Phoenix New Times

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Phoenix New Times
Image:Phoenix New Times front page.jpg
Type Alternative weekly
Format Tabloid
Owner Village Voice Media
Publisher Kurtis Barton
Editor Rick Barrs
Founded 1970
Headquarters 1201 E. Jefferson
Phoenix, AZ 85034
Flag of the United States United States
Circulation 111,408[1]
Website: phoenixnewtimes.com

The Phoenix New Times is a free, weekly Phoenix, Arizona newspaper, put out every Thursday. It is the founding publication of the New Times Media (now Village Voice Media), but The Village Voice is now the flagship publication of that company.

As the website puts it:

Since its founding in 1970, Phoenix New Times has kept the Valley of the Sun's feet to the fire. Over the years, the paper has attracted hundreds of thousands of loyal readers who consider the paper an unparalleled source of information and insight, from politics and business to music and the arts. Hard-hitting investigative reports on everything from the misadventures of Sheriff Joe Arpaio to the state's troubled juvenile justice system have earned the paper a well-deserved reputation for journalistic fearlessness, and trend-bending cultural coverage in the brash "Inferno" and "Revolver" columns make it a must-read for anyone interested in taking the temperature of "Phat Phoenix." In the process, New Times has collected an unprecedented number of reporting awards in prestigious national contests, as well as in its home state, where it regularly dominates the Arizona Press Club competition and boasts a string of Arizona Journalist of the Year winners. [2]

The paper was founded in 1970 by a group of students at Arizona State University, led by Michael Lacey and later, Jim Larkin as a counterculture response to the Kent State shootings in the spring of that year. Gary Brennan played a role in its creation.

Not only does the paper cover Phoenix and Arizona news issues, it also provides reviews of local restaurants, theater, art exhibits and Hollywood motion picture releases, and provides a listing of various concerts for all genres of music. It also features nationally syndicated relationship advice columnist Dan Savage. Every year, the New Times puts out a "Best of" issue, highlighting the best in restaurants, Nightclubs, shops, and the like in Phoenix.

Recently, Michael Lacey has come under some criticism for using a racially charged word. While accepting the President's Award at an Arizona chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, Lacey used the "N" word to refer to an old friend.[3][4]

[edit] Arrest controversy

In October 2007, Maricopa County sheriff's deputies arrested Lacey and Larkin on charges of revealing secret grand jury information concerning the investigations of the New Times's long-running feud with Maricopa County sheriff Joe Arpaio. In July of 2004, the New Times had published Arpaio's home address in the context of a story about his real estate dealings, which the County Attorney's office is investigating as a possible crime under Arizona state law. A special prosecutor served Village Voice Media with a subpoena ordering it to produce "all documents" related to the original real estate article, as well as "all Internet web site traffic information" to a number of articles that mentioned Arpaio. The prosecutor further ordered Village Voice Media to produce the IP addresses of all visitors to the Phoenix New Times website since January 1, 2004, as well as which websites those readers had been to prior to visiting. As an act of "civil disobedience,"[5] Lacey and Larkin published the contents of the subpoena on or around October 18, which resulted in their arrests the same day.[6] On the following day, the county attorney dropped the case after declining to pursue charges against the two.[7]

Prosecutors charge that the New Times had published Arpaio's personal home address, a crime in Arizona. The special prosecutor's subpoena included a demand for the names of all people who had read the Arpaio story on the newspaper's website. It was the revealing of the subpoena information by the New Times which led to the arrests.[8] Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas has dropped the charges less than 24 hours after the two were arrested.[9]

The paper has recently filed a formal notice of claim, which is required by Arizona law in order to sue government officials.[10][11]


[edit] References

  1. ^ Phoenix New Times. Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. Retrieved on 2007-02-20.
  2. ^ Phoenix - About
  3. ^ "Michael Lacey Causes Controversy While Accepting SPJ Award". Retrieved on 2008-04-20. 
  4. ^ Welch, Dennis. "Editor sorry for using “n-word” during speech", East Valley Tribune, 2008-04-07. Retrieved on 2008-04-20. 
  5. ^ Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin (October 18, 2007), Breathtaking Abuse of the Constitution, Phoenix New Times, <http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2007-10-18/news/breathtaking-abuse-of-the-constitution/1>. Retrieved on 20 October 2007 
  6. ^ Sheriff's deputies arrest New Times owners.
  7. ^ Associated Press (October 20, 2007), No Charges for Execs Arrested in 'Phoenix Times' Case, Editor & Publisher, <http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003661135>. Retrieved on 20 October 2007 
  8. ^ Carr, David. "Media Executives Arrested in Phoenix", The New York Times, 2007-10-19. Retrieved on 2007-10-20. 
  9. ^ Anglen, Robert. "Amid uproar, county attorney drops charges against 'New Times'", The Arizona Republic, 2007-10-20. Retrieved on 2007-10-20. 
  10. ^ "Phoenix New Times Files Prelude to Lawsuit in Grand Jury Probe Fiasco", Association of Alternative Weeklies, 2008-02-21. Retrieved on 2008-03-15. 
  11. ^ Kiefer, Michael. "'New Times' executives intend to sue Maricopa County over arrest", The Arizona Republic, 2008-02-21. Retrieved on 2008-03-15. 

[edit] External links