While he has been the de facto editor since the fall, Jeff Lawrence says in a letter to readers that he's now officially editor. "Once again, we need to reinvent and recast our editorial voice, from the ground up," he says. In other Dig news, Laura Dargus has been named the paper's new managing editor after being the interim managing editor for a few months. Lastly, Cara Bayles will begin her tenure as news and features editor in a few weeks.

Continue ReadingWeekly Dig Publisher Takes Over as Editor

"During my seven-plus-year tenure as a sex and love advice columnist, I've either experienced firsthand or read about dates so heinous, it's truly a wonder my vagina didn't seal itself shut," Judy McGuire writes in an excerpt of her new book, How Not to Date. The book, which collects many of the aforementioned "henious" dates, will be released Jan. 10 by Sasquatch Books.

Continue ReadingSeattle Weekly’s ‘Dategirl’ Columnist Set to Release Book

Robert Schulman, who joined John Yarmuth and three other investors to launch the paper in 1990, died on Sunday. "He was kind of a conscience of local journalism," says Yarmuth, who is currently serving in Congress. In addition to his role with the Observer, Schulman worked at the Louisville Courier-Journal and the Louisville Times and was "one of the first full-time media critics in the nation." He was 91 years old.

Continue ReadingLouisville Eccentric Observer Co-Founder Dies

As we noted yesterday, Landmark Communications, which owns both Style Weekly and Port Folio Weekly, has hired investment bankers to explore the possibility of selling the company's holdings, which include more than 100 publications and other properties, including The Weather Channel. "Although I was disappointed to hear the Battens were exploring a sale, our readers will continue to get the best of in-depth, local reporting on news, arts and culture," Style editor Jason Roop says in a press release. Publisher Lori Collier Waran concurs, noting that readers, advertisers and other business partners can expect business as usual. "We just celebrated our 25th anniversary, and we're still going strong."

Continue ReadingSale of Style Weekly Explored

Landmark Communications, which owns those two Virginia AAN member papers, has hired JP Morgan and Lehman Brothers to "to assist in exploring strategic alternatives, including the possible sale of the company's businesses," Landmark's vice chairman tells the Roanoke Times. The company's 2006 sales figures were $1.75 billion, and it employs about 12,000 people at more than 100 publications and other media properties including The Weather Channel, the Times reports.

Continue ReadingPort Folio Weekly & Style Weekly Parent Co. May Go Up for Sale

In crowning her as such, the New York Observer thanks the L.A. Weekly columnist "for reminding us that all good journalism comes, first and foremost, from obsession." Finke's Deadline Hollywood Daily site has become the go-to source for coverage of the writers' strike, and has made this a defining moment in her career. "The biggest entertainment story of the year has also turned into the biggest story of Ms. Finke's career," the Observer reports. "She's demonstrated that one determined reporter -- with none of the support or backing of a media outfit, but also none of the entangling alliances -- can, in fact, beat the big guys at their own game."

Continue ReadingNikki Finke Named ‘Media Mensch of the Year’

Just after midnight on Dec. 29, graphic designer Dennis Ho was shot in the foot in an apparent robbery attempt. He didn't need surgery, lost no toes, and will return to work Jan. 9. Ho recounts his experience today in a blog post. "To have to use my own hands to inspect the rest of my body for gunshot wounds while knowing that there was a real possibility they were there ... that was a feeling more terrifying than anything I've ever experienced," he writes. "I will never -- never -- forget that feeling."

Continue ReadingFolio Weekly Staffer Recounts Being Shot in Robbery Attempt

Wayne Laugesen is leaving the Weekly to become the editorial-page editor of the Colorado Springs Gazette, Westword reports. In its ad for the job, the Gazette said it was looking for "a libertarian thinker ... in tune with our philosophy of (a) respect for the individual, (b) limited government, (c) free markets, and (d) free trade," which might not seem a great fit for someone who had worked at the progressive Weekly on-and-off for 13 years. But Laugesen never espoused the views shared by most of his colleagues. "It's always been heated and tense, politically," he tells Westword. "I don't know how many times I've written some right-wing thing for the Weekly, which is owned by a left-wing publisher [Stewart Sallo] and has a liberal editor [Pamela White], and somebody has called up and said, 'You're fired.' It's definitely happened -- but generally we were back on good terms within a few days." He speaks well of the Weekly, but says he's excited to be going to an organization where he's "under the same big umbrella, philosophically."

Continue ReadingLongtime Boulder Weekly Staffer to Helm Conservative Editorial Page