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St. Pete Times’ former publisher Marty Petty named new Creative Loafing Inc. CEO

Monday, November 16th, 2009

Marty PettyCreative Loafing Inc. today announced Marty Petty as its new chief executive officer.

Petty is the former publisher and executive vice president of the St. Petersburg Times and Hartford Courant. She began her newspaper career at the Kansas City Star and Times in 1983.

“I’m invigorated by the possibilities to deepen relationships with our readers and advertisers and expand our influence in our communities,” Petty said in a statement. “The coverage areas which have differentiated and distinguished the alternative press historically may be more important than ever.”

She continued: “This is an opportunity to lead a truly unique company in one of the most economically challenging times we have known. But these remain vibrant markets and it’s a wide open field as all media are challenged to redefine themselves to meet consumers changing lifestyles and information needs.”

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UPDATE: Southern Voice, David shut down

Monday, November 16th, 2009

best_of_gay_atlanta_logoRichard Eldredge tweets that the Southern Voice and David, Atlanta’s leading gay publications, have been shut down. Eldredge says staffers came to work today to find the locks changed.

In February, the NYC-based Gay City News reported that the Avalon Equity Fund, a parent company majority shareholder in SoVo, Washington Blade and several other gay publications’ parent company Unite Media, had been forced into liquidation and faced federal receivership. People familiar with the matter recently told CL they were unaware of the company’s fate. (Project Q Atlanta’s been following the story closely.)

UPDATE: “We had been told that essentially we’d be sold down the road,” SoVo Editor Laura Douglas-Brown tells CL. “We had no inclination it’d be this morning. Everyone’s in shock right now.”

SoVo News Editor Dyana Bagby tells CL that a news budget had been prepared for this week’s issue. She covered two events this weekend and was going to write up articles for the publication.

“The thing to keep in mind is that this is not just Southern Voice,” Douglas-Brown says. “This is also the Washington Blade, which has been the gay paper of record for our country for the last 40 years. And David Magazine and the paper in Fort Lauderdale. It’s not just a loss for the employees, but the gay community as well.”

Since its founding nearly 21 years ago, SoVo has been the strongest voice covering Atlanta’s gay community. Bagby, a dogged reporter who offered clear and concise reporting of the recent Atlanta Eagle raid and other LGBT issues, helped bolster SoVo’s online presence. Staff Writer Matt Schafer could commonly be found in the Gold Dome press box covering policy decisions in a state that, by and large, hasn’t exactly been friendly to gay rights. Douglas-Brown says the paper employed approximately 20 people.

“No one was in it just for the job,” Douglas-Brown says. “Everybody was in it for the cause too, in their own ways. People have put up with a lot difficulties over the past year, and have hung in there because they cared. It’s tragic and I’m desperately sorry it ended this way, especially for the people who’ve worked so hard.

She continues: “[The closure] didn’t happen because of a lack of need for our publications. It didn’t happen because of a lack of hard dedicated work by local staff. And that’s the shame of it…It’s a sad tale, how it all came crashing down.”

UPDATE: Project Q Atlanta posts a photo of the one-page announcement that greeted the publications’ staffers.

The text reads:

It is with GREAT regret that we must inform you that effective immediately, the operations of Window Media, LLC and Unite Media, LLC have closed down.

Please return to this office on WEDNESDAY, November 18th, 2009 at 11:00 AM to collect personal belongings and to receive information on your separation stipulations. Please bring boxes and/or containers that will allow you to collect all your personal belongings at one time.

Regretfully,

Steve Myers
Mike Kitchens

Myers is the publisher. Kitchens, Project Q reports, is a longtime Window Media executive. We’re trying to touch base with Unite Media and Window Media. More to come.

UPDATE: Erik Wemple of the Washington City Paper, CL’s sister publication, reports that  Washington Blade staffers will launch a new publication, minus the debt load of its former parent company.

