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THE ALTERNATIVE NEWSPAPER CON
Sam Smith
Having been putting out alternative publications since before they had a
name, I have long been fascinated by the claim of certain free urban
weeklies that they are "alternative." As I wrote early in their
existence, when you read them you got the impression that when the
revolution came, the guerillas would come down the mountain wearing
jackets from Bloomingdales, on Head skis and listening to Walkmen. Jack
Shafer, then editor of the Washington City Paper put me straight,
explaining, "Look, we're not an alternative news medium; we're an
alternative advertising medium."
More recently, these urban weeklies have become the voice of the gentry
moving into our cities, modestly seeing themselves as part of a great
renaissance and perpetuating the corporate-friendly myth that cool and
hip are something you buy, attend or listen to rather than something you
are.
Now the executive director of the Association of Alternative
Newsweeklies is taking the con a step further: suggesting that these
faux alternatives have some sort of proprietary interest in the word. As
you read the following, it may help - or merely amaze - you to know some
of Richard Karpel's own history as an alternative voice taking on the
system as provided by his bio:
"Richard Karpel has been executive director of AAN since July 1995.
Before joining AAN, he worked for nine years in varying capacities with
the Video Software Dealers Association, the Encino, Calif.-based trade
group for the home video industry. . . While working for VSDA when it
was still jointly managed with the National Association of Recording
Merchandisers -- which represents retailers of recorded music -- Karpel
led NARM's government affairs program.
"In May 1980, he received a BS in Business Administration from the
University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, and three years later he
received a Juris Doctorate from Chicago-Kent College of Law."
Wow, cool.
RICHARD KARPEL, AAN - Apparently, a guy named Leland Lehrman is running
for the Democratic nomination to represent New Mexico in the U.S.
Senate. I know this because I subscribe to Google Alerts set to the term
"alternative newspaper," and I've received at least a dozen alerts
notifying me of newspaper stories about the Senate race in which Lehrman
is invariably described as an editor of "an alternative newspaper in
Santa Fe."
I've got nothing against Lehrman, but his publication, The Sun News, is
most assuredly not an "alternative newspaper." To its credit, The Sun
News is pretty unique and doesn't fit comfortably under any label. I
guess I'd call it a local journal of politics and opinion -- left-wing,
"9/11 Truth Movement" - type politics and opinion, to be precise.
This isn't the first time that a publication that is not an alternative
newspaper was mistakenly characterized as one. Community weeklies, GLBT
papers, arts and entertainment tabloids -- they are all occasionally
called alternative newspapers by confused reporters. Usually I just
shrug it off. But today I decided that perhaps I could make some small
contribution to human understanding and the brand equity of our member
papers by pointing it out every time I see the term used incorrectly. .
.
On behalf of the members of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies,
I hereby plant our flag in the white space between the words
"alternative" and "newspaper." We intend to defend this turf to the
death!
A big part of the problem is that many people use the term "alternative
newspaper" too literally. In the present case, for example, The Sun News
is a "newspaper" -- can't deny that. And it certainly is "alternative,"
in the American Heritage Dictionary definition sense of the word, i.e.,
"Existing outside traditional or established institutions or systems,"
and "Espousing or reflecting values that are different from those of the
establishment or mainstream."
But "alternative newspaper" is more than the sum of its parts. It is a
term of art that describes newspapers that share a certain set of
characteristics, which are roughly as follows:
Free-circulation tabloid. . . General interest coverage primarily
focused on local news, culture and the arts. . . Extensive entertainment
listings. . . Informal and sometimes profane writing style. . . Emphasis
on point-of-view reporting and narrative journalism. . . Reporting that
often concerns issues and communities that don't receive much attention
from other media. . . Political philosophy and organizational culture
based on tolerance for individual freedoms and social differences
With two or three minor exceptions, those characteristics apply squarely
to all 130 AAN member newspapers. They do not all apply to The Sun News.
One final thought: At this point in our history, we are not interested
in defending our use of the term "alternative." As I have explained to
many reporters who have asked me accusingly, "So what makes your papers
alternative, anyway?": In the 70s, when alternative newspapers first
began appearing in large numbers in urban areas across the U.S. and
Canada, we really did represent an alternative to the two daily papers,
three television networks and handful of magazines that most North
Americans were forced to turn to for news prior to the advent of cable
TV and the internet. Now, with the explosion in media choices wrought by
technology, we are just one of many alternative news sources. We
recognize that and don't mean to imply we are the only media option
outside of the mainstream. But after more than three decades of dropping
the F-bomb in print and sticking it to the man, we've built up a certain
amount of brand equity in the term "alternative newspaper," and we'd
rather not share it with the likes of Leland Lehrman, thank you.
http://aan.org/news/hey__that_s_not_an_alt_weekly_/Aan/ViewArticle?oid=197124
SUN NEWS
http://www.thesun-news.com/current.htm
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THE ALTERNATIVE NEWSPAPER CON
Sam Smith
Having been putting out alternative publications since before they had a
name, I have long been fascinated by the claim of certain free urban
weeklies that they are "alternative." As I wrote early in their
existence, when you read them you got the impression that when the
revolution came, the guerillas would come down the mountain wearing
jackets from Bloomingdales, on Head skis and listening to Walkmen. Jack
Shafer, then editor of the Washington City Paper put me straight,
explaining, "Look, we're not an alternative news medium; we're an
alternative advertising medium."
