AAN News
New Times, Village Voice Media Sign Consent Decreenew
In the conclusion to the unprecedented antitrust probe of the two alt-weekly chains, neither company admitted guilt but agreed to aid the opening of new weekly papers in Los Angeles and Cleveland. The New York Times' David Carr calls the case "a validation of the growing role of the alternative press in an era when many dailies now own monopolies in their respective markets." New Times officials expressed outrage at the government's actions in the case. "The way that it has been told, this was two fat cats getting together so they could get even fatter, but the fact of the matter is, we would not be here if we had not done this deal," says New Times' CEO Jim Larkin, who reveals that $20 million of losses in Cleveland and Los Angeles had put the company in technical default with its lending agreements.
New York Times |
01-27-2003 9:22 am |
Industry News
AAN Statement Re Consent Decree Signed By VVM and NTM
AAN news release |
01-27-2003 10:51 am |
Legal News
LA Prosecutor Responds to Meyerson, Laceynew
Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve
Cooley calls a column by LA
Weekly's Harold Meyerson and a
letter to the editor of the Wall Street
Journal written by New Times'
Michael Lacey "self-interested
positions staked out by those who are
directly affected by this investigation."
Cooley claims he reads LA Weekly
"because it is a valuable news
organ" and says New Times LA was
"occasionally very funny, on occasion very
insightful, on occasion very cruel." He
argues that "It's wrong ... to attribute
political motives to government
agencies that are just doing their jobs. ...
we're at the investigative stage. At the end
of the exercise, there may be a
determination that what's been uncovered
falls short of establishing a violation
of the law."
Los Angeles Times |
01-26-2003 4:09 pm |
Industry News
Meyerson on the Antitrust Investigationnew
The Justice Department's investigation of
the Village Voice Media-New Times deal
to close weeklies in Cleveland and Los
Angeles is apparently driven by a concern
"that the assisted suicide of New Times
in Los Angeles
reflects
a narrowing of political
perspectives in the city, and that it is
the government's responsibility
to create
more ideological space," Harold
Meyerson writes. He
adds that if investigators really looked
they would find at least as much
"ideologically driven or
monomaniacal" editorial slant at the
dailies as at alternative newsweeklies.
LA Weekly |
01-23-2003 9:34 am |
Industry News
Antitrust Probe Proceeds at Unusually Rapid Pacenew
Prosecutors investigating the New Times-Village Voice Media deal that closed New Times LA and Cleveland Free Times worked through the weekend taking depositions, according to the L.A. Times' Tim Rutten. Sources familiar with the depositions told Rutten that prosecutors "repeatedly returned to questions concerning the nature of alternative journalism and the impact of New Times' closure on local news coverage." One unidentified witness said many of the prosecutors' questions "seemed to be driven by their belief that unlike a mainstream daily newspaper, an alternative weekly is suffused throughout with a particular point of view. They seem to believe that losing an alternative paper is a greater hardship to the community in that way than losing a mainstream daily."
Los Angeles Times |
01-13-2003 12:09 pm |
Industry News
Wall Street Journal Weighs in on New Times/VVMnew
"We're relieved the Justice Department
has decided to draw a line in the sand in this case," Michael Lacey, executive editor of New Times, sarcastically tells LA business columnist, Daniel Akst. The columnist chides New Times and Village Voice Media for being sanctimonious about the evils of "big-city dailies" but concedes Lacey's point: "If a generation's worth of
media consolidation is OK because of new technologies and competition between
broadcasters, print outlets, the Internet and so forth, it probably shouldn't be a
hanging offense that a couple of unsuccessful weeklies are closing in concert."
WSJ Opinion Journal |
01-10-2003 4:26 pm |
Industry News
Anti-Trust Investigation of VVM/New Times "Risibly Misplaced"new
"Does the U.S. Department of Justice
really have so little to do it must
investigate why a couple of alternatives
were folded?" E&P asks in a Nov. 25
editorial. With so many media outlets in
both the Los Angeles and Cleveland
markets where the two alternative weekly
chains closed papers to end
head-to-head competition, advertisers
have plenty of places to go. "It's not an
argument Justice can make with a
straight face," E&P concludes.
