AAN News
Phoenix Media Buys Spanish-Language Weeklynew
The Boston-based alt-weekly publisher has purchased El Planeta, saying it hopes to attract a larger Hispanic audience in the Boston area, the Boston Globe reports. Phoenix Media had been investing in the weekly since 2005, and already prints and distributes the paper. "I personally strongly see the value in the Hispanic newspaper market and the opportunity for that to grow," says Phoenix Media president Bradley Mindich. "It was one of these opportunities we couldn't pass up." The company, which owns AAN members in Boston, Portland, and Providence, will share some content with El Planeta, and the Spanish-language paper's staff will move into Phoenix Media's Boston headquarters. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More from Boston Business Journal.
The Boston Globe |
12-02-2008 8:05 am |
Industry News
Texas City Bans News Boxes in Downtown Corenew
Grapevine, a city of about 50,000 residents near Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, has instituted an outright ban on news boxes in its historic downtown area. While the ban affects all public property, publishers can place boxes on private property in the affected area if the property owner agrees. Five city council members voted for the measure, and two voted against, including Darlene Freed. She is concerned the ban might violate the First Amendment, and wishes the council had talked with the newspaper owners before voting. Publishers have until Thursday to remove the boxes, or they will face a $100/day fine.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram |
11-21-2008 9:00 am |
Industry News
Tags: Circulation, Management
Two New Motions Filed in Creative Loafing Bankruptcy Casenew
Last week, Creative Loafing asked a bankruptcy judge to authorize CEO Ben Eason to hire the investment banking firm that brokered the Reader/City Paper purchase to evaluate the company's business plan, seek new financing, and prepare the company to be sold if necessary, Atlanta Magazine's Steve Fennessy reports. Meanwhile, Eason's largest creditor, Atalaya Capital Management, asked the judge to lift the automatic stay that prevented CL from defaulting on its loan, arguing that the value of the company is falling with each passing day due to the bankruptcy filing and to "downward trends in the advertising industry." Eason tells Fennessy he stands by his decision to expand. "I think it's one of the smartest things we've done," he says. "I'd rather be navigating [the economic downturn] with Washington City Paper and Chicago Reader and [syndicated column] Straight Dope than without them." MORE: The Reader's Michael Miner weighs in, and City Paper consolidates its office into one floor.
Atlanta Magazine |
11-17-2008 12:11 pm |
Industry News
Fairfield County Weekly Combines Offices with New Haven Advocatenew
To save costs in an ever-tightening economy, two of the three New Mass. Media papers will now share office space in New Haven. Staff members have been given laptops and cellphones and will seemingly be traveling in the Fairfield County area -- about 20 miles from New Haven -- quite a bit.
Fairfield County Weekly |
11-05-2008 11:56 am |
Industry News
2009 AAN Convention Comes to a Desert Destination Resort in Tucson
Next June, AAN members will descend on the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort & Spa in Tucson for the association's 32nd Annual Convention, hosted by Tucson Weekly. "This is one of the nicest places AAN has ever used for a convention," says San Francisco Bay Guardian executive editor Tim Redmond, who visited the property along with other AAN board members for a meeting last month. Read here for more about the convention and the lush Starr Pass resort.
(FULL STORY)
AAN News |
10-29-2008 1:29 pm |
Association News
AAN Hires New Advertising and Awards Coordinator
The Association of Alternative Newsweeklies has hired Jason Zaragoza to the newly created position of advertising and awards coordinator. His first day with AAN was Oct. 14. Zaragoza takes over for Stephanie Roswell in handling the logisitics of the AAN CAN classified network, and for Heather Kuldell in coordinating the AltWeekly Awards. "Jason is smart and organized, and he has an incredibly professional attitude for someone so young," says AAN executive director Richard Karpel. "We're counting on him to keep AAN CAN and the awards contest running smoothly."
(FULL STORY)
AAN News |
10-23-2008 1:49 pm |
Association News
Google Upgrades Analytics Functionsnew
Online Media Daily |
10-23-2008 8:47 am |
Industry News
Grapevine, Texas, Proposes Ban on News Boxesnew
The city of about 50,000 residents near Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport is proposing an outright ban on news boxes in its historic downtown district, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports. Councilwoman Darlene Freed says the council, which will hold a public hearing on the issue next month, is divided on the ban. Freed says the boxes "are not particularly attractive, but I think you have to have access to newspapers on Main Street ... it's about the First Amendment." Freed also says she's talking with city officials about regulating the boxes rather than banning them. "I suggest they should at least talk with publishers about resolving these issues," says Fort Worth Weekly publisher Lee Newquist, who has several news boxes along the city's Main Street corridor.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram |
10-20-2008 11:58 am |
Industry News
Find AAN on Facebook and LinkedIn
Are you a member of Facebook or LinkedIn? If so, AAN invites you to join our groups on each of these social networking sites. Click here to join us on Facebook, and here to do so on LinkedIn.