UPDATE: Kristi Swartz of the AJC offers a thorough rundown of Window Media’s financial woes, including quotes from former SoVo staffers about the closure.

AJC abandons political endorsements, continues mission to shed identity

Monday, October 12th, 2009

AJCFor weeks, there have been whispers that the Atlanta Journal-Constitution wouldn’t offer endorsements for the upcoming Atlanta mayoral elections. If so, the move would’ve been a startling about-face from an editorial board made famous by legendary editor Ralph McGill.

Late Friday evening, the paper sent word. In a note to readers, the board said it was done with endorsements.

We have heard from readers — and we agree — that you don’t need us to tell you how to vote. What readers tell us they need is information on who the candidates are, what they have done and what they want to do in the new job.

While this sounds very forward-thinking and probably could be spun as “bold new thinking” in NewspaperLand, we think it’s hogwash.

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Jim Walls of Atlanta Unfiltered wins investigative fellowship

Thursday, August 20th, 2009

Jim Walls, the former head of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s investigative team and one-man tour de force behind local site Atlanta Unfiltered, has been awarded a $1,000 fellowship from the Investigative Reporters and Editors. Other winners include Jonathan Jones and Anna Sussman, founders of backpackjournalist.org.

Walls, who took a buyout from the paper last year, has been producing outstanding work since joining the blogosphere in March. He’s beat his old paper on numerous stories, sifted through hundreds of public documents, and even been known to get snarky a bit here and there. Says Walls:

This truly is an unexpected honor for which I am very grateful. This also is an opportunity to note that Atlanta Unfiltered would be honored to accept your financial donation to help us keep shining a light on the public’s business. Atlantans clearly place a high value on solid, unbiased, local investigative reporting (Unfiltered received 65,000 page views in the last month alone).

You can help him out by visiting his site and kicking in some cash.  Congrats, Jim.

Last week’s top posts: Piedmont Park’s stinky problem, AJC’s moving plans, and Andisheh’s case for a public option

Monday, August 17th, 2009

1. Hundreds of fish die in Piedmont Park’s Lake Clara Meer (Turns out it was more like thousands of fish that perished, reportedly from dissolved oxygen. Who knows what Sir Paul thought?)

2. AJC may abandon Marietta Street (Today we learned the paper’s new HQ will be in the action-packed ‘burbs come next June.)

3. Why I want a public option (Andisheh Nouraee clearly states why there needs to be an alternative to private health insurance.)

4. Columnist’s solution to gay sex in parks? Attack dogs. (Marietta Daily Journal resident curmudgeon enlightens us with his wonderful idea of how Marietta City Council should send gays “back to Atlanta where they belong.”)

5. Fulton, Forsyth ban chaining your dog (Beginning Sept. 4, dogs in Fulton County cannot be chained or tethered to a fixed object unless held by an attendant or by the owner.)

(Photo by Thomas Wheatley)

Bankruptcy judge sets auction date for ownership of Creative Loafing alt-weekly chain

Monday, July 13th, 2009

Our colleague Wayne Garcia at CL’s sister paper in Tampa reports:

And it will be on Aug. 25, during a hearing in downtown Tampa that will start at 10 a.m. Federal Bankruptcy Judge Caryl E. Delano today approved a disclosure statement for Creative Loafing’s reorganization plan after a week of intensive talks between the chain’s owners, in the form of company CEO Ben Eason, and its largest creditor, Atalaya Capital Management LP.

Atalaya is the investment fund that was owed $31 million from financing CL’s 2007 pay-down of debt and purchase of the Chicago Reader and Washington City Paper. As part of the negotiations, Atalaya has agreed to write-down its promissory note to $12 million, which would be repaid at 8 percent interest-only for five years and balloon due at that point.

According to the terms of the reorganization plan and promises made in court today, all CL creditors would be paid in full with two exceptions: Atalaya and BIA Digital Partners, which provided additional lending in the 2007 deals. BIA is now part of an Eason-led equity group that will bid for ownership against Atalaya.

