AAN News
'Strong Local Voice and Brand Identity' Are Key to Alt-Weeklies' Futurenew
Commenting on the ongoing battle between San Francisco Bay Guardian and SF Weekly, Jonathan Weber of The Bay Citizen writes that alt-weeklies with a strong local focus will be better positioned to maintain reader loyalty.
The Bay Citizen |
08-23-2010 2:47 pm |
Industry News
In Wake of SFBG / SF Weekly Ruling, Debate Over California's Predatory Pricing Lawnew
San Francisco Bay Guardian editor Tim Redmond says California's Unfair Practices Act protects small businesses and competition. Reason magazine calls it "nauseating."
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
08-18-2010 10:37 am |
Legal News
Court Upholds Damages in Bay Guardian / SF Weekly Casenew
California's First District Court of Appeal upheld a 2008 verdict which awarded the San Francisco Bay Guardian over $16 million in damages.
San Francisco Chronicle |
08-12-2010 1:55 pm |
Legal News
Three SF Bay Area AAN Papers Pick Up Awardsnew
Palo Alto Weekly was a big winner at the San Francisco Peninsula Press Club's annual awards dinner on Saturday. Competing in the Non-Daily division, the paper took home three first-place awards (General Excellence, Technology Story, Entertainment Review) and received nine honors overall. San Francisco Bay Guardian picked up two first-place awards (Editorial, News/Political Column) and four overall; and SF Weekly was also a first-place winner in two categories (Light Feature Story, Serious Feature Story).
San Francisco Peninsula Press Club |
06-22-2010 1:10 pm |
Honors & Achievements
Court Hears SF Weekly's Appeal in Bay Guardian Case
The California Court of Appeal heard oral arguments Friday in the SF Weekly/San Francisco Bay Guardian predatory-pricing case. The Weekly is asking the court to throw out the multi-million damage award the jury gave the Guardian in the case. A ruling is due from the appeals court within 90 days, and both sides have reportedly said they will ask the California Supreme Court to review the case if they lose at this level. The San Francisco Chronicle covered the hearing, as did both the Guardian and the Weekly.
AAN News |
06-14-2010 12:24 pm |
Industry News
Court Appoints Receiver to Investigate SF Weekly's Finances in Bay Guardian Casenew
The California Superior Court has appointed a receiver to investigate the finances of SF Weekly and its parent company, with an eye towards developing a plan to pay the San Francisco Bay Guardian the $22 million it is owed in the predatory-pricing lawsuit. "This is a very significant step forward in our collection efforts," Guardian editor and publisher Bruce Brugmann says. The Weekly has said all along it won't pay any damages until it has exhausted its appeals. As we noted earlier in the week, the California Court of Appeals has scheduled a June 11 hearing to hear the Weekly's case.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
05-28-2010 6:36 pm |
Industry News
Appeals Court Sets June Hearing for SF Weekly/Bay Guardian Legal Fightnew
The California Court of Appeals has scheduled a June 11 hearing on SF Weekly's appeal of the San Francisco Bay Guardian's $21 million judgment in the 2008 predatory-pricing case.
The Stranger |
05-25-2010 9:17 am |
Industry News
Fake Bruce Brugmann Now on Twitternew
The fake Twitter stream of San Francisco Bay Guardian publisher Bruce Brugmann is "drunken, outrageous, [and] rails against Village Voice Media executive editor Mike Lacey," the SF Weekly reports. "Once upon a time, if you wanted to roast your newspaper editor, you would make a drunken speech at an office party or draw a funny cartoon," the Weekly notes. "But that was back in the bad old days, before fake Twitter accounts created the perfect medium for a constant stream of homage/mockery." The Weekly adds that it is not behind the account, which has the handle "Bossy_Brugmann," despite its ongoing public battles with the Guardian and its founder.
SF Weekly |
05-04-2010 10:37 am |
Industry News
Nine California AAN Members Take Home State Press Awardsnew
The California Newspaper Publishers Association recently gave out 480 first and second place awards in its 2009 Better Newspapers contest, and nine alt-weeklies received at least one. The Sacramento News & Review won ten awards, including firsts for Public Service, Columns, Sports Story, Front Page, Freedom of Information. SF Weekly won seven awards, including first-place finishes for Writing, Investigative/Enterprise Reporting and Environmental/Ag Resource Reporting. The North Coast Journal won six awards, including firsts in the Writing, Local News Coverage, Business/Financial Story and Environmental/Ag Resource Reporting categories. Palo Alto Weekly took home five awards -- all first-place wins -- in the Editorial Comment, Local News Coverage, Sports Coverage, Feature Photo, Best Website and General Excellence categories. Chico News & Review won two awards, both firsts, for Editorial Pages and Special Issue. Pacific Sun also took home two awards, both firsts, for Feature Story and Lifestyle Coverage. Metro Silicon Valley, Pasadena Weekly and the San Francisco Bay Guardian each took home one award.