AAN |
10-20-2008 9:35 am |
Association News
Art Students Reimagine Philadelphia City Paper News Boxesnew
City Paper publisher Paul Curci invited graphic design and industrial design students from the University of the Arts to rework the paper's street boxes, and "the results are, by and large, stunning," according to editor Brian Howard. The mock-ups use ideas ranging from the utilitarian (a box that collects rain water and funnels it into a street-level dog bowl) to the futuristic (the "multi-lingual distributional information kiosk" pictured at left which features solar power, USB and headphone ports, and allows individuals to print out personalized issues of the paper). A jury that included arts professionals and Curci chose winners, some of which may be produced in the coming year.
Philadelphia City Paper |
10-17-2008 12:44 pm |
Industry News
East Bay Express Circ Manager Nabs Newspaper Thievesnew
Express president Hal Brody tells the Berkeley Daily Planet that the paper's circulation manager saw two men in a white van stealing free circulation newspapers from street racks on Wednesday morning and made a citizen's arrest. After the Berkeley police arrived and processed the arrest, the two suspects were charged with theft of free publications, driving on the wrong side of the road and driving with expired plates.
The Berkeley Daily Planet |
10-17-2008 10:44 am |
Industry News
Court Filings Shed Light on Creative Loafing's Financesnew
According to a case management summary (pdf) filed in Creative Loafing's bankruptcy proceedings on Monday, revenues are off at the six-paper alt-weekly chain. Atlanta Magazine's Steve Fennessy reports that when CL was looking for financing to purchase the Chicago Reader and Washington City Paper, it projected the expanded company would see revenues of $43 million in fiscal year 2008. But the court filing says that revenue in FY08, ending June 30, 2008, was $35 million, and predicts that sales in the first quarter of FY09 will be only $3.5 million. In other CL bankruptcy news, Washington City Paper has published a statement from one of the company's lenders, Atalaya, which says the bankruptcy filing was "unfortunate and unnecessary," and assures "all interested parties that Atalaya has no intention of attempting to shut down the business." MORE: City Paper editor Erik Wemple talks to the George Washington University student paper The Hatchet about the changes in store as the paper shifts focus.
Atlanta Magazine | Washington City Paper |
10-16-2008 11:43 am |
Industry News
Monterey County Weekly: Looking Good at 20
The Weekly celebrates an historic milestone with a special 20th anniversary issue that hit the streets (and the web) yesterday. The 200-page issue, which is saddle stitched and features the Weekly's first-ever glossy cover, "takes a long backwards glance at the people, the institutions, the buildings, the parties and the natural disasters that have helped shape the community" since Coast Weekly (the paper's original name) debuted in the fall of 1988. "The community support has been fantastic for this issue, in much the same way it has been for the last twenty years," says founder and CEO Bradley Zeve.
(FULL STORY)
Monterey County Weekly Press Release |
10-10-2008 8:18 am |
Press Releases
Still More on the Creative Loafing Bankruptcy Filingnew
On Atlanta Magazine's blog, former Creative Loafing (Atlanta) staffer Steve Fennessy talks to Ben Eason -- who he calls "a tireless networker with a love of jargon" -- and a few worried staffers about this week's filing. Eason reiterates a few points he's been making to the press this week, and adds that, despite his web-first strategy, he doesn't envision a time when his publications don't produce actual newspapers. MORE: Read more from Creative Loafing's John Sugg, Washington City Paper's Angela Valdez, Gawker, and consultant Mark Potts.
Atlanta Magazine |
10-02-2008 12:31 pm |
Industry News
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Rising Cost of Newsprint Bedevils Papersnew
The production manager of the Santa Fe New Mexican says escalating paper prices are the result of last year's merger between major paper producers Abitibi and Bowater, the weak dollar and the increasing cost of the commodity used to make newsprint. Santa Fe Reporter publisher Andy Dudzik tells the New Mexican his paper is "absorbing" the price increases while "trying to be smarter about papers." (See Dudzik's comment by clicking on "Permalink/Comments" below.) He also says the Reporter recently started distributing in Albuquerque and the decision "has met with a favorable reception."
The Santa Fe New Mexican |
10-01-2008 12:26 pm |
Industry News
| Comments (2)