More recently, these urban weeklies have become the voice of the gentry
moving into our cities, modestly seeing themselves as part of a great
renaissance and perpetuating the corporate-friendly myth that cool and
hip are something you buy, attend or listen to rather than something you
are.
Now the executive director of the Association of Alternative
Newsweeklies is taking the con a step further: suggesting that these
faux alternatives have some sort of proprietary interest in the word. As
you read the following, it may help - or merely amaze - you to know some
of Richard Karpel's own history as an alternative voice taking on the
system as provided by his bio:
"Richard Karpel has been executive director of AAN since July 1995.
Before joining AAN, he worked for nine years in varying capacities with
the Video Software Dealers Association, the Encino, Calif.-based trade
group for the home video industry. . . While working for VSDA when it
was still jointly managed with the National Association of Recording
Merchandisers -- which represents retailers of recorded music -- Karpel
led NARM's government affairs program.
"In May 1980, he received a BS in Business Administration from the
University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, and three years later he
received a Juris Doctorate from Chicago-Kent College of Law."
Wow, cool.
RICHARD KARPEL, AAN - Apparently, a guy named Leland Lehrman is running
for the Democratic nomination to represent New Mexico in the U.S.
Senate. I know this because I subscribe to Google Alerts set to the term
"alternative newspaper," and I've received at least a dozen alerts
notifying me of newspaper stories about the Senate race in which Lehrman
is invariably described as an editor of "an alternative newspaper in
Santa Fe."
I've got nothing against Lehrman, but his publication, The Sun News, is
most assuredly not an "alternative newspaper." To its credit, The Sun
News is pretty unique and doesn't fit comfortably under any label. I
guess I'd call it a local journal of politics and opinion -- left-wing,
"9/11 Truth Movement" - type politics and opinion, to be precise.
This isn't the first time that a publication that is not an alternative
newspaper was mistakenly characterized as one. Community weeklies, GLBT
papers, arts and entertainment tabloids -- they are all occasionally
called alternative newspapers by confused reporters. Usually I just
shrug it off. But today I decided that perhaps I could make some small
contribution to human understanding and the brand equity of our member
papers by pointing it out every time I see the term used incorrectly. .
.
On behalf of the members of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies,
I hereby plant our flag in the white space between the words
"alternative" and "newspaper." We intend to defend this turf to the
death!
A big part of the problem is that many people use the term "alternative
newspaper" too literally. In the present case, for example, The Sun News
is a "newspaper" -- can't deny that. And it certainly is "alternative,"
in the American Heritage Dictionary definition sense of the word, i.e.,
"Existing outside traditional or established institutions or systems,"
and "Espousing or reflecting values that are different from those of the
establishment or mainstream."
But "alternative newspaper" is more than the sum of its parts. It is a
term of art that describes newspapers that share a certain set of
characteristics, which are roughly as follows:
Free-circulation tabloid. . . General interest coverage primarily
focused on local news, culture and the arts. . . Extensive entertainment
listings. . . Informal and sometimes profane writing style. . . Emphasis
on point-of-view reporting and narrative journalism. . . Reporting that
often concerns issues and communities that don't receive much attention
from other media. . . Political philosophy and organizational culture
based on tolerance for individual freedoms and social differences
With two or three minor exceptions, those characteristics apply squarely
to all 130 AAN member newspapers. They do not all apply to The Sun News.
One final thought: At this point in our history, we are not interested
in defending our use of the term "alternative." As I have explained to
many reporters who have asked me accusingly, "So what makes your papers
alternative, anyway?": In the 70s, when alternative newspapers first
began appearing in large numbers in urban areas across the U.S. and
Canada, we really did represent an alternative to the two daily papers,
three television networks and handful of magazines that most North
Americans were forced to turn to for news prior to the advent of cable
TV and the internet. Now, with the explosion in media choices wrought by
technology, we are just one of many alternative news sources. We
recognize that and don't mean to imply we are the only media option
outside of the mainstream. But after more than three decades of dropping
the F-bomb in print and sticking it to the man, we've built up a certain
amount of brand equity in the term "alternative newspaper," and we'd
rather not share it with the likes of Leland Lehrman, thank you.
http://aan.org/news/hey__that_s_not_an_alt_weekly_/Aan/ViewArticle?oid=197124
SUN NEWS
http://www.thesun-news.com/current.htm
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