AAN News
Maine Times Co-Founder Diesnew
Peter Cox, co-founder of the statewide alternative weekly, died last week from esophageal cancer, the Portland Press Herald reports. Cox had written that he and co-founder John Cole started Maine Times in 1968 because, "We wanted to cover issues rather than events and we believed in the community of Maine.” According to the Press Herald, "In its early years especially, the alternative weekly wrote about issues the traditional press had long neglected." Cox sold the paper in 1985, but later returned for a short stint as editor and also served as a columnist for several years. His memoir, Journalism Matters, will be published in December.
Portland Press Herald |
11-22-2004 4:15 pm |
Industry News
Boston's Phoenix and Weekly Dig Set to Tanglenew
Steve Bailey of the Boston Globe looks at the impending battle between Boston Phoenix and Boston's Weekly Dig. He writes that "others have tried to take on [Phoenix publisher Stephen] Mindich and failed," and that the owners of Boston and Philadelphia magazines "have bought the five-year-old Weekly Dig with plans to pour in the resources and turn up the heat on the Phoenix." Bailey paints a picture of Old Guard vs. Youth Movement, of Champion vs. Challenger, before surmising, "More newspapers are better than fewer newspapers."
Boston Globe |
11-19-2004 1:28 pm |
Industry News
Surplus Funds Improved AAN Conferences
AAN Staff |
11-15-2004 10:59 am |
Association News
Membership Applications Available for 2005
AAN Staff |
11-12-2004 12:23 pm |
Association News
News & Review Launches Counterattack on the Sacramento Beenew
Sacramento News & Review president and CEO Jeff von Kaenel was sick of the Sacramento Bee offering advertisers huge discounts in Ticket, the daily's arts and entertainment weekly insert, reports Sacramento Business Journal. So he sent out 250 letters to Bee advertisers that weren't getting discounts -- that is, Bee advertisers that hadn't been poached away from the News & Review -- citing the cheaper rates and asking, "Are you paying this?" Von Kaenel tells SBJ that he sees the discounts as the Bee's attempt to "take us out," and that the daily is "engaging in practices I believe are suspect."
Sacramento Business Journal |
11-11-2004 5:43 pm |
Industry News
NUVO Receives Environmental Awardnew
Last weekend, the Hoosier Environmental Council presented NUVO a Green Business Award in recognition of its eco-friendly practices. The Indianapolis alt-weekly uses newsprint with 80 percent recycled content and takes energy-saving measures, such as having lights and computers on sleep mode. In an online staff report, NUVO suggests that conservation-minded readers "take the time to ask your favorite local newspaper to consider a higher-recycled content."
NUVO |
11-11-2004 11:18 am |
Industry News
OC Weekly Reporter Awarded Prestigious Scholarshipnew
The Religion Newswriters Association has awarded news and investigative reporter Gustavo Arellano a Lilly Scholarship for his reportage on the child-abuse scandal in the Catholic Diocese of Orange County, Calif. According to an OC Weekly press release, he is one of just seven winners for 2004. The non-profit and nonpartisan association awards the scholarships to allow writers to pursue religious studies.
OC Weekly Press Release |
11-10-2004 5:59 pm |
Industry News
Cincinnati CityBeat Hits Double-Digitsnew
The Cincinnati alt-weekly is celebrating its 10-year anniversary this week and marks the occasion with a special section that reflects upon some of the paper's noteworthy journalistic achievements -- from saving the life of an innocent man on Death Row to shining a light on a local daily's forfeiture of editorial control to the Chiquita banana company. "Fawning over ourselves with an anniversary issue makes me uncomfortable," co-publisher and editor John Fox writes. "But 10 years of being the liberal voice in a conservative town is something to celebrate."
Cincinnati CityBeat |
11-10-2004 5:04 pm |
Industry News
Tags: Cincinnati CityBeat, John Fox
Marketers Plan Holiday Ad Blitznew
Leading national retailers - worried about the size of their coming holiday haul - are intensifying efforts to find the right advertising to entice jaded shoppers into opening their wallets and purses before Dec. 25.
The goal of the campaigns, from retailers like Best Buy, Cartier and Target, is to stand out from the usual seasonal spiels by forging more emotional bonds with consumers. That is a response to the trend of shoppers showing increasing resistance to rational price-and-item pitches.
The need for retailers to use nontraditional approaches to differentiate themselves from the competition is becoming more urgent as analysts offer forecasts for revenue growth that are more ho-hum than ho-ho-ho.
The goal of the campaigns, from retailers like Best Buy, Cartier and Target, is to stand out from the usual seasonal spiels by forging more emotional bonds with consumers. That is a response to the trend of shoppers showing increasing resistance to rational price-and-item pitches.
The need for retailers to use nontraditional approaches to differentiate themselves from the competition is becoming more urgent as analysts offer forecasts for revenue growth that are more ho-hum than ho-ho-ho.
New York Times |
11-10-2004 12:02 pm |
Industry News
OC Weekly Reporter Awarded Prestigious Scholarship
11-10-2004 5:15 pm |
Press Releases
Former Maine Times Owner Sued for Severance Paynew
Bradford W. Ketchum Jr., last editor of the defunct Maine Times magazine, is suing owner Christopher Hutchins for severance pay, reports Bangor Daily News. Maine Times was originally a weekly newspaper and was a member of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, hosting the association's 1987 convention. In mid-2002, Hutchins closed the paper and revamped it as a monthly magazine, hiring Ketchum as editor at a yearly salary of $120,000. According to Bangor Daily News, Ketchum asked for and received a letter that stated he would receive one year's severance pay if his employment were terminated. In January 2004, all Maine Times staffers abruptly lost their jobs when Hutchins told them that publication would cease immediately.
Bangor Daily News |
11-09-2004 11:39 am |
Industry News
Tags: Management, Maine Times
MSN/AmEx Debut Online Music Hubnew
Microsoft Corp.'s MSN and American Express on Monday launched a jointly created alternative music hub targeting young professionals. Dubbed "In the Mix," the content on the co-branded alternative music destination is designed to attract professionals between the ages of 25 and 35--the target demographic for the American Express Blue card.
Media Daily News |
11-09-2004 10:36 am |
Industry News
Holiday Retail Ad Outlook Uncertainnew
The outlook for retail advertising during the holiday season is uncertain — at best. When asked during a Knight Ridder Q3 conference call in mid-October about holiday activity, Steve Rossi, president of the newspaper division, responded with the proverbial shrug: They just don't know what to expect.
Editor & Publisher |
11-09-2004 10:34 am |
Industry News
Internet Executives: "Newspaper Publishers Aren't Being Smart"new
Fearing the ambitions of deep-pocketed Web search giants, newspaper publishers are allowing themselves to be pushed to the periphery instead of being open to new partnership opportunities, according to Internet search company executives speaking last week at a local search conference.
Media Daily News |
11-08-2004 3:19 pm |
Industry News
Creative Loafing to Hold Political Party Nov. 10
11-08-2004 2:26 pm |
Press Releases
