The Rake, which was founded in 2002 by Tom Bartel and Kris Henning, announced this week that the March issue will be its last, citing declining print advertising revenue, the Star Tribune reports. The magazine will continue as a web operation, and 15 of its 16 full-time employees will be laid off. "Things have changed radically in the last six years, and I think it's going to get worse long before it gets better," Bartel says. "It's too expensive to produce journalism and then have Google come along and take all your advertising."

Continue ReadingMonthly Mag from City Pages Founders Ceases Print Publication

The predatory pricing trial is winding down and it is now expected that the case will go to the jury either Tuesday or Wednesday (the trial takes a day off today). On Friday, the SF Weekly's expert CPA, Everett P. Harry, continued his testimony and Jeff Mars, Village Voice Media's vice president for financial operations, also took the stand. The Guardian says the Weekly's witnesses "make the Guardian's case," while the Weekly says the Guardian's lawyers were focusing on "imaginary evidence." Meanwhile, Editor & Publisher columnist Mark Fitzgerald checks in on the trial, and on the daily blog dispatches from each side, and finds that "the Guardian and SF Weekly are covering the trial with reports that are gleefully unconcerned about appearing objective, and recall the great newspaper feuds of yesteryear."

Continue ReadingBay Guardian/VVM Trial Will Likely Go to the Jury This Week

Bay Guardian expert CPA Clifford Kupperberg continued his testimony yesterday in the paper's predatory pricing trial against SF Weekly and Village Voice Media. The next witness was the Weekly's expert CPA, Everett P. Harry, who argued that Kupperberg's testimony was flawed. For more on the trial, check out these blog posts from the Weekly and the Bay Guardian and this week's editor's note from the Guardian. The trial resumes today.

Continue ReadingDueling CPAs Take the Stand at the Bay Guardian/VVM Trial

The paper finished first in four of the six categories for which it was eligible in the LA Press Club's inaugural National Entertainment Journalism Awards. Nikki Finke swept the online categories, winning first for Best News Story, Best Feature Story, and Best Critic. Ella Taylor took first for Best Critic in print, and Finke also finished second for Best News Story in print.

Continue ReadingL.A. Weekly Dominates Entertainment Journalism Awards

The contest deadline has been extended until Friday, March 21, so AAN CAN sales reps and their managers still have an opportunity to win two 10-day trips for two that include round-trip airfare and accommodations for three nights each in London, Paris and Rome. Read here for more details about the contest, including the current list of leaders.

Continue ReadingAAN CAN Contest Extended

In a Q&A with the Tales from the Reading Room blog, Mark Athitakis discusses the future of arts journalism, the changes afoot in the alt-weekly industry, and argues that print folks must embrace the web to survive. "I think journalists need to rethink what 'publishing' is and experiment more with video, audio, blogging, and social networking tools," he says. "You have to rethink it in part because the next generation of readers embrace all of those things, and it's folly to dig in your heels, stick with print, and say you're not interested in reaching those people, or say that everybody has to process your ideas on your terms."

Continue ReadingWashington City Paper Arts Editor Talks Blogs & Arts Journalism