A group of investors, including former Cleveland Free Times Publisher Matt Fabyan, Editor in Chief David Eden and former Village Voice Media President Art Howe, has purchased the assets of Cleveland Free Times from VVM and plans to resume publishing in early May. Most of the former staff has been offered jobs and many plan to return, Fabyan says in a news release. Free Times was shuttered as part of a deal between VVM and New Times that closed papers in Los Angeles and Cleveland, ending head-to-head competition between the two chains.
Six AAN member papers in the Southeast picked up 61 percent of the awards in SPJ's Green Eyeshade Awards' print (weekly/monthly) division. SPJ has announced the finalists for the awards, and the order of finish will be announced at the Green Eyeshade Banquet April 5. Creative Loafing Atlanta and New Times Broward-Palm Beach picked up six each, while Miami New Times snagged four. Memphis Flyer has two nominations, and Mountain Xpress and Creative Loafing Charlotte came in with one each.
How did the Oscars fare in this time of Shock and Awe? J. Hoberman traces leftist Hollywood history, and decodes this year’s protest squiggle. He concludes that Michael Moore's speech, although booed, was not the evening's moment to remember. "There was no John Wayne on hand to shoot down the obstreperous Moore," he writes. Nor was it Adrien Brody's Al Gore-like smooch on Halle Barry. Instead the youngest Best Actor's heartfelt anti-war speech put the grace note on the 75th Oscars.
Grab your die — watch your rights die! This week's Detroit Metro Times features "Homeland Insecurity: The Board Game" by Curt Guyette. Inspired by reports of Patriot Act II legislation that was secretly being forged by the Justice Department, the game takes a playful look at the Bush Administration's assault on civil liberties and the Constitution. A source page documents the administration's attack on our Constitutional rights. (Requires Flash)
Eric Benjamin, a 20-year alternative newsweekly veteran, becomes associate publisher of Gambit Weekly. The Boston native played a significant role in the growth of the alternative newsweekly industry as board president and founding board member of Alternative Weekly Network, which represents more than 120 alternative newsweeklies nationwide. He comes to Gambit directly from New Mass Media, where he was national sales director.
