"Since it's printed in Yakima, a semi truck filled with tens of thousands of copies of The Stranger is sitting on the other side of the 10-feet-deep body of water that used to be known as I-5," editor Christopher Frizzelle wrote last Thursday. The alt-weekly reprinted the entire issue at the Seattle Times printing facility and distributed it a little late. "Enjoy this week's paper," Frizzelle wrote. "It was very expensive."

Continue ReadingFlooding Forces The Stranger to Reprint Last Week’s Issue

"Boulder Weekly and our brother and sister alt-weeklies," Stewart Sallo writes, "are the next generation in the evolution of the newspaper." He notes that for the Weekly, "the past two years have been a watershed period for our organization, with unprecedented growth in readership and revenue, despite the unfavorable economic conditions we have faced."

Continue ReadingPublisher Says ‘The Alt-Weekly is the Newspaper of the Future’

A San Francisco chiropractor and his former patient, Christopher Norberg, have settled a libel lawsuit arising out of a bad review that Norberg posted on Yelp.com. Online Media Daily reports that this was likely the first case in which a Yelp.com user was sued for defamation for posting a bad review.

Continue ReadingParties Settle Libel Lawsuit Over Yelp.com Review

In an interview with New England Ethnic News, Brad Mindich explains why, when other media companies are slashing staff, he thought buying Boston's El Planeta newspaper was a good move. "This is a good niche product that expands what we do," he says, adding that the new acquisition will retain complete editorial control but will share content with the group's other titles when it makes sense. When asked why Phoenix Media chose El Planeta over other Spanish-language publications, Mindich says: "If you look at the other Hispanic newspapers published in this area, with all due respect, they are not very good." That comment has raised the ire of said publications.

Continue ReadingPhoenix Media Prez Talks About Purchasing a Spanish-Language Weekly

Louisiana's Independent Weekly reports that in 2008 it had to lay off one employee and that it recently instituted "a single digit, company-wide salary cut." The Nashville Scene says it is eliminating its books section, as well as News of the Weird and the New York Times crossword. Boise Weekly's publisher says that even though the "last quarter of 2008 was very disappointing ... it might have been the best we will see for awhile." Meanwhile, the Chicago Reader says goodbye to two of its departing editorial staffers, and Nat Hentoff talks to the New York Times about his plans post-Voice.

Continue ReadingMore Papers Tighten Belts

"Over the past few months, some federal agencies have issued rules that would eliminate public disclosure of information -- or, in some cases, make it more difficult for requesters to get information," ProPublica reports. Agencies that have passed rules include the Department of Energy, the Department of Education and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press executive director Lucy Daiglish tells ProPublica that reversing these and other rules in favor of secrecy implemented by the Bush administration will be a huge task for the Obama administration. "Saying in his inaugural speech that this will be the most open and transparent government in history will make it easier for agencies to come in and do it," she says. In other secrecy news, the House of Representatives passed legislation yesterday that would nullify Bush's 2001 executive order that limited access to records via the Presidential Records Act.

Continue ReadingFederal Agencies Move to Restrict FOIA Access

In this week's Village Voice, the recently laid off Nat Hentoff bids farewell with a column that touches on his time at the paper and his journalistic influences. "I came here in 1958 because I wanted a place where I could writer freely on anything I cared about," he writes. "There was no pay at first, but the Voice turned out to be a hell of a resounding forum." On the other coast, LA Weekly veteran Marc Cooper, who was let go a few months ago, has posted what he's calling an "autopsy" of the Weekly on his website. Cooper, who first joined the paper in 1982, pulls no punches in his nearly-6,000-word piece, but the gist can be found in one of the closing paragraphs. "If there was ever a time for an aggressive, irreverent, credible metro weekly to take on the [Los Angeles Times], it's right now, right here," he writes. "That requires investment, not layoffs."

Continue ReadingTwo Alt-Weekly Vets Say Goodbye

The Mercury is the new co-sponsor of an inauguration party with the Oregon Democratic Party, a few weeks after the Willamette Week backed out of the gig, citing journalistic ethics. "We're an alternative paper and we make a promise that we're going to be accurate and fair," Mercury editor Wm. Steven Humphrey tells the Oregonian. "So if the Republicans ever manage to elect an awesome president, we'll sponsor their party too." On the Mercury's blog, Humphrey puts it this way: "Anyone who thinks it's unethical can stay home."

Continue ReadingOregon Dems Now Team Up with The Portland Mercury