AAN News

Nashville Scene Editor Jim Ridley Dies at 50new

"He made every single journalist around him better."
Nashville Scene  |  04-08-2016  3:00 pm  |  Industry News

Vodka Yonic Wins AAN Award for Best Column, Enters Syndication

Nashville Scene is currently syndicating its weekly women's column Vodka Yonic to markets across the U.S. (FULL STORY)
Nashville Scene  |  09-12-2014  3:00 pm  |  Press Releases

Reporter Retiring To Hike Appalachian Trailnew

Nashville Scene senior writer Jeff Woods will take a six-month hike on the Appalachian Trail.
Nashville Scene  |  03-29-2012  12:18 pm  |  Industry News

SouthComm CEO Says Tenn. Governor Should Publicly Apologize for Arrest of Reporter

Following the weekend arrest of Nashville Scene reporter Jonathan Meador while covering the Occupy Nashville protest, SouthComm CEO Chris Ferrell says in a statement that he expects a public apology from the governor of Tennessee. (FULL STORY)
Nashville Scene  |  10-31-2011  12:12 pm  |  Legal News

Nashville Scene Accidentally Posts First Draft of Theater Review, Critics Charge Racismnew

Nashville Scene accidentally posted a draft version of a theater review on its website, which included portions that some readers found racist.
Mediaite  |  03-29-2011  6:24 pm  |  Industry News

Alt-Weekly Staffers Curate Local Compilations for LimeWirenew

Music writers and editors at the Nashville Scene and Willamette Week have put together compilation albums of their respective local scenes as part of LimeWire's "Ear to the Ground" series. "There's lots of talk these days about localism being dead, but these kinds of collections remind listeners that geography still has a lot to do with an artists' sounds and aesthetics," WW music editor Casey Jarman says. "Ear to the Ground compilations are fantastic primers, and we think this is a pretty amazing primer for Portland music." Nashville Scene music editor Steve Haruch adds: "Any time we have a chance to get the word out to a wider audience about what's going on here, we jump at it." These two papers join fellow alts like Boston's Weekly Dig, Flagpole, Metro Times, and Philadelphia City Paper, all of which have previously curated discs for LimeWire. (The free digital downloads are all available here.)
LimeWire Press Release (via AntiMusic.com)  |  11-06-2009  10:19 am  |  Industry News

Ex-Nashville Scene Editor Returns as SouthComm's Interim Exec. Editornew

Liz Garrigan, who had recently been helping the Scene out as a freelance contributing editor, will become the interim executive editor for SouthComm's three main Nashville publications: The Scene, The City Paper and NashvillePost.com. SouthComm CEO Chris Ferrell, who bought the alt-weekly from Village Voice Media in August, describes Garrigan's new job as "a temporary stint of a few months' duration," during which time she will be responsible for "develop[ing] a more smoothly functioning, integrated organization" in regards to converged editorial operations. The Tennessean reports that the integration has already begun, with SouthComm merging the City Paper's Thursday print edition with the Scene. (The City Paper still publishes a print edition on Monday.)
Nashville Scene  |  10-09-2009  9:40 am  |  Industry News

New Owners Bring Changes to Nashville Scenenew

Nashville-based SouthComm purchased the Scene from Village Voice Media last month, and has swiftly been making changes. Former managing editor and longtime staffer Jim Ridley has taken over as editor, and the paper rolled out a glossy look this week. In addition, SouthComm has brought all editorial staffers of its Nashville properties (it owns The City Paper, NashvillePost.com and a handful of smaller print publications) under one roof, and done the same -- in a different building -- for business-side staff. Scene writer Bruce Barry says Nashville is "the alpha test" of SouthComm's publishing theory, which involves owning a unique blend of niche publications in a single market. Barry also points out that many SouthComm higher-ups are "very conservative" and wonders how that might affect the alt-weekly going forward.
Nashville Scene  |  09-18-2009  1:09 pm  |  Industry News

