AAN News
Bay Guardian/SF Weekly Case Back in Court Today
A San Francisco judge today heard arguments on whether SF Weekly should be forced to give half of its advertising revenue to the San Francisco Bay Guardian as part of the Guardian's continuing efforts to collect on the 2008 judgment in the predatory pricing suit between the two papers. The judge issued a "late tentative ruling" that suggested he will do just that, and he said he will give the final ruling soon. Meanwhile, the Guardian has asked a judge to add Village Voice Media, LLC and Village Voice Media Holdings, LLC to the companies that make up the Weekly's parent company in the judgment. (When the Guardian's suit was initially filed, the Weekly was still owned by pre-merger New Times.) A hearing on that matter has been set for March 12. The Weekly has said it is waiting to make any payments to the Guardian until it exhausts its appeals. MORE: Seattle Weekly wonders why The Stranger is sending a reporter to San Francisco to cover this, when Stranger editor Dan Savage's sex column runs in many papers that SF Weekly's parent company owns.
AAN News |
02-11-2010 6:31 pm |
Industry News
Bay Guardian/SF Weekly Case Moves Along
The San Francisco Bay Guardian last week filed its response to SF Weekly's appeal of the 2008 jury award in the Guardian's predatory-pricing lawsuit against the Weekly. The Weekly says it will file one more reply with the court within the next month or so, at which point the Court of Appeals will either set a date for oral arguments or issue a ruling based on what has been submitted by the two parties. In related news, the Guardian reports that a federal judge last week rejected the attempts of Weekly parent company Village Voice Media Holdings to avoid a state court proceeding where it may be added to the judgment against the Weekly.
AAN News |
01-27-2010 11:56 am |
Industry News
Guardian Says it May Force Bankruptcy on VVM; VVM Calls Idea 'Ludicrous'
As the San Francisco Bay Guardian continues to try and collect millions of dollars awarded to it in a 2008 predatory-pricing verdict against SF Weekly and its parent company, the Guardian's attorney tells Bloomberg News it is considering a court petition to put Village Voice Media into involuntary bankruptcy to collect the debt. VVM's lawyer tells Bloomberg, however, that "it is simply ludicrous" to suggest that any of the company's other newspapers might face bankruptcy as a result of the California judgment. Meanwhile, VVM executive editor Michael Lacey took issue with the framing and premise of the original Bloomberg story, calling its insinuation of a looming bankruptcy proceeding a "false, inaccurate smear." (The Bloomberg story linked above was updated after Lacey and VVM's attorney contacted the reporter to make some corrections.) READ MORE from the San Francisco Chronicle and The Stranger.
Bloomberg News | The Business Insider |
01-19-2010 12:01 pm |
Industry News
Bay Guardian: VVM Loses Another Court Ruling
In a press release, the Guardian says that New Times Media LLC, the holding company for Village Voice Media, failed in its attempt to suspend the charging order entered last week in San Francisco Superior Court in favor of the Bay Guardian. That charging order gives the Guardian a lien on more of VVM's assets as the two continue to fight in court over the 2008 jury verdict that found VVM paper SF Weekly had illegally sold ads under cost in an effort to harm the Guardian. In a response, VVM says it knew it would lose this latest court battle, and alleges that the Guardian has repeatedly sought to delay" the appeal process of the 2008 verdict. READ MORE on the ongoing court battles from Bloomberg News and The Stranger.
(FULL STORY)
San Francisco Bay Guardian Press Release |
01-14-2010 6:43 pm |
Press Releases
VVM Responds to Latest Court Ruling in Bay Guardian Case
Village Voice Media Press Release |
01-14-2010 6:38 pm |
Press Releases
VVM: Last Week's Court Order is 'Very Limited in Scope'
In a message to all Village Voice Media employees sent out today, VVM CEO Jim Larkin and executive editor Michael Lacey say the ramifications of last week's court order that suggested the San Francisco Bay Guardian could seize assets from papers other than SF Weekly has been widely misunderstood. "[The order] simply says the Guardian can try and go after cash distributions New Times receives from its publications as a limited partner or member of the company," they say, pointing out that "the amount of those monies is zero," since the company's publications are "separately organized limited liability companies or limited partnerships that own, operate and publish in their respective communities." They say that as they continue their appeal of the original judgment, "our publications will continue to publish and conduct business as they have all along."
(FULL STORY)
Village Voice Media Press Release |
01-12-2010 4:13 pm |
Press Releases
How Will the Bay Guardian/SF Weekly Ruling Impact Other VVM Papers?new
Last week, a San Francisco Superior Court commissioner granted the San Francisco Bay Guardian's request to place a lien on assets of SF Weekly's parent company, as the Guardian attempts to collect millions of dollars it was awarded in 2008's predatory-pricing trial. (The case is being appealed by the Weekly.) While the Guardian says it is "exploring the possible sale" of one or more of Village Voice Media's papers, reaction from several of those papers was relatively muted. Westword editor Patricia Calhoun tells the Denver Daily News she thinks it's highly unlikely that her paper will be impacted in any way. "This is a lawsuit that I'm sure our lawyers will resolve," she says. Meanwhile, the Seattle Weekly gives the Guardian a tongue-in-cheek look at some of the paper's assets it could seize, and MinnPost's David Brauer wonders if the ruling could hurt City Pages. His take? It's not likely, but "VVM had better start winning in court ... or we'll all have to start taking this a lot more seriously."