“We are on board and supportive of moving forward under this process,” Atalaya’s lawyer, Tyler Brown, told the judge via telephone during the noon hearing.

That means that Atalaya is supporting the reorganization plan and auction process. It remains, however, interested in owning the nation’s second-largest [alternative] newspaper chain and has put in what is called a “stalking horse offer” of $2 million that will be the first bid up during the Aug. 25 equity auction, at which anybody can essentially bid to own the post-bankruptcy Creative Loafing.

Continue reading “Bankruptcy judge sets auction date for ownership of Creative Loafing alt-weekly chain” …

Paste magazine: ‘Save Paste’ campaign hits halfway point

Wednesday, May 20th, 2009

Paste magazine, the Decatur-based music mag that’s reaching out for help during a crushing advertising downturn, says it’s reached the halfway point in its campaign.

From the magazine:

When we launched the campaign, we had no idea what to expect. We knew some readers had offered to help, but we braced for the worst. The response has been phenomenal. Readers, press and even advertisers showed remarkable support. We’ve been amazed, humbled and inspired.

So far we have raised $148,000! That was the minimum that we needed to keep us going into the summer; we never expected to hit this goal so quickly. Thank you! We have the most amazing readers in the world, and we now know—in a very real way—that we hold this thing called Paste in trust for you and will work diligently to honor that.

We still have a ways to go. Most of our debt will be paid out of revenues when the economy starts to rebound and advertisers return, but we need $300,000 to take care of bills that spiraled up during the ad slump. We’re halfway to that goal and more confident than ever that Paste will make it.

If you’re one of the thousands that have donated, you have our deepest gratitude. This crazy campaign is working. If you haven’t donated solely because you thought the effort was futile, it is not. And just check out those amazing songs that are yours for whatever you want to donate.

More musicians — including Robert Pollard of Guided By Voices, Neko Case, Cee Lo Green — have been added to the Paste Station Download Vault, a 120-song repository available to contributors. There are also contest prizes, such as tickets to the Austin City Limits Festival and “an entire Of Montreal Skeletal Lamping Collection.” For more information about the magazine or to contribute to the effort, visit Paste magazine.

The full release from Paste follows after the jump.

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Last week’s top posts

Monday, March 30th, 2009

1. AJC plans to cut staff by 30 percent (As we later reported, nearly 90 editorial staffers will be bought out or laid off. That sucks.)

2. Atlanta to New Orleans rail line in danger … because of Alabama? (At least this story has a happy ending.)

3. Atlanta City Council OKs Decatur Belt deal— with a catch (Marietta Street residents protect their neighborhood from destruction, and the newest Beltline plan is a win-win)

4. Examining the Sweet 16: Nova v. Duke is can’t miss basketball (Needless to say, we rooted for the Tar Heels.)

5. Georgia slips in ’safest state’ rankings to no. 39 (The Peach State dropped seven spots, to be exact — the largest plummet in the country. Oops.)

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

AJC plans to cut staff by 30 percent

Wednesday, March 25th, 2009

After weeks of rumors, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution this morning announced that it plans to cut 30 percent of its full-time newsroom staff. It will be the third and largest round of job cuts  since 2007 to hit metro Atlanta’s largest daily newspaper. Effective April 26, the AJC will also stop distribution to seven outlying counties, reducing its total distribution area to 20 counties in the metro region.

From a staff report:

The AJC’s news staff will drop to about 230 full-time positions, down from about 323 currently. Staff members with five or more years with the company will be offered voluntary buyouts, with layoffs to follow if fewer than about 90 apply, the company said.

Most of the news staff cuts “will be in production and management, allowing us to keep as many news reporters as possible,” AJC and ajc.com editor Julia Wallace said.

The cuts are expected to be completed in May.

The company laid off 48 part-time news staffers Tuesday and announced the full-time cuts Wednesday morning.

