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Did the LA Weekly try to muscle in as the sole media purveyor at this weekend's Sunset Junction street festival? A "media muckups" piece in the latest L.A. Alternative Press says so:
[The fair] celebrates an 'intersection' of various cultures, lifestyles and identities that runs through the Silver Lake community. Bondage meets barrio. Cakewalk meets the Walkmen. Bohemia meets taqueria. That’s why it’s shockingly offensive that the LA Weekly would to try to strongarm the event’s promoters into barring all other media outlets from Sunset Junction this year.Needless to say the disturbing request to sign any sort of media exclusivity contract was promptly refused by event founder Michael McKinley. Weekly publisher Beth Sestanovich was unavailable for comment. But this is not the first time the Weekly has used its role as sponsor to slip event promoters a contract that would promise the paper sole marketing and media jurisdiction. And sadly, promoters of smaller, less lucrative events are not in the position to refuse....
That the LA Weekly would attempt to monopolize the third largest public street event in this city is unethical. But the very notion of trying to stifle diversity at a celebration of diversity is mindboggling.
From the looks of its website, the Weekly carries just a single story about the fair in tomorrow's issue. CityBeat has a piece online about the fair and is said to have a 12-page pullout, but I haven't seen the paper yet to be sure.