California Newspaper Publishers Association |
04-26-2010 11:14 am |
Honors & Achievements
Redmond, Saltas Discuss the State of the Alt-Weekly Worldnew
The San Francisco Bay Guardian's Tim Redmond and Salt Lake City Weekly's John Saltas are joined by Amy Mitchell of the Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism for a wide-ranging discussion on the alt-weekly industry on Salt Lake City public radio station KUER. Among the topics covered: how alt-weeklies are faring on the web, the future of the industry and competing with the daily press.
KUER-FM |
04-20-2010 11:15 am |
Industry News
Judge Won't Include SF Weekly Parent Co. in '08 Judgmentnew
California Superior Court Judge Marla J. Miller ruled on Tuesday that she has no authority to amend a 2008 predatory-pricing judgment since the case is already pending before the California Court of Appeal. The San Francisco Bay Guardian had asked the court to include Village Voice Media LLC and Village Voice Media Holdings LLC, as part of its efforts to collect the money it was awarded in the judgment against SF Weekly. The Weekly has refused to pay the $21 million it owes the Guardian, saying it will pay once it exhausts its options to appeal.
SF Weekly |
04-15-2010 1:16 pm |
Industry News
Two Alt-Weeklies Land on 'Most Reputable Papers in the World' Listnew
As of April 7, the Georgia Straight was number one, and the San Francisco Bay Guardian number four, on the list, which is put together by the researchers and students at The Committee for Newspaper and Media Integrity. Oxford University law student Aron Ping D'Souza, one of the project leaders, says they initially combed the web looking for "key terminologies" about newspaper names, articles and links. "We surveyed millions of pieces of data and found where people were using language that would indicate reputability based on a theory called natural-language queries, and we developed preliminary data from that," he says. "Now that people can give rankings in supplement to that chatter-theory-based argument, we can verify the method in some ways, and also we can improve the method."
The Georgia Straight |
04-09-2010 10:07 am |
Industry News
Judge Sets Hearing on Bay Guardian's Contempt Claim Against Banknew
A San Francisco Superior Court judge last week granted a motion by the San Francisco Bay Guardian to set a hearing to determine if Bank of Montreal, the lead bank for SF Weekly, should be held in contempt of court for telling the Weekly's advertisers that it has first right to that paper's money. The Guardian contends that the March ruling allowing the Guardian to take half of the Weekly's ad revenue means it has first right to any money from the Weekly, not the bank. The hearing is set for April 30.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
04-05-2010 5:13 pm |
Industry News
Bay Guardian Editor: The SF Weekly Suit 'Wasn't Personal'new
San Francisco Bay Guardian executive editor Tim Redmond writes that while he thought Eli Sanders' recent story on the feud between the Guardian and SF Weekly in The Stranger was mostly right, he faults Sanders (and others) for casting the legal battle as a clash of egos. "The thing is, Bruce [Brugmann] and Mike [Lacey] haven't hated each other for decades," Redmond writes. "They weren't terribly close, but they got along fine -- and sometimes, they were political allies." He points to their unlikely alliance at the 1997 AAN Convention (three years after New Times purchased SF Weekly) to push a bylaws measure (and digs up a photo of the two arm-in-arm) as proof. "They were almost, sorta, kinda pals," he writes. "At least for a few minutes."
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
03-30-2010 10:27 am |
Industry News
The Stranger Looks at 'The Crazy Alt-Weekly War in San Francisco'new
The legal battle between the San Francisco Bay Guardian and the SF Weekly is "a war straight out of the last century in its ruthlessness and its destructive potential," writes The Stranger's Eli Sanders in a 10,000-plus word cover story this week. The piece covers a lot of ground, but frames the battle as one between two alt-titans: Bay Guardian publisher Bruce Brugmann and Village Voice Media executive editor Michael Lacey. "These two men have hated each other for decades," Sanders writes, "but with increasing venom since 1995, when Lacey showed up in San Francisco in cowboy boots to announce that he and his partners had just purchased the tiny SF Weekly and planned to make a huge success of it."
The Stranger |
03-17-2010 8:06 pm |
Industry News
