ALTERNATIVES FIGHT TO STAY EDGY UNDER CORPORATE OWNERSHIP

When The Hartford (Conn.) Courant announced its purchase of a group of alternative weeklies, including the Hartford Advocate, some in the alternative newspaper community worried that the Advocate, a longtime critic of the Courant, would lose its feisty independence.

The sale cleared federal regulators in late April, and the parent company plans to name a new chief executive to oversee the weeklies.

But in a time when major media companies are increasingly gobbling up smaller fish, and looking to reach the young and middle-aged readers who comprise the alternative media niche audience, the Courant acquisition raises a now-familiar question: Can an alternative paper retain its editorial identity and independence under mainstream management?

Louisiana paper's struggle

One place to look is Lafayette, La. There, alternative-media stalwart, The Times of Acadiana (a weekly with 33,000 free circulation) is struggling to maintain its identity under new ownership. After nearly 20 years of being the thorn in the side of The Advertiser (a daily with 41,000 paid circulation), the locally owned Times was sold in August to Thomson Newspapers, the daily's parent company.

So far, the transition into the Thomson fold has been rocky. Nearly the entire Times editorial staff of seven has turned over since the purchase. Meanwhile, a number of current and former employees, readers, and local industry people say that despite recent examples of good journalism by the Times, editorial content in a few instances has been watered down or squashed.

For example, The Times of Acadiana altered a cartoon that criticized an established local ambulance company, Acadian Ambulance. Publisher Beth Ardoin, who made the decision, says there were libel concerns. Critics say the incident was a classic example of a newspaper protecting a sacred cow and confirmed their worst fears of mainstream ownership of an alternative. 'I'm hoping it was just a one-time blip and there will continue to be diversity of reporting,' says Mike Maher, communication professor at the University of Southwestern Louisiana in Lafayette.

Just business

Thomson executives say they saw the purchase as a strategic business move and don't plan to change the formula that's made the alternative successful. 'They're two entirely different cultures, but we have done our best to keep all of that intact and gone out of our way to make sure they stay separate as editorial,' says Ed Moss, publisher of the Advertiser and CEO of Thomson's Acadiana strategic marketing group, which oversees both papers. As for critics, Thomson claims some former employees' motives are suspect.

The Advertiser started printing the Times on its