In 2006, full-time newsroom staff numbered about 500.

(UPDATE): Rumored counties dropped from distribution: Barrow, Bibb, Clarke, Houston, Monroe, Oconee, Putnam.

More to come.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

Decatur Metro questions the future of Atlanta journalism

Friday, March 13th, 2009

Decatur Metro has a great conversation about my colleague Scott Henry’s news that the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newsroom is bracing for yet another round of job cuts.

Commenters weigh in on what’s to blame for the quickening, whether it’s the Internet, liberal bias, or other factors. (For what it’s worth, Whet Moser, an excellent writer at CL’s sister paper The Chicago Reader, has an excellent piece that nails the various factors at play in journalism.)

One commenter who claims to be an AJC journalist added some firsthand experience to the discussion. This part stood out:

You print lovers need to brace yourself. I think there’s a real possibility that the print version of the AJC may be gone by the end of next year. Yes, I’m serious.

Not good.

Creative Loafing Inc. bankruptcy hearing continues, CEO testifies today

Thursday, March 12th, 2009

Our Tampa colleague, Wayne Garcia, is closely following Creative Loafing’s court appearance today in Florida, during which the company’s CEO is arguing to maintain ownership of his six newspapers. Here’s Garcia’s second post from yesterday’s proceedings:

From an afternoon of Ph.D.- or MBA-level financial testimony, here’s the bottom line in the hearing for control of the Creative Loafing chain of alternative weekly newspapers:

– Lender Atalaya Capital concluded its case with testimony from Deloitte valuation expert Stamos Nicholas, who went through a detailed report he produced that concludes Creative Loafing’s value as a company dropped from $19 million on Sept. 30, 2008 — a day after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection — to $11.4 million by Dec. 31, 2008. Nicholas blamed falling revenues and operating margins at the chain, as well as a general economic collapse in the wider economy.

CL’s attorney Tim Andreu challenged Nicholas’ report on cross-examination, pointing out that Nicholas did not speak with the chain’s management to learn more details about the financial assumptions he used for his valuation.

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Jim Wooten to retire from AJC

Saturday, January 17th, 2009

Jason Pye at Peach Pundit posts an email from Susan Meyers that says Jim Wooten, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s lone conservative voice and a 30-year veteran at the paper, will retire this summer.

In news that may shock some, be regarded as inevitable to others, Jim Wooten, the voice of principled conservative thought at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, announced to the staff Friday he will retire this summer after three decades at the newspaper.

Wooten, an award-winning journalist, can be thanked for his years of columns and editorials calling on elected officials to spend taxpayer funds as if it were being depleted from their own wallets.

As the Associate Editorial Page Editor, it is believed Wooten will continue to post a weekly Thinking Right column as he enjoys life as a Middle Georgia farmer. To read Wooten’s bio please click here.

Who’s gonna take Wooten’s place? DaleC?

UPDATE: Here’s where to go for details if you’re interested in becoming the paper’s new conservative columnist.

Sanjay Gupta for Obama’s surgeon general?

Tuesday, January 6th, 2009

The Washington Post reports President-elect Barack Obama has asked CNN’s Sanjay Gupta to become the next surgeon general. Gupta, who does a commendable job performing heart surgeries neurosurgery (thanks, mom!) when he’s not practicing journalism, lives in Atlanta with his family.

From the Post:

Gupta has told administration officials that he wants the job, and the final vetting process is under way. He has asked for a few days to figure out the financial and logistical details of moving his family from Atlanta to Washington but is expected to accept the offer.

UPDATE: Rick Sanchez has been asked to accept the role of New Media Czar. Wolf Blitzer to become deputy undersecretary of beards! We just might get some Atlanta folk in this administration!

(Thanks to Andisheh for bringing this to my attention.)

