Cleveland Free Times Publisher Matt Fabyan says he’s “jazzed” that native son David Eden has come on board as editor in chief. Eden has been busy his first weeks on the job, dealing with a redesign and a new job at the same time. Eden has 15 years experience at major dailies such as the Dallas Times Herald, The Minneapolis Star and the Detroit News, as well as TV experience on PBS. “Good stories told well,” sums up his philosophy.
Another front has opened in the Boston news box war. Still embroiled in a lawsuit over whether free-circulation newspaper boxes can be banned in Boston's Back Bay, plaintiffs say the city took their boxes away from sites near Red Sox stadium on opening day, while the paid daily boxes weren't touched, Seth Gitell of the Boston Phoenix reports.
In a six-article package, three female writers from The Village Voice ask what it's like to throw a punch? Hit the mat? Go long? Take a slap shot? Compete against members of the less-fair sex? Laura Conaway gets the dirt from women athletes. Plus: Alisa Solomon reports on corruption in women's collegiate sports, and Candace Rondeaux gives a preview of the upcoming fight over Title IX—a law that the National Wrestling Coaches Association says discriminates against men.
Pittsburgh City Paper has obtained an injunction ordering the new weekly Pulp not to place its papers in City Paper racks. The judge, however, has told both sides to reach a final agreement on other distribution issues without further rulings from the bench. City Paper Publisher Michael Frischling says he wants Pulp to “make an investment in racks.” Pulp’s Publisher Catherine Nelson, former publisher of In Pittsburgh, says what City Paper is demanding amounts to Pulp not distributing, period.
The Lakewood Church service is a glorious spectacle of marketing genius, a happy marriage of television know-how, motivational speaking and Jesus, Houston Press reporter Jennifer Mathieu writes. At a time when mainline Protestant churches are hemorrhaging members and are desperate to understand why, this self-described charismatic, nondenominational congregation has grown so rapidly since Joel Osteen took over that church leaders have ambitious plans to move the whole operation into Compaq Center in 2003. Some business and city government leaders aren't too happy about turning the public arena into a church, so Lakewood has come under a level of scrutiny that it is unaccustomed to, given that it has gone out of its way to avoid political involvement.
The Creative Loafing chain is consolidating its entire layout, design and production operation in Atlanta. The move assures consistency of appearance and quality of design, and also will save the chain’s five papers as much as $22 per page, says CL’s CEO Ben Eason. Eight or nine jobs were eliminated but all affected employees were offered jobs in Atlanta, where the production staff will number about 24.
