Age of the Mega-Alternatives

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Mark Zusman, longtime editor of the Portland, Oregon, Willamette Week, a fine example of the independent local brand of alternative journalism, disagrees: "L.A. Weekly is probably one of the best in the country. It's owned by a chain that put a lot of money into it and let it be a Los Angeles paper -- not just a Village Voice West. And I think the Seattle Weekly will also benefit from being owned by Stern."

So far, Stern has practiced a hands-off approach to its new papers, neither setting editorial policy nor making major staff and management changes. New Times, on the other hand, frequently brings in new people to run a new paper and institute its trademark editorial formula:witty feature writing, and detailed investigative reporting. The New Times papers also share a similar design design. The owners also make it clear that they do not endorse candidates or promote any kind of progressive agenda. But that doesn' t mean the papers are necessarily political namby-pambies. Westword, a New Times paper in Denver, for example, broke headline-grabbing news of misdeeds at the Rocky Flats nuclear arsenal, and embarassed Denver' s two dailies in the process.

There are also signs of a powerful national alternative network in the making. This spring 65 alternative weeklies agreed to coordinate their coverage of the slashing of welfare benefits. With help from the Institute for Alternative Journalism and AAN, all of them published stories the first week of May about the effects of new federal welfare regulations in their communities. This is the first time the weeklies, who reach and estimated 15 million readers, have tried to exert national influence on a political issue. Some papers get an infusion of cash when they're purchased -- allowing them to do more thorough reporting and boost scandalously low wages -- but this shift in the world of alternative weeklies is not fueled by the altruistic pursuit of journalistic quality. It is powered primarily by the pursuit of profit, and as Williams points out, there is the danger that chains will leverage themselves to the hilt to buy new papers and then cut costs to stay afloat. In fact, according to the mainstream Arizona Republic, New Times has overextended itself financially with all its acquisitions.

These potential risks have yet to slow the buying frenzy. Zusman, of Portland's Willamette Week, says it' s not inconceivable that mainstream chains may be drawn to some of the more profitable weeklies -- especially now that many of the '60s generation publishers who own these papers are beginning to think of their own 60s and retirement.

Some mainstream papers have already tried to spawn their own arts and entertainment weeklies, dubbed "McAlternatives," to compete with the alternative papers. By and large, they have posed little threat, but a new competitor looms in the minds of some alternative publishers: the Internet. Microsoft will soon launch Sidewalk -- an online guide to arts and entertainment already up and running in Seattle -- in about a dozen cities coast to coast. And Yahoo and America On-Line also have launched local entertainment websites.

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