The Reader and City Paper, which were both controlled by the founders of the Reader, were acquired today by Creative Loafing Inc., which owns alt-weeklies in Atlanta, Tampa, Sarasota and Charlotte. "Our expansion into Chicago and Washington reflects our confidence in the future of alternative publishing -- in print, on the web and in other media as they emerge," CEO Ben Eason says in a statement. "We've had a great ride," the Chicago Reader Inc. owners say in a separate press statement released by president Bob Roth. "Now we're happily handing the keys to a new generation, Creative Loafing and their CEO Ben Eason. We're confident they will build on what we've established and carry it ably into the future." The Reader statement also notes that most of the company's shareholders will retain their minority interests in The Stranger, Portland Mercury, and Amsterdam Weekly through a company to be called Quarterfold, Inc. MORE: City Paper's Mike DeBonis reports that Eason told the staff that publisher Amy Austin and editor Erik Wemple will remain in their posts but some financial, technology, and production operations will be shifted to offices in Atlanta and Tampa.
Variety reports that Jailhouse Rock will be based on the true story of an "American Idol"-like singing contest held in an Arizona jail, first reported in L.A. Weekly by Joshuah Bearman. Brian Robbins (Starship Dave, Coach Carter) has been tapped to direct the film, and he will share production duties with David Klawans (Nacho Libre). "Like Coach Carter, which came from a newspaper article we read, there's nothing better than real-life drama," Robbins says. This is the second Bearman article to be optioned by Klawans, according to Variety -- the first has become Escape From Tehran, a drama Klawans is producing with George Clooney.
"Perhaps figuring that pop-up ads have desensitized the public to intrusions on their reading space, more and more newspapers across the nation are opting to move advertising to the front page, above the fold, in the form of annoying post-it notes," Evan Brown writes in the Advocate. The Advocate's parent-paper the Hartford Courant is already running the ads, and, according to Advocate publisher Joshua Mamis, the alt-weekly is looking at ways to "creatively" use them.
Started as City Squeeze by Russ Smith and Alan Hirsch in 1977, the alt-weekly has "evolved from monthly to bi-weekly to weekly, switched back and forth between free distribution and paid distribution before finally settling on free distribution as it is today," according to a press release. A special 30th anniversary issue will hit the streets of Baltimore Aug. 1.
The little red "A" logo you see next to today's AAN News story on the Austin Chronicle means the full text of that story is available only to AAN members. Every so often, we'll use that designation to highlight features we've developed specifically for AAN members that you won't find anywhere else.
Austin Chronicle promotions manager Sadie Caplan (pictured) talks to AAN News about the Chrontourage program, which pairs traditional street-team marketing tactics with an added incentive for potential advertisers. "Its kind of a win-win situation," Caplan says. "The advertisers feel like we add something special to their event, and [attendees] see that the Chronicle is there and think it must be a cool event to be at."
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