While he was still the governor of Arkansas, Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee arranged for the release of rapist Wayne Dumond, who murdered a woman in Missouri after getting out of jail. When Huckabee appeared on Meet the Press this weekend, he initially denied talking to the parole board about Dumond, but amended his statement when the host (pictured) responded incredulously. "(Russert) obviously had an Arkansas Times article detailing the meeting that led to Dumond’s release," reports the Arkansas Leader in an editorial urging Huckabee to exercise a little "humility." MORE HUCKABEE DISSEMBLING: The ex-governor lies about a report in the Arkansas Times about missing statehouse furniture.

Continue ReadingTim Russert Uses Arkansas Times Story to Trip Up Huckabee

Mediaspan, which calls itself "the leading provider of digital content management and national advertising solutions for over 4,000 local media properties," yesterday announced the addition of several new clients, including AAN members Philadelphia City Paper, Austin Chronicle, San Antonio Current, Salt Lake City Weekly, Arkansas Times and Jackson Free Press. "Our drive to deliver new, national revenue for our affiliate partners goes hand-in-hand with our goal of meeting the demands of national advertisers who want to reach a specific local audience, in markets large and small, across multiple types of media," says a Mediaspan executive. "Whether advertisers seek online display ads on newspaper websites, pre-roll video on TV websites or online radio audio streams, we can deliver."

Continue ReadingOnline Ad Firm Signs Six Alt-Weekly Clients

Four years after the AAN-member paper Illinois Times challenged an official police account of how a black officer responded to an incident involving rape, the case will finally go to court, reports the The State-Journal Register. Dusty Rhodes' series about the case in the Springfield, Ill. alt-weekly sparked public outrage and led a number of African-American cops to step forward in a group lawsuit against the city alleging racial discrimination. The so-called "black officers case" goes back to Halloween night, 2001, when a 35-year-old rookie cop named Renatta Frazier responded to a call at the apartment of the daughter of another police officer. Frazier was originally criticized for not doing enough to stop the assault, but the Illinois Times later showed that she was never in a position to do so.

Continue ReadingDiscrimination Case Triggered by Alt-Weekly Finally Sees Trial

So says Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne, who calls the Little Rock alt-weekly "a progressive paper that will be must-reading if (former Arkansas Gov. Mike) Huckabee runs" for President. The Times also made a splash last week when it added video to its popular Arkansas Blog, premiering with a walk-and-talk interview of new Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe. "The Times' blog's reader/responders have been positively lapping up this video," says The Morning News' John Brummett, "posting their delight that they could see their new governor in real-time action for themselves over an exended period, and thus size him up directly without the filter of the traditional journalist, the middle man."

Continue ReadingArkansas Times the Go-To Paper on Huckabee

Newspeak, a Colorado Springs blog with a strong alt-weekly pedigree, says The Stranger's Slog is "one of the best blogs on the internet and you can skip the local crap if it doesn't interest you." In fact, the folks at Newspeak think the Seattle paper is "the only alt-weekly in the country to have figured out why blogging is an alt's best friend and do it with teeth, wit and style." Perhaps they haven't read the Arkansas Times' Arkansas Blog, which John Brummett of The Morning News calls "by far" the best Arkansas political blog.

Continue ReadingAAN Member Blogs Make Year-End Lists

James Renner has released a book-length investigation into the unsolved 1989 abduction and murder of 11-year-old Amy Mihaljevic, reports the Record-Courier. "Amy: My Search for Her Killer," is published by Gray & Company, and grew out of a 5,000-word feature originally written for the Free Times. The book has already led to numerous tips for local law enforcement, says Renner. "My hope is that someone comes forward to say that they know who killed Amy," he says.

Continue ReadingFree Times Reporter Publishes Book on Child Murder Case

Village Voice Media's headquarter's paper has been threatened with a felony indictment unless it removes the home address of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio from its Web site and agrees to never publish the address of a law enforcement officer online again, the paper's Stephen Lemons reports. The threat comes more than two years after the paper first published Arpaio's address in an article intended "to show the absurdity of [the sheriff's] home address' being readily available to any idiot with access to a computer when [he] used the very same law to justify hiding information on commercial real estate he owns." The alt-weekly has long been a critic of Arpaio, who it accuses of corruption and having a "vindictive streak." The paper's cover this week depicts an envelope containing a Christmas card addressed to the Sheriff at his home.

Continue ReadingPhoenix New Times Faces Criminal Charges in Clash with Sheriff

Management at the Gray Lady is considering launching a free, youth-oriented tabloid, Times Executive Editor Bill Keller confirms in a New York Observer report. While Keller says it is "way too early to talk about it," the Times drawing boards are reportedly busy with ideas for the prototype. The tabloid, which will need at least another six months to see the light of day, would be heavy on listings and would compete with The Village Voice and New York Press, among others, a Times source tells the Observer.

Continue ReadingNY Times Deep in ‘Noodling’ Phase of Planned Freebie

After writing about Detroit's cultural underground for seven years, Sarah Klein has developed a "hate-hate" relationship with the city and has decided to flee it for the sunny climes of California. "People are leaving Detroit -- in droves," she says, driven away by crime, lack of city services and a bad economy. Although she loves the Motor City and its "incredible people," she has had enough: "I'm tired of struggling, and I'm exhausted -- emotionally and physically. I'm ready to go."

Continue ReadingMetro Times Culture Editor ‘Can’t Hold Out Any Longer’ in Detroit

So says Metro Times founder Ron Williams, recalling the recently deceased journalist "who made an important contribution to the newspaper in its formative years." Kaplan was the Detroit alt-weeklies' news editor from 1989 to 1991, when "she wrote about urban issues with ... gritty detail," according to the paper. The 53-year-old writer and University of Washington assistant professor died last month of an apparent heart attack.

Continue Reading‘Deb Kaplan Was One Tough Reporter’