum, who was named the editor of the Voice three weeks ago, tells The New York Times, "It wouldn't have been appropriate for me to weigh in on these decisions before I even took over the job." Blum's first day is September 12.

Continue ReadingThe Village Voice Lays Off Eight, Including Robert Christgau

To make a point about proposed club regulations, The Stranger's editor, Dan Savage, walked into Seattle's City Hall carrying pot cookies and a fake gun. Seattle Weekly Staff Writer Philip Dawdy argues that Savage went too far because he used his press credentials to take the illicit materials into restricted areas of the building. In a post on The Daily Weekly, SW's blog, Dawdy notes that the Seattle press, including The Stranger, has fought to maintain access to offices in City Hall in the past; now, Savage's actions could "make the security folks at City Hall rethink who gets to go where and under what circumstances," he writes.

Continue ReadingSeattle Weekly Writer Objects to Dan Savage’s Gun ‘Experiment’

Dan Savage, editor of The Stranger, disagrees with proposed Seattle regulations that would require club owners to prevent patrons from entering the premises while carrying drugs. Naturally, he chose to demonstrate the difficulty of enforcing such a ban by tucking a fake gun into his waistband, packing his bag full of pot cookies, and heading to City Hall. As he describes in the Aug. 31 issue of The Stranger, he not only got in the door and consumed the cookies while on city property, he also offered pot cookies to several mayoral staffers without repurcussions. Photos of the cookies, the gun and Savage can be found on Slog, The Stranger's blog.

Continue ReadingDan Savage Takes Pot Cookies, Gun to City Hall

"My belief in the importance of impassioned, personal, and informed writing and editing became even more clear after Katrina and Rita unfolded," Editor Scott Jordan writes in the hurricane-anniversary issue of Lafayette, Louisiana's The Independent Weekly. Jordan describes the experiences of local journalists and argues the need for continued coverage of the area by national media (and fellow alt-weeklies). The anniversary issue also includes articles by three former Gambit Weekly writers -- Shala Carlson, Katy Reckdahl and Michael Tisserand.

Continue ReadingA Louisiana Journalist, One Year Later

A recent story about Gannett distribution networks published in Des Moines' Cityview mistakenly reported that Greenville, S.C.'s MetroBeat "now exists only online." (The mistake was repeated in a similar story published earlier this month in The Billings Outpost.) In fact, MetroBeat no longer exists, having been replaced by The Beat, which became an AAN member in June and celebrated its 1st anniversary on July 25. The confusion stems from the fact that the Beat's owner, James Shannon, was the editor of MetroBeat when it was shuttered and initially kept the name going online before launching his new publication in 2005.

Continue ReadingRumors of the Beat’s Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

In an interview with Seattlest, Andrew Wright describes his rocky road from video store clerk to Amazon employee to film critic for The Stranger. The Seattle alt-weekly gives its writers lots of "wiggle room," Wright notes, though he "may be one of the few critics around to have had an editor insert obscenities into a review." One recent perk Wright received was a fan-created DVD of highlights from a German actress' porn career. "I'm not sure if a higher compliment for my work exists," Wright says. "Frankly, I'd be a little frightened to find out."

Continue ReadingStranger Critic on Professional Critics and Porn From Fans