Lagniappe (newspaper)

Lagniappe is a weekly newspaper published in Mobile, Alabama.

History[]

Lagniappe was first published bi-weekly on July 24, 2002 by co-publishers Ashley Toland and Rob Holbert, who now serve as editor and managing editor respectively. The tabloid's original slogan was “Keep Mobile Funky!”^[1][2] Beginning April 2014, Lagniappe is published weekly. Since 2004, the Mobile Press Club has honored Lagniappe for its reporting and features.^[3] Lagniappe has also won several awards in the Alabama Press Association's Better Newspaper Contest,^[4