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Mehdi Shahbazi, a gas-station owner who posts signs accusing big oil companies of price-gouging, has been the subject of three articles by Raul Vasquez in Monterey County Weekly (Nov. 3, Jan. 26, May 4). However, that publicity probably did not prepare him for having his face run alongside Jennifer Aniston's on the AOL News homepage on Friday (screenshot below). Visitors to the site were invited to read Vasquez's stories and vote on whether Shahbazi or Aniston was having the "worst week ever." Aniston won the vote, but Shahbazi can take comfort in the fact that AOL calls him "a hero" who "doesn't suck."

06-02-2006 2:24 pm | Industry News

Tags: Circulation, Editorial, Electronic Publishing, Monterey County Weekly

Is 'Corporate' Ownership Good for Newspapers?

That was one of the questions asked last night during a panel discussion in San Francisco on "The Coming Media Monopoly: Concentration of Press Ownership and Its Effects on Democracy." It will surprise few AAN members that panelists Stephen Buel, editor of Village Voice Media's East Bay Express, and Tim Redmond, executive editor of the San Francisco Bay Guardian, didn't see eye-to-eye on the matter. According to the "alternative online daily" BeyondChron, Buel said the Express' sale to VVM-predecessor New Times allowed the paper to hire more staff, purchase new computers and rent more office space. "In the past year, I've seen members of an alternative newsweekly buy houses in the Bay Area, and I think that's cool,” Buel said. Redmond disagreed, arguing that conglomeration results in homogenization of content and the pricing out of any true independent press.

06-02-2006 1:02 pm | Industry News

Tags: Electronic Publishing, Financial, Management, East Bay Express, Village Voice Media (defunct), Stephen Buel, Tim Redmond

Convention Offers Opportunity for Drive-By Design Criticism

The AAN convention in Little Rock will have something entirely new for design and production folks: the first-ever drive-by criticism display. Members should mail two copies of the sections of their papers that they would like to be critiqued to Debra Silvestrin at AAN, being sure to indicate specific concerns. The sections will then be available for continuous ad-hoc constructive criticism by professionals in the field, aka other members. Newspapers may take advantage of this opportunity without having staff attend the convention, but there will be time for attendees to mingle with those who offered helpful criticism.

06-02-2006 8:35 am | Industry News

Tags: Design & Production