Rick Sanchez’s, Britney Spears’ Twitter accounts hacked

Monday, January 5th, 2009

Rick Sanchez, the CNN anchor who is the living, breathing embodiment of truth and hope, says via Twitter that his account was hacked. Also targeted: President-elect Barack Obama (”What is your opinion on Barack Obama? Take the survey and possibly win $500 in free gas.”), Fox News (”Breaking: Bill O Riley is gay”) and Britney Spears (”HI Yall! Brit Brit here, just wanted to update you all on the size of my vagina. Its about 4 feet wide with razor sharp teeth.”) Valleywag says posters at 4chan are claiming credit for the Spears hack.

Below, the “hacked” Sanchez update. Honestly, I thought this would’ve cleared up some of his earlier tweets. (Kidding! We love ya, Rick! And kind tip of the sombrero to Waxmuseum for the find.)

After the jump, Sanchez’s tweets reacting to what happened. (”Something about crack? great??”)

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Atlanta is the nation’s fifth most literate city!

Tuesday, December 30th, 2008

For the third time in four years, Atlanta is one of the nation’s top-five cities for literacy. The ranking is based on local newspaper and magazine circulation (yay for Creative Loafing!), library data, online news readership (thanks, Fresh Loaf!), book purchases and educational attainment.

Minneapolis and Seattle were tied for most literate city, followed by Washington D.C., St. Paul, San Francisco and Atlanta.

According to this story, the data for the 2008 rankings came from the U.S. Census Bureau, American Booksellers Association, Audit Bureau of Circulations, Yellow Pages and other sources.

(Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

CNN’s Rick Sanchez, film buff

Tuesday, December 30th, 2008

He always struck me as more of a film noir type. Interesting.

NYTimes: New Jersey altweekly flourishes…in print

Wednesday, December 24th, 2008

New York Times media columnist David Carr had an eye-opening article yesterday about TriCityNews, an Asbury Park, N.J. altweekly with a circulation of 10,000, a skeleton-crew staff, and an enviable profit margin at a time when newspapers — and magazines, as well — are seeing layoffs, dwindling revenues and bankruptcies. (Carr mentions Creative Loafing Inc. in the article.)

How’d Dan Jacobson, the paper’s publisher and owner, do it? In what would seem a suicidal move, he invested his energy and focus into the print “product” and saw it become an item readers clamored to pick up.  He set advertising rates 10 years ago and maintained them, and in the process, developed a loyal list of clients. Most importantly, he says, he ignored the publishing pack’s rush to gain an online presence and completely ignored the web. (Look at the paper’s website.) It appears — in this case, at least — there’s something to be said about safeguarding your content.

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Creative Loafing CEO wins more time

Thursday, December 18th, 2008
Ben Eason

Ben Eason

Wayne Garcia, our colleague at CL’s Tampa paper, attended today’s hearing about Creative Loafing Inc.’s bankruptcy protection proceedings.

Garcia reports:

Current Creative Loafing CEO and Chairman Ben Eason won a partial victory in federal bankruptcy court in Tampa today as Judge Caryl E. Delano refused to grant a motion by lender Atalaya to give it ownership of the company.

At a preliminary hearing this afternoon, Delano ruled that Creative Loafing’s reorganization plan should move forward and that it is too early to say that it can’t work. If it were nine months or more into the bankruptcy, Delano said from the bench, such a motion would be worth pursuing. “We’re three months into the case. I think the debtor should be provided a reasonable opportunity…. This case has been on a short string,” Delano told the parties in court. “The debtor has complied with those timetables” in producing a preliminary reorganization plan.

Garcia reports the judge scheduled an evidentiary hearing for Jan. 21. A hearing to review the proposed reorganization plan has also been scheduled for Jan. 26. Read more at Garcia’s blog.

