New Times Executive Editor Mike Lacey calls Cleveland Free Times' recent attacks on New Times and Cleveland Scene "an explosion of bluster." Lacey accuses Free Times' Editor David Eden and Publisher Matt Fabyan of concocting "conspiracies wrapped in an ad hominem attack" and of publishing "organ discharge." He cites sales and profit figures that starkly contradict Free Times' assertion that it was winning the alternative newsweekly battle in Cleveland.

Continue ReadingLacey Fires Back at Free Times

In its second issue since reopening after a seven-month closure, Cleveland Free Times writes a snarling cover story on the finances of its rival Cleveland Scene and its parent, New Times. The story by Editor David Eden charges that the Scene "is living on life support and is awaiting its day of reckoning."

Continue ReadingFree Times Takes Aim at Scene

The first alternative newspaper in history to be spawned by an antitrust settlement hit the streets last week exploding with entrepreneurial energy and vitriol directed at its main competitor, Cleveland Scene. Debuting with a summer-special issue weighing in at 112 pages, the new Cleveland Free Times unleashed a fusillade of name-calling and planted the flag of "local" ownership even though all but a sliver of the paper is owned by Times Publishing of Erie, Pa.

Continue ReadingCleveland Free Times Reemerges After Long Absence

New Times Broward-Palm Beach columnist Bob Norman ignited the Internet last week when he revealed what is already common knowledge among "political and media types": That Palm Beach County Republican Congressman Mark Foley (see photo) is gay. The column was immediately posted on at least 20 Web sites, and the story was then picked up by gay newspapers and received a mention in Hotline, a popular inside-the-beltway political fixation. Now even mainstream local papers like the Sun-Sentinel appear to be closing in.

Continue ReadingNew Times Columnist Outs Gay Republican, Causes a Stir

New Times writers swept the Newspaper Restaurant Review or Critique category of the 2003 James Beard Foundation Journalism Awards with Jason Sheehan of Westword winning, while Jill Posey-Smith of Riverfront Times and Robb Walsh of Houston Press were finalists. Mark Stuertz of the Dallas Observer was the winner in the Newspaper, Magazine or Internet Reporting on Consumer Issues, Nutrition and/or Health category for his article “Green Giant." Dara Moskowitz, City Pages (Twin Cities) and Walsh were finalists in the newspaper series category.

Continue ReadingAAN Writers Are Winners and Finalists in James Beard Awards

Chris Lydgate of Willamette Week, Laura Laughlin of Phoenix New Times and David Martin of Cleveland Scene win national Unity Awards in Media, competing against media powerhouses like TIME Magazine and the Wall Street Journal. Unity Awards in Media, administered by Lincoln University in Missouri, recognize "accurate exposure of issues affecting minorities and disabled persons."

Continue ReadingAAN Writers Win National Unity Awards