Bay Guardian reporter A.C. Thompson revisits a case he helped break more than two years ago, the murder conviction of John J. Tennison. Thompson's investigation turned up a multitude of problems -- payments to witnesses, concealed exonerating evidence, eyewitness statements that cleared Tennison. Thompson's conclusion was that Tennison had been framed -- with the collusion of high-ranking law enforcement officials. A federal judge agreed and ordered Tennison freed. "Thirteen years after the San Francisco cops and District Attorney's office framed him for murder, John J. Tennison is finally free. So, unfortunately, are the people who framed him," Thompson writes.
Houston's alternative newsweekly was never an enthusiastic cheerleader for the so-called Houston Miracle, the "public relations barrage" that landed former Houston schools superintendent Rod Paige his job as U.S. secretary of education. So PR whiz Terry Abbott (pictured), "the man behind the curtain of the 'miracle'", last week announced an official policy that he would do his best to ensure that no school district employee ever speaks with the paper. "We just can't get any kind of fair shake out of the Houston Press," says Abbott, whose new policy applies to "a few reporters at other organizations and then the Houston Press in general."
The magazine industry, mindful of the song lyric that the days grow short when you reach September, is striving to build upon some improved advertising results this month with hopes of producing some momentum for next year.
Lather Weekly, a 9-month-old arts and entertainment publication founded by a former Independent Weekly editor, is dead. Mark Hornburg started the biweekly publication in December, hoping to reach "the Raleigh hipster scene," according to Joanna Kakissis of The News & Observer. Hornburg says the August 7-20 issue will be the paper's last, though he says he plans to revive the publication online. Lather's demise was announced only four days after the News & Observer ran a 2200-word feature story (see below) about the fledgling paper.
Battered for three years by a severe ad drought, Madison Avenue may finally have something to celebrate. Advertising spending in the U.S. jumped 6.8% in the first half of 2003, buoyed by increased ad outlays from packaged goods, automotive and entertainment companies, according to a new industry study.
Hollywood will win the war against illegal downloading but the battlefield will be littered with casualties, including the DVD and CD formats as physical means of distributing video and audio, according to a Forrester Research study.
