Chicago Magazine reports that 75 Chicago Reader staffers and freelancers have signed a letter in support of Patrick Arden, the newspaper's managing editor who was fired Jan. 15. However, the letter does not ask for Arden's reinstatement, the magazine reports. Jane Levine, publisher of the Reader, tells Chicago Magazine the firing was partly the result of tensions between Arden and Reader Editor Alison True, "but that's not all that it was."
Last year the Arizona Supreme Court opened the door to a new round of sex-abuse claims based on "repressed memories." But in a just-concluded test case, a Phoenix jury wasn't buying the claims of a woman who "remembered" an attack that allegedly took place in the 1970s--not even a little bit. In "Expert Tease," Phoenix New Times staff writer Paul Rubin takes an in-depth look at the case.
A Hollywood producer has asked about the rights to Philadelphia City Paper's serialized novel "Transit of Venus" by Anonymous D, says Philadelphia Daily News columnist Stu Bykofsky. "Among the cast of characters so far is a self-cent ered, prima-donna female anchor, defiant photographers, an ineffectual news director, a lesbian PR person, naive production assistants, horndog salespeople, a bearded, lecherous general manager and a police commissioner with a brogue," Bykofsky writes. Could Hollywood resist a cast of characters like that??t
Two weeks ago, St. Pete Weekly Newspapers of Florida announced it would operate the alternative journalism site Ironminds.com. Now the deal is off after the publisher lost its funding. Meanwhile, SiliconAlleyDaily.com reports that Ironminds founder Andy Wang may sell his print alternative startup, Metropolis in New York City, to AAN-member Philadelphia City Paper.
Two old friends and business partners, David Cohen and Dan Pulcrano, complete their amicable divorce, splitting their alternative and community newspaper businesses. Metro Newspapers’ plans no major changes immediately and hopes for $10 million in revenues this year, CEO Pulcrano says.
Earlier this month. Hawes Spencer, editor and co-owner of C*Ville Weekly in Charlottesville, Va., was ousted from the paper by the other two owners, Bill Chapman and Rob Jiranek. The two remaining C*Ville owners are quiet on the subject, but Spencer plans to launch a new weekly, The Hook, on Feb. 7 and has taken four C*Ville staff with him..