(Photo by Jim Stawniak)

AJC’s Mike King writes final column

Monday, December 15th, 2008

He goes out quoting Mark Twain:

Mark Twain famously said it was a terrible death to be talked to death. He also had this to say about journalists who feel compelled to write valedictories when they end their careers: “If there is anything more uncalled for … it is one of those tearful, blubbery, long-winded “valedictories” —- where a man who has been annoying the public for ten years can not take leave of them without sitting down to cry out a column and a half.”

My last day at the newspaper was Friday. It has been a pleasure over a 37-year career to have had a chance to annoy you, first as public editor and more recently as an editorial columnist, for the last eight years. Thanks to the newspaper for the platform and to you for reading.

King has been a familiar voice on education and issues affecting Cobb County, where he lives. Earlier this year, he penned a poignant column about his wife Anne’s sudden death. (Full disclosure: I went to high school with King’s children.)

If you want to get in touch with him, his personal e-mail is listed at the bottom of his final column.

(Hat tip to Doug at Live Apartment Fire)

AJC shrinks circulation, cuts 156 jobs

Wednesday, December 10th, 2008

Effective Jan. 11, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution says it will shrink its circulation area to 27 counties and cut 156 jobs. The affected counties are mostly located along the Alabama and North Carolina borders (full list is available through the link). Jobs slated to be cut appear to be in the circulation department. (If I’m mistaken, please correct me in the comments or via e-mail. Anonymity guaranteed.)

From the report:

The move will reduce daily and Sunday circulation about 5 percent. But it will not significantly affect overall readership — a measure of readers rather than the number of copies — because that is based on a 28-county area, the AJC said.

The company said 215 employees have been offered involuntary severance packages as part of a restructuring of the circulation department, but that they may apply for 59 jobs created by the changes. The net reduction is 156 full- and part-time positions.

Atlanta Peach is no more

Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008

Luxury lifestyle magazine Atlanta Peach shut down yesterday.

The AJC reports the staff was told yesterday:

Human resource representatives from parent company Niche Media Holdings arrived at the publication’s Buckhead offices Tuesday and informed publisher Elizabeth Schulte Roth and her staff that the magazine was suspending publication, citing the current economy.

The company representatives then confiscated the staff’s corporate BlackBerrys. By early Wednesday morning, the Atlanta Peach magazine Web site had already been dismantled.

I was a regular freelance contributor to Peach in 2006 and early 2007. It was a great job — the staff was talented and fun, and it paid well. I only quit because I joined CL full-time in 2007.

Cox shutting down D.C. bureau

Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008

Cox Newspapers, a subsidiary of Cox Communications and owner of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, says it will shut down its national and international news bureau in Washington, D.C. on April 1, 2009.

A company memo posted on Romenesko says the AJC and Dayton Daily News will “manage their own Washington and international newsgathering independently following the national bureau’s closing through dedicated correspondents in D.C.” Eligible employees of the D.C. bureau will be offered “generous” severance packages and continued employment until March 31. Bureau chief Andy Alexander will retire at the end of the year.

“The Washington news bureau and its chief, Andy Alexander, have an impressive and storied history in Washington and in our company,” Sandy Schwartz, Cox Newspapers president, said in the memo. “For more than 30 years, the reporters of this bureau have broken an untold number of stories that have had an impact on the lives of our readers in cities and towns all across the U.S. The Cox Washington bureau has won or shared virtually every major American journalism award, including the Pulitzer Prize.”

After the jump, read the entire memo. It includes details about Alexander’s career — it’s been an impressive one — and information about the international bureau.

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CNN’s Rick Sanchez hurt by cootie bashers, luvs Irish people

Wednesday, November 26th, 2008

I <3 U 2, Rick.

(Screenshot from Sanchez’s Facebook profile)

CL fires Editor Ken Edelstein

Monday, November 24th, 2008

In a move that stunned staffers, Creative Loafing Atlanta Publisher Luann Labedz announced this morning  that Editor Ken Edelstein was fired. A tearful editorial staff followed him out of the building to say goodbye.

Labedz said Edelstein’s firing was a “confidential personnel matter” and that she could not elaborate. A call to Edelstein reached his voicemail.

