The alt-weekly is rolling out a program "designed to help exceptional businesses get off the ground in exchange for a share in the growth." Once a business is chosen, it will be officially paired with the Express as a marketing/community partner. The paper will subsidize the local marketing of the business in exchange for seeing a return when it grows.

Continue ReadingThe East Bay Express Announces the Angel Business Builder

"Despite reforms enacted by Congress and an order from the last administration to do a better job, federal agencies continue to give those seeking information a frustrating and oftentimes unsatisfying experience," according to a quantitative review by the Sunshine in Government Initiative of federal agency FOIA reports.

Continue ReadingAnalysis Shows a FOIA Backlog

While last year's verdict in favor of the San Francisco Bay Guardian in its predatory pricing lawsuit against SF Weekly and Village Voice Media is being appealed, the Guardian claims VVM is ducking its debts and hiding its assets in an effort not to pay the $15.6 million it owes in damages. VVM executive editor Michael Lacey says that's not correct. "The case is on appeal. You are not entitled to a penny," he writes in a blog post.

Continue ReadingNew Twist in VVM/Bay Guardian Case

Tim Gough talks to the design blog Grain Edit about how he balances his day job at the Weekly with his freelance illustration work, how he became interested in design and illustration, and his creative process. "I start off with a tiny, sloppy sketch and blow that up via computer or Xerox," he says. "I work off the original sketch for the most part, but clean it up and add some textures. I try to keep the looseness and energy of the original sketch."

Continue ReadingPhiladelphia Weekly Art Director Talks Shop

In an email sent to some of the review website's most active users Thursday, Yelp solicited feedback about an upcoming feature that will let businesses post replies to user reviews, the Associated Press reports. As the East Bay Express reported earlier this year, many business owners complained that they were essentially being extorted by Yelp, whose sales representatives told them that the company could move or remove negative reviews only if they advertised.

Continue ReadingYelp to Let Businesses Comment Publicly on Reviews