The Denver Daily News | MinnPost.com | Seattle Weekly |
01-11-2010 1:00 pm |
Industry News
Court: Bay Guardian Can Place Lien on SF Weekly Parent Co.'s Assetsnew
A San Francisco Superior Court commissioner has granted the San Francisco Bay Guardian's request to place a lien on the Weekly's holding company and the firm's interests in the Village Voice Media chain, as the Guardian attempts to collect the millions of dollars it was awarded in 2008's predatory-pricing trial. The Guardian's lawyer says the lien would enable it to seek another court order allowing it to sell off any of the VVM papers -- including SF Weekly - or simply take money from them to pay the judgment. But the Weekly's lawyer says the ruling is much narrower, and doesn't allow the Guardian to go after any of VVM's assets. Meanwhile, the Weekly continues its appeal of the initial ruling.
San Francisco Chronicle |
01-08-2010 12:25 pm |
Industry News
Bay Guardian Hopes to Expand Collection Efforts to Other VVM Papersnew
As we've noted recently, the San Francisco Bay Guardian has been going after the assets of SF Weekly as it tries to collect the millions of dollars it was awarded in 2008's predatory-pricing trial against the Weekly and parent company Village Voice Media. This week, the Guardian upped the ante, asking a court for permission to seize all property belonging not just to the Weekly but to all of VVM. An attorney for the Guardian tells the San Francisco Chronicle that it has been tough collecting anything since SF Weekly doesn't actually have much property, which is why they are now going after the rest of the company. But VVM continues to maintain it doesn't owe the Guardian anything until it has fully exhausted its appeals. The ruling on this could come down as early as today. READ MORE from The Stranger.
The San Francisco Chronicle |
01-05-2010 2:02 pm |
Industry News
Bay Guardian Continues its Seizure of SF Weekly's Assetsnew
The San Francisco Bay Guardian reports that it was granted its motion to intercept the income of the SF Weekly in a court hearing last week. The Guardian says it will seize the rent that the SF Weekly's subtenant pays to the paper. This comes on the heels of the Guardian's recent seizure and auction of two vehicles owned by the Weekly, and it is all part of the Guardian's attempt to collect the multi-million-dollar judgment it was awarded in the predatory pricing trial against the Weekly and its parent company New Times, now known as Village Voice Media. VVM maintains that it won't owe the Guardian any money until its appeals are completed.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
12-29-2009 2:32 pm |
Industry News
Bay Guardian Seizes and Auctions Off SF Weekly Vehiclesnew
The San Francisco Bay Guardian last week auctioned off two vehicles owned by the SF Weekly as it tries to collect the multi-million-dollar judgment it was awarded in the predatory pricing trial against the Weekly and its parent company New Times, now known as Village Voice Media. The Guardian, which seized the vehicles in November, says the move "prove[s] wrong the predictions of New Times executives that the Guardian would never collect a cent on its judgment." VVM maintains that it won't owe the Guardian any money until its appeals are completed.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
12-08-2009 4:16 pm |
Industry News
Three AAN Members Win Northern California SPJ Awardsnew
The Northern California Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists announced the winners of its 2009 Excellence in Journalism Awards last week, and three alt-weeklies took home honors. The SF Weekly's Joe Eskenazi won the Explanatory Journalism (print, non-daily) award for "Service with a Snarl," a piece that "examines, with clarity and humor, the laws around the use of service animals in San Francisco." Kathleen Richards of the East Bay Express won the Investigative Journalism (print, non-daily) award for "Yelp and the Business of Extortion 2.0," which the judges say is "a strong example of consumer-affairs reporting." And the staff of the North Coast Journal won the Student Special Project award for "Meltdown," a project the paper undertook with students from Humboldt State University's Investigative Reporting Class.
The Northern California Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists |
09-28-2009 1:29 pm |
Honors & Achievements
Handful of Alt-Weekly Pieces End Up in 'Best Food Writing 2009'
AAN News has just received a copy of Da Capo's Best Food Writing 2009, and it is chock full of alt-weekly talent. Included in the collection are stories from City Pages' Rachel Hutton ("Spam: It's Not Just for Inboxes Anymore"), New Times Broward-Palm Beach's John Linn ("Highway to Hog Heaven"), SF Weekly's Peter Jamison ("Out of the Wild"), The Stranger's Bethany Jean Clement ("The Beauty of the Beast"), Washington City Paper's Tim Carman ("How Not to Hire a Chef"), and Westword's Jason Sheehan ("The Last of the Great $10 Steaks"). The book also includes a selection from Houston Press food writer Robb Walsh's book on oysters, and is slated to be released this fall.
AAN News |
09-02-2009 4:54 pm |
Honors & Achievements
Five VVM Columnists Honored in National Column-Writing Awardsnew
SF Weekly's Katy St. Clair took home a first-place Humor column award from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists in its annual contest. Roy Edroso of The Village Voice, Stephen Lemons of Phoenix New Times, and Chuck Strouse and Elyse Wanshel, both of Miami New Times, were also recognized by the group.
National Society of Newspaper Columnists |
06-30-2009 8:31 am |
Honors & Achievements
VVM Files Appeal in Bay Guardian Casenew
As expected, Village Voice Media and SF Weekly filed an appeal to last year's decision in the Guardian's predatory pricing suit this week in the California Court of Appeal. "With this appeal, judicial error, attorney contrivance, expert witness puffery, juror confusion, and statutory imprecision are now cast in the edifying light of reason and clarity," VVM executive editor Michael Lacey says. The Guardian's Tim Redmond says nothing in VVM's appeal is new to them. "We're confident we'll prevail in the appeal, as we did at the trial court level," he tells AAN News.
SF Weekly |
06-12-2009 5:20 pm |
Industry News
