http://www.aan.org/ The Association of Alternative Newsweeklies (AAN) is the trade organization for the alternative newspaper business. AAN is a diverse group of 125 non-daily free-circulation papers that are distributed in all of the major metropolitan areas of North America. en-us Copyright 2010 The Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals and non-commercial organizations only. Newspapers, magazines, and other commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact editor@aan.org. editor@aan.org support@desert.net Tue, 16 Mar 2010 05:17:55 EST Dispatch Gyrobase http://aan.org/images/icon_88x31.gif http://www.aan.org/ AAN is the trade organization for the alternative newspaper business. 88 31 http://aan.org/alternative/Redirector?oid=1890399 In its annual State of the News Media report, the Project for Excellence in Journalism notes that the combined circulation of AAN member papers dropped by nearly 7 percent in 2009, adding to the 5 percent drop in 2008. But the report points out that many small-market papers grew circulation in 2009, and that alts, like other newspapers, are increasingly moving to digital platforms. Village Voice editor Tony Ortega tells PEJ that alt-weeklies are coming out of the downturn in better shape than dailies, due to a more flexible business model and the fact that alts have always been free. "There's no doubt that the economy was just as hard on alternative weeklies as it was on the dailies," he says. "But it's also obvious that some alt-weeklies have come through the tough times in better shape than others." Mon, 15 Mar 2010 04:00:00 EST Industry News Project for Excellence in Journalism http://aan.org/alternative/chef_rick_bayless_will_keynote_isthmus_green_day/Aan/ViewArticle?oid=1890400 Mon, 15 Mar 2010 04:00:00 EST Press Releases Isthmus Publishing Press Release http://aan.org/alternative/Redirector?oid=1891054 The Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority is violating the First Amendment with its ban on news boxes at the public airport, the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled. The decision affirms a lower court ruling in favor of four newspaper companies that sued the airport authority in 2004. Lawyers for the airport had argued the ban was reasonable, and that news boxes would pose security risks, impede passenger flow, degrade airport aesthetics and reduce airport authority revenue from shops inside that sold newspapers. But the Fourth Circuit panel says none of those arguments are strong enough to restrict the distribution. "The government interests asserted to justify the ban do not counterbalance its significant restriction on protected expression," the opinion reads. Mon, 15 Mar 2010 04:00:00 EST Industry News The News & Observer http://aan.org/alternative/Redirector?oid=1882668 Feiffer says Backing Into Forward, to be released Tuesday by Doubleday, is a "cautionary tale" about "getting rejected and slapped in the face by the powers-that-be." The 81-year-old Pulitzer-winning cartoonist, best known for his long tenure at the Village Voice, says "the boy-cartoonist in me ... remains foolishly idealistic as ever." He remembers starting to draw his Voice strip in 1956, a year after the paper was founded, thinking: "The more painful the subject ... the funnier it should look." Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:00:00 EST Industry News USA Today http://aan.org/alternative/Redirector?oid=1882669 Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:00:00 EST Ad & Business News The New York Times http://aan.org/alternative/Redirector?oid=1882672 A federal appeals court has ruled that Nevada has the right to ban certain advertisements of legal brothels, saying it doesn't violate the First Amendment of free speech. The decision overturns the ruling of a federal district judge, who held the state did not have the right to impose the restrictions on advertisements after a suit challenging those limits was brought by Las Vegas CityLife, the High Desert Advocate and brothel operator Bobbi Davis. "Nevada has tailored its restrictions on advertising to attain a reasonable fit between ends and means," the opinion reads. CityLife editor Steve Sebelius says he was surprised and disappointed by the ruling. "Given the fact that it is a commodity, I think it's inappropriate for the state to restrict First Amendment-protected advertising about that commodity," he says. READ MORE from Sebelius on his CityLife blog. Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:00:00 EST Ad & Business News Las Vegas Review-Journal http://aan.org/alternative/Redirector?oid=1882673 Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:00:00 EST Industry News San Francisco Bay Guardian http://aan.org/alternative/Redirector?oid=1879779 Fork on the Left, Knife in the Back "is the latest zippy collection of columns and essays" from the Village Voice nightlife/gossip columnist, according to press materials. Musto, who is currently celebrating his 25th anniversary at the Voice, talks to Black Book about New York nightlife, social networking and writing a daily column. "Sometimes it's on the days that you have nothing to write about that you do your best work because it forces you to dig inside yourself and come up with some high concept," Musto says. "I come up with good stuff like advice to celebrities, telling them how to get a life, or I'll just do questions and let the readers do the work for me." MORE MUSTO: In a video segment, he talks to Streetsblog about his preferred mode of transportation: his bicycle. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 04:00:00 EST Industry News Black Book http://aan.org/alternative/Redirector?oid=1879780 "This issue marks my last as editor-in-chief of Worcester Mag," Jim Keogh writes. "After a year and a half at the helm, and 23 total years of pushing news for The Holden Landmark Corp., I'm stepping away from journalism and into a new career." The search is on for a replacement. "I leave here feeling proud to be a member of the continuum of reporters, editors, salespeople, designers and, yes, bean counters who have published Worcester Magazine, now 'Mag,' without fail since 1976," Keogh adds. "We do good work here, and the magazine will continue to thrive." Thu, 11 Mar 2010 04:00:00 EST Industry News Worcester Mag http://aan.org/alternative/Redirector?oid=1879737 Westword's Patricia Calhoun took home a first place win and Willamette Week's Beth Slovic received a special citation at the Education Writers Association's 2009 National Awards for Education Reporting. Calhoun took first in the Small Media: Opinion category for "School Daze," while Slovic was recognized in the Small Media: Feature, News Feature or Issue Package category for "Cheerless." Thu, 11 Mar 2010 04:00:00 EST Honors & Achievements Education Writers Association http://aan.org/alternative/Redirector?oid=1879742 The U.S. Justice Department is refusing to hand over video and images related to a slaying in which two inmates strangled, disemboweled and cannibalized another inmate at a high-security federal prison, despite the fact that they showed them in open court while seeking the death penalty against the killers. Prison Legal News has been fighting to obtain the materials, and the battle is now in front of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. That's where Westword, along with a bevy of other organizations like 60 Minutes, the Associated Press, the American Society of News Editors and the ACLU of Colorado, joined the cause by filing a supporting brief this week. Denver Post columnist Susan Greene says the fed's "hypocritical" claim of privacy rights "seems like an attempt to cover up problems at the high-security U.S. Penitentiary in Florence." Thu, 11 Mar 2010 04:00:00 EST Industry News Westword http://aan.org/alternative/Redirector?oid=1876591 A Superior Court commissioner has ruled the San Francisco Bay Guardian is entitled to half the advertising revenue of the SF Weekly to help collect $21 million in damages after a 2008 jury verdict of illegal price-cutting. Guardian attorney Jay Adkisson says the ad revenue would be "a very significant" amount -- potentially as much as $200,000 a month. Meanwhile, the Weekly's parent company, Village Voice Media Holdings (VVMH), will ask a state appeals court to overturn the ruling. VVMH executive associate editor Andy Van De Voorde says the Weekly will stay in business regardless. The Weekly is also currently in the midst of a separate appeal of the verdict. MORE from Westword. Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:00:00 EST Industry News San Francisco Chronicle http://aan.org/alternative/Redirector?oid=1876605 "Slick, shiny new city-owned newspaper kiosks" have replaced the "untidy clusters of First Amendment funkiness" along K Street in Sacramento, the News & Review reports. The city, which implemented the new racks without consulting local publishers, is contemplating expanding the program citywide. While independent publishers lose the branding of individual boxes, the News & Review's distribution manager points out they save money with the new racks too, since the city is now on the hook for the cost and hassle of maintaining the racks, replacing broken windows and coin boxes and painting over graffiti. Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:00:00 EST Industry News Sacramento News & Review http://aan.org/alternative/Redirector?oid=1876994 "Zeal can only take a publication so far in this business before the numbers start to intervene," Weekly editor Rachael Daigle writes. "Last week, the numbers officially intervened, and Idaho Arts Quarterly was quietly laid to rest to live on only in Boise Weekly's archives." The publication was eight years old. "I want to thank all of the people who worked with us to create the latest incarnation of IAQ, particularly the contributing writers and artists," IAQ editor Katy Dang says. "I am extremely proud of what we accomplished." Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:00:00 EST Industry News Boise Weekly http://aan.org/alternative/Redirector?oid=1873598 Chuck Kerr is the latest alt-weekly art director to have his work spotlighted by Robert Newman on the Society of Publication Designers' blog. Kerr, who won an AltWeekly Award for Cover Design in 2007, says he has a "pretty simple" cover design philosophy -- "sell the story in under five seconds." He adds: "The more complex the story, the more I try to create imagery that elicits an emotional response or plays off a well-known pop culture icon -- anything to plant my idea in the reader's head as quickly and permanently as possible." Tue, 09 Mar 2010 04:00:00 EST Industry News Society of Publication Designers