Utah has liberalized its liquor advertising laws, and Salt Lake City Weekly has lost no time in snagging a Jim Beam ad. It appears on page 7; on page 25, in a full-page ad donated by the paper, the Church of Latter Day Saints is given space to argue that alcohol advertising is a threat to society. Publisher John Saltas tells the Salt Lake City Tribune the timing was a coincidence.
News racks in downtown Philadelphia have been corralled by a non-profit charged with developing the center city. Philadelphia City Paper Publisher Paul Curci was supposed to be part of the committee planning the installation, but he says he got no chance to comment and was told only the day before the corrals were installed. Nevertheless, Curci says he has no complaints about them.
When Daniel Brook read that the Philadelphia school district was recruiting teachers from India, he noticed something no other reporter in Philly felt was worth pursuing—they wouldn't be members of the teachers' union. “It seemed like a situation ripe for exploitation (in hindsight, a very good hunch),” Brook tells AAN News. Brook interviewed the teachers after they had been in Philadelphia a while and got an earful: problems with debt, health insurance, wages, and working conditions. The dailies reported that there were Indian teachers in Philadelphia, but their plight was a Philadelphia City Paper exclusive.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the advertising market continues to slacken, with revenue in October and November falling even faster than it did in September, according to estimates from publishers and analysts. Merrill Lynch says newspaper advertising suffered an 11.5% decline in October, with help-wanted ads down as much as 50% at some papers.
Seattle Weekly Publisher Alisa Cromer has resigned, citing disagreements with Village Voice Media management about how the paper should be run. VVM CEO David Schneiderman tells AAN News Cromer's resignation "did not have to do with any financial, budgetary, or personnel issues." The shake-up means Schneiderman will spend time out West to oversee Seattle Weekly and LA Weekly, while Group Publisher Albie Del Favero will concentrate on papers in Minneapolis, Cleveland and Nashville.
