Gannett Launching Weeklies in Lansing,
Boise, Ann Hinch, Association of Alternative
Newsweeklies
Gannett, the mega-publisher best known for its USA Today, plans to
invade Boise and Lansing, and alternative weeklies in the areas are
preparing for some stiff competition. Ann Hinch, writing for the
Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, notes that
local weekly publishers are worried about the advertising dollars
that the new weeklies will eat up, and are skeptical about the
quality of news that the papers will carry. Gannett’s Lansing
paper, REAL life, will feature ‘places to go, things to do,’
entertainment, pop culture, sex, music, and hot issues aimed at an
‘active, busy, Gen-X market,’ according to its editor, Michael
‘Mickey’ Hirten. But Berl Schwartz, publisher of the Lansing weekly
City Pulse, sees hypocrisy in the paper, saying it ‘will have no
teeth.’ ‘What is it an alternative to?’ he asks. ‘Itself?’
–Julie Madsen
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