Veteran Voice staff writer Tom Robbins tells the New York Press that the paper's employees may strike if a contract dispute isn't resolved. Talks center on proposed cuts in health care coverage in the latest contract offer from Village Voice Media, which the union considers unacceptable. "Management is asking for givebacks on our health care policy and on our 401(k)," says Robbins, who serves as a shop steward with United Auto Workers Local 2110, which represents Voice staffers. "We are adamant that there won't be any givebacks here." He says the union has had two meetings with management, but vowed that there would be a walkout if no settlement is reached. "If we don't get it, all bets are off," Robbins warns. The Press says a call to a Voice spokesperson for comment has thus far gone unreturned. The strike is set for July 1 if a contract agreement isn't reached, according to Gawker.
This year the high school in Charleston, Miss., held an integrated prom for the first time -- ending a system of parallel parties for black and white students. National Public Radio's Bryant Park Project covered the story after reading about it in the Jackson Free Press. "After we covered the story this week, a whole lot of people wrote in to say they were just plain shocked that any kind of segregation could still exist in this country," writes the show's web editor (and former Village Voice executive editor) Laura Conaway. She talks to Ladd about the story, the reaction, and where the conversation about race in America needs to go.
The Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists awarded City Pages top honors in eight categories last week, including newsroom-wide wins for Best Website and Best Special Section. The paper also finished first in the Business Feature; Photojournalism: Pictoral; Short News Feature; Sports Feature; Sports Spot News; and Use of Multimedia categories.
Saying that the Philadelphia Inquirer reporter tasked with turning in a "breezy" report about last weekend's AAN Convention "must have drawn the short straw," Bruce Schimmel writes that "it must have been challenging for [Suzette] Parmley to do something chipper about industry upstarts who are eating her lunch." But she rose to that challenge, filing what Schimmel calls a "flattering portrait" of alt-weeklies. He goes on to draw distinctions between the cultures of dailies and alt-weeklies, ultimately concluding that "the daily is dying." He adds: "And while that might mean a temporary measure of good fortune for weeklies, even the most eccentric of independents dread the daily's demise. A functional democracy needs the good reporting that comes with these dinosaurs."
"It all started two weeks ago, with an innocuous-looking fax from the Federal Service for Mass Media, Telecommunications and the Protection of Cultural Heritage," writes editor Yasha Levine. "The barely legible fax informed us that our paper was slated for an unscheduled inspection to see if it had violated any media laws. It didn't specify which ones. A week later, a four person team of polite chinovniks showed up to ask some questions and, on their way out back to their lair, grabbed a few eXile issues for an 'expert analysis.' News of their visit had our investors fleeing instantly, and, in no time at all, was kicking up a media shit storm that's only now beginning to gather full strength." The English-language bi-weekly, which launched the careers of New York Press alums Matt Taibbi and Alexander Zaitchik, is trying to save itself by holding a fundraiser. For more, read eXile founder (and past New York Press contributor) Mark Ames's two dispatches for Radar.
"I think our primary problem was simply finding solid sales reps," Laurie Carlson tells the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. The Journal, which was accepted as a member of AAN last weekend, will print its last issue this weekend. Carlson also says it "wasn't a helpful thing" for the Journal that the Stephens Media Group, owner of the island's two daily papers, started its own alternative paper about a year ago. "They have much deeper pockets and they can run something that was heavily subsidized and we can't," she says. "It's a very sad thing."
Continuum Books has published D.X. Ferris' book, 33 1/3: Reign in Blood, which examines the classic heavy metal record by Slayer. It is part of Continuum's 33 1/3 series, a growing collection of volumes about and inspired by classic albums. "Writing the book, I had two goals in mind," Ferris says. "First, I didn’t want to be the guy who screwed up a Slayer book. Second, I wanted present the story in a way that's compelling to both rabid Slayer fans and to NPR listeners who love pop music, but have never lost a shoe in a mosh pit."
The motions, which were filed earlier this week, ask Superior Court Judge Marla J. Miller to order a new trial if she won't reverse the verdict in the predatory-pricing case, the Weekly reports. The thrust of the Weekly's motion: That the Guardian didn't offer "any actual evidence of an illegal below-cost pricing conspiracy," that the verdict "violates the Weekly's First Amendment and due process rights," and lastly that "the trial was riddled with legal error that unfairly shifted the burden of proof onto the defense." If the judge denies the new motions, the Weekly says it and Village Voice Media intend "to take the case to the California Court of Appeals, which in turn would trigger a process expected to take up to eighteen months."
Berl Schwartz thanks the AAN membership for admitting City Pulse on Saturday in a letter to the editor. "This was our fourth time to apply, and I am sure the membership committee was tired of looking at us, so allow me to thank you on behalf of its members as well," he writes. He also says he's printing a banner to hang in the paper's office that quotes from a membership committee report on City Pulse: "It's still not perfect."
- Go to the previous page
- 1
- …
- 423
- 424
- 425
- 426
- 427
- 428
- 429
- …
- 1,273
- Go to the next page