A Few More Details Emerge on Nashville Scene Salenew

Village Voice Media executive associate editor Andy Van De Voorde tells the Tennessean that the Scene's rumored financial troubles were not what led the company to sell the paper to Nashville-based SouthComm, Inc. "I have no reason to believe that anyone wasn't pleased with [the Scene] financially," he says. Van De Voorde also says that Scene editor Pete Kotz, who came to Nashville after VVM's Cleveland Scene was merged with Free Times, will leave the paper but remain in the VVM chain. Whether other staffing changes are in the works is not yet clear, though Van De Voorde notes that all Scene and Nfocus magazine employees will receive two weeks severance, plus a week of pay for every year of service and unpaid vacation time from VVM -- whether or not they keep their jobs under the new owners.
The Tennessean  |  08-20-2009  10:26 am  |  Industry News

It's Official: VVM is Selling Nashville Scene to SouthComm

Village Voice Media today confirmed the rumors that it is selling the Nashville Scene to SouthComm, Inc. VVM will also sell Nfocus magazine to the Nashville-based media company run by former Scene publisher Chris Ferrell. SouthComm also owns AAN member LEO Weekly. The deal is expected to close this Friday, and terms of the transaction are not being divulged. MORE: See SouthComm's statement on the transaction. (FULL STORY)
Village Voice Media Press Release  |  08-19-2009  12:14 pm  |  Press Releases

Is VVM Close to Selling the Nashville Scene?new

The Tennessean is reporting that Village Voice Media and SouthComm Communications are discussing the sale of the Nashville Scene, which VVM acquired in 2006. SouthComm, which is based in Nashville and run by former Scene publisher Chris Ferrell, also owns AAN member LEO Weekly and a handful of Nashville websites and publications.
The Tennessean  |  08-18-2009  10:44 am  |  Industry News

Nashville Scene Turns 20new

The Tennessee alt-weekly celebrates the anniversary with a special issue with a number of essays looking back at how Nashville has changed in the past two decades -- and how the Scene has changed with it. "For our 10th anniversary issue, the Scene laid out an exhaustive history of how much the paper had changed in that brief, whirling, taken-for-granted decade," managing editor and longtime staffer Jim Ridley writes. "There's even more to cover now in the Scene saga -- a two-decade rollercoaster by which a local shopper transforms into a successful alt-weekly and ultimately a link in a national chain, while the media 'landscape' gradually comes to resemble the black-lighted computer ether-world of the '80s sci-fi fantasy Tron."
Nashville Scene  |  06-25-2009  12:18 pm  |  Honors & Achievements

More Papers Tighten Belts

Louisiana's Independent Weekly reports that in 2008 it had to lay off one employee and that it recently instituted "a single digit, company-wide salary cut." The Nashville Scene says it is eliminating its books section, as well as News of the Weird and the New York Times crossword. Boise Weekly's publisher says that even though the "last quarter of 2008 was very disappointing ... it might have been the best we will see for awhile." Meanwhile, the Chicago Reader says goodbye to two of its departing editorial staffers, and Nat Hentoff talks to the New York Times about his plans post-Voice.
AAN News  |  01-09-2009  10:30 am  |  Industry News

Papers Continue to Cut Freelance Costs

Three alt-weeklies have recently cut back in freelancer-generated content areas. SF Weekly theater reviewer Chloe Veltman writes that the paper's weekly Stage setion "will drop from three plays -- my 1,000-word column plus two 200-word capsule reviews -- to just my column." Over at sister paper the Nashville Scene, books contributor Maria Browning says on her blog that the book page has been eliminated from that paper altogether. And up in Massachusetts, Worcester Magazine will stop running the local bi-weekly comic "Action Geek."
AAN News  |  12-30-2008  9:17 am  |  Industry News

Woman Suing the Nashville Scene Found Not Guilty of Prostitutionnew

Former stripper Michelle Peacock was exonerated by a jury of all charges on Tuesday, the Nashville Scene reports. Peacock is seeking at least $25,000 in compensatory and punitive damages from reporter P.J. Tobia, the Scene, and its parent company in a defamation suit over an October 2007 story which cited an arrest report detailing the alleged prostitution.
Nashville Scene  |  11-06-2008  8:50 am  |  Legal News

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