"SF Weekly has always been your essential guide for where to go, where to eat, and what to do," the paper says, "and now we have, well, an app for that." The free app features easily searchable event and restaurant listings as well as editorial coverage of nightlife happenings and slideshows.

Continue ReadingSF Weekly Releases iPhone App

On May 27, Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter signed Senate Bill 193 into law, making Colorado the ninth state to ban the shackling of inmates during labor and childbirth. The bill was inspired by Boulder Weekly editor Pamela White's investigation into the treatment of pregnant inmates in state prisons and jails. White was also key in drafting the legislation and pushing the bill forward. "I've written lots of news articles and opinion columns. I've written nine published novels," she says. "But I'd never written a bill."

Continue ReadingBoulder Weekly Investigation Leads to New State Law

The California Superior Court has appointed a receiver to investigate the finances of SF Weekly and its parent company, with an eye towards developing a plan to pay the San Francisco Bay Guardian the $22 million it is owed in the predatory-pricing lawsuit. "This is a very significant step forward in our collection efforts," Guardian editor and publisher Bruce Brugmann says. The Weekly has said all along it won't pay any damages until it has exhausted its appeals. As we noted earlier in the week, the California Court of Appeals has scheduled a June 11 hearing to hear the Weekly's case.

Continue ReadingCourt Appoints Receiver to Investigate SF Weekly’s Finances in Bay Guardian Case

Dresses made entirely of pages from the Sacramento News & Review were recently on display when the alt-weekly celebrated its 21st birthday and new green headquarters, as part of a Design Challenge the paper had put together. This comes on the heels of a LA Fashion Week show in March, "Paper Dresses," that featured clothes made out of the L.A. Weekly.

Continue ReadingMore Fashion Designers Turn Alt-Weeklies into Dresses

Designer Robert Newman leaves the mainland for his latest profile of compelling alt-weekly cover designers. He says Maui Time's Chris Skiles creates "bright, bold, passionate, provocative, and engaging" covers on an average budget of about $20 per issue. "Normally for each cover I have about a day or two to figure out what I'm going to do and execute," Skiles says. "I usually can pull off my covers without using any budget, so I try to save up those unused budgets to hire illustrators from time to time. But even then, it's a bit of begging and bartering to make it happen."

Continue ReadingMaui Time Art Director Creates Cool Covers on a Tight Budget

The Los Angeles Press Club has announced the finalists for its 52nd Annual Southern California Journalism Awards, and four AAN members and one alt-weekly affiliated columnist are in the running this year. LA Weekly has 23 finalists in 14 categories, including Journalist of the Year (Patrick Range McDonald and Christine Pelisek), Entertainment Journalist (Scott Foundas), Designer (Darrick Rainey) and Online Journalist (Dennis Romero). OC Weekly has five finalists in five categories, including Journalist of the Year (R. Scott Moxley) and Designer (Kelly Lewis). The Pasadena Weekly has seven finalists in six categories, and the Ventura County Reporter has one finalist. Meanwhile, Advice Goddess Amy Alkon is a finalist for five awards, including Journalist of the Year. Winners will be announced on June 27.

Continue ReadingSoCal Journalism Award Finalists Include a Handful of Alt-Weeklies

The Society of Professional Journalists' Pacific Northwest Excellence in Journalism competition, unlike many others, features its own alt-weekly division, which pits publications from Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Idaho and Montana against each other. This year, the Pacific Northwest Inlander led the pack with 13 total awards -- six of which were first-place finishes. Five of the Willamette Week's nine total awards were in first place, and Seattle Weekly won 13 total awards and three firsts. The Missoula Independent won five awards, with two first-place wins. The Eugene Weekly won five awards and the Portland Mercury won one.

Continue ReadingSix Alt-Weeklies Pick Up Regional SPJ Awards

Sarah Billingsley, an advertising executive whose experience at several alternative weeklies brought her to AWN two years ago as Ad Coordinator, has been named Communications Director for the Alternative Weekly Network. In addition to becoming an AWN Director where she now coordinates the 95-member advertising cooperative’s national sales efforts, Sarah assumes additional responsibilities associated with the long-time position held by John Morrison who left the company in March.

Continue ReadingSarah Billingsley Named AWN Communications Director