“This was an involuntary termination,” Edelstein told the AJC. “I feel very comfortable that I did the right thing, and I love my staff.”

Atlanta Magazine senior editor — and former CL staffer — Steve Fennessy has been covering CL’s ongoing Chapter 11 filing and has more details on Edelstein’s firing, including comments from John Sugg, a former CL editor.

Edelstein joined CL’s staff as a senior writer and became managing editor in 1998. Two years later, he was named editor of the paper. Prior to joining CL Edelstein worked 10 years for the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer and was a freelance journalist in Washington, D.C., Australia and Mexico.

During his decade leading the editorial staff, the paper has won more than 30 regional and national awards for investigative reporting, news writing, columnists, criticism, food writing and other categories. While at the helm, Edelstein helped shift the paper’s focus on listings to more hard news and investigative journalism. Recently, Edelstein has led a dedicated effort to increase CL’s online presence despite budget restraints and cuts to his team.

No word yet on Edelstein’s replacement.

CL expands into Chicago and D.C.

Tuesday, July 24th, 2007

Creative Loafing Inc. completed an acquisition Monday that nearly doubles the size of our company. Two of the nation’s most outstanding alternative newsweeklies — the Chicago Reader and the Washington City Paper — along with their websites have joined our family of newspapers and websites in Atlanta, Charlotte, Tampa-St. Petersburg and Sarasota.

This is a big step for us. I’m confident it will enhance our mission: to help urban explorers enrich their lives and strengthen their communities.

We are thrilled that CL will be in a better position to lead our industry of alternative newspapers into the excitement of new local search, the next model for online classifieds and better ways to connect with people who share similar passions for culture and life. We hope you’ll continue to push us to meet your needs for content and that you’ll continue to share our hopes for the future of our civic life. This is the essence of what Creative Loafing is all about.

There has never been a more exciting or challenging time in the publishing business. Unlike the dailies, we have a real connection with young, sophisticated readers who share our unconventional perspective on the world and on their communities, and with people of all ages who relish experiencing the cultural assets in the cities where they live, work and play.

We’ve built that relationship by providing hard-hitting journalism, comprehensive “see and do” listings, award-winning criticism, insightful columns and, increasingly on the Web, a lively exchange among our readers about local politics and culture.

None of that changes with this acquisition. In fact, we think the combination will give us new resources to expand and to better serve our audience and advertisers.

Over the last few years, we’ve begun publishing zoned advertisements; expanded Web offerings with such features as blogs, podcasts and deals for readers; and developed a suite of exciting, fun events that appeal to our audience of urban explorers. We’ve transformed ourselves into a company that offers all kinds of new platforms and tools for our audience of active, educated people.

Some of you remember the beginning of these newspapers. We’ve been a part of Atlanta since my folks, Debbie and Chick Eason, founded the first Creative Loafing in Atlanta in 1972. We expanded to Charlotte in 1987, Tampa in 1988 and we expanded into Sarasota in 1999. We are a minority investor in the Birmingham Weekly. My sisters, Taylor and Jennie, work with me at Creative Loafing, and this is still very much a family business.

Now we have two major additions. The Chicago Reader, founded in 1971, was one of the first alternative newspapers in the country. It now has an average weekly circulation of 135,000 papers. The Washington City Paper, founded in 1982, has an average circulation of 80,000. Our acquisition also includes the Straight Dope column, whose website (straightdope.com) has nearly 2.3 million page views every month.

Creative Loafing Inc. now has a total circulation of more than 500,000 papers and more than 10 million page views online every month. We think we’ll be more attractive to national advertisers than we were separately, and it will be a real advantage to combine forces in expanding our Web publishing.

This acquisition reflects our confidence in the future of alternative publishing. Certainly, we will serve our audience and advertisers better than ever before.

Ben Eason is the chairman and CEO of Creative Loafing Inc.