The Nov. 16 issue of the Press contains a letter from its editors drolly scolding the editors of the Times. Apparently, a Nov. 6 article in the Times referenced the Press's endorsement of a mayoral candidate but missed the joke. The Press editors note, "Maybe The New York Times sees nothing suspicious or even funny when an alternative weekly writes, 'We're honored to add our name to this list [of endorsements], and offer the all-important escort-seeking demographic.'"

Continue ReadingNew York Times Misses Satire in New York Press Endorsement

A blogger who works for Tribune Interactive announced that the company's Metromix Web sites are "going 'national' with local flavor and a sharper edge and voice." Metromix began as an online entertainment guide for Chicago residents but is now in Baltimore and Orlando markets as well. The story was picked up by a PoynterOnline blogger who compared the move to failed strategies from the dot-com boom but also noted that "The Tribune Co. isn't abandoning the newspaper's traditional brand names in local markets."

Continue ReadingTribune Co. Moving Metromix Into Other Markets

In the same year that Ayana Taylor served as a diversity intern for the Jackson Free Press, she wrote three news stories that won her a first-place AltWeekly Award. She believes it's her persistence that has made interview subjects open up to her, even when they didn't want to talk to the media. This is the 15th in a "How I Got That Story" series highlighting the AltWeekly Awards' first-place winners.

Continue ReadingAyana Taylor: Gaining the Trust of Resistant Sources

In September, two media entrepreneurs launched U Weekly, an arts and entertainment paper for students at Ohio State University. As reported in the New York Times, U Weekly has faced resistance from university officials and from Ohio State's traditional, student-run newspaper, The Lantern. The Lantern's faculty advisor comes off as savvy, however, remarking that "competition in journalism is good because it raises the bar and gets folks thinking about how to differentiate publications from others." U Weekly's owners have successfully launched college weeklies in Baton Rouge, La., and Lexington, Ky., but Columbus already has two alternative weeklies with entertainment coverage: The Other Paper and Columbus Alive.

Continue ReadingWeekly Paper for College Students Faces Obstacles in Columbus

Now that it has distributed a total of $2,797.71 to each of Gambit Weekly's 48 staffers, AAN has closed the relief fund designed to help the paper's employees overcome the blow delivered by Hurricane Katrina. In the 10 weeks since it was established, the Gambit Relief Fund received donations totaling $135,558 from 33 organizations and more than 240 individuals. A complete list of contributors appears at the bottom of the story.

Continue ReadingFinal Gambit Relief Fund Payments Are Issued