Editor & Publisher |
12-04-2002 1:36 pm |
Industry News
Feds Taking Testimony in New Times/VVM Dealnew
Sources tell the Los Angeles Times that
federal investigators may be pursuing a
legal solution that would actually
re-open alternative newsweeklies in
Los Angeles and Cleveland, the two
cities where Village Voice Media and New
Times agreed to close papers and
eliminate competition. The federal
anti-trust investigation is "unusually
fast-paced," The Times' Tim Rutten
reports. "Clearly, they've decided to
move before the bodies get too
cold," an anti-trust attorney tells
Rutten.
Los Angeles Times |
11-20-2002 9:58 am |
Industry News
Media Consolidation, Alternative-Stylenew
The Village Voice/New Times deal that
closed New Times Los Angeles and
VVM's Cleveland Free Times, is another
sign of an "imploding economy,"
Cynthia Cotts writes in The
Village Voice. She suggests that when
VVM's
venture capitalist owners start
looking
to cash out they could find a
buyer in
a daily newspaper chain or another
alternative media company.
Village Voice |
10-08-2002 2:24 pm |
Industry News
New Times/Village Voice Deal: Cutting Lossesnew
Iconoclastic alternative weeklies are doing business like the big boys, former Washington City Paper Editor David Carr writes in the New York Times. Carr reports that New Times received $8 million from Village Voice Media to close its money-losing New Times Los Angeles. "The willingness of the two ferociously competitive chains to make a deal in their common interest could mean that the next big deal by the companies could leave only one standing," Carr writes.
New York Times |
10-07-2002 10:33 am |
Industry News
New Times, VVM Cut Deal, Close Papersnew
Village Voice Media paid NT Media
more than $1 million to close New
Times Los Angeles, sources tell the
Los Angeles Times. New
Times paid VVM a lesser amount to
shutter
Cleveland Free Times, the daily
reports.
An anti-trust lawyer says the
transaction, negotiated quietly over the
past three months, "could raise rather
interesting antitrust issues."
Los Angeles Times |
10-03-2002 10:43 am |
Industry News
LA Weekly Ad Staff Rejects Unionnew
By a two-vote margin, LA Weekly's
advertising and promotional staff voted
not to join the union that represents
editorial employees, the Los Angeles
Times reports. The close vote and
hard-fought campaign have opened
wounds Publisher Beth
Sestanovich says she wants to heal.
Los Angeles Times |
10-02-2002 10:07 am |
Industry News
Sestanovich Named Publisher of LA Weekly and OC Weekly
05-30-2002 4:15 pm |
Press Releases
Seattle Weekly Ad Director Steps Down
Jill Mogen, advertising director of
the Seattle Weekly, has left her
position, David Schneiderman, CEO of
Village Voice Media, says. Mogen had
been at the newspaper for more than 11
years and was the first president of
the Alternative Weekly Network in
1996-97. It is the second management
shakeup at a West Coast VVM paper this
month and follows Alisa
Cromer's resignation as publisher of
Seattle Weekly in November.
Schneiderman has said he wants to
spend more time personally
managing Seattle Weekly and LA/OC
Weekly. Cromer is now with Metro
Newspapers on an interim basis.
(FULL STORY)
AAN Staff |
01-25-2002 5:35 pm |
Industry News
Jim Kaplan Returns to LA and OC Weeklynew
Jim Kaplan leaves Metro Silicon Valley to return to LA and OC Weekly as classified advertising director. Kaplan helped build LA Weekly's classified section 20 years ago. Now he returns to take charge of the department, which includes personals.
LA and OC Weekly news release |
10-03-2001 12:48 pm |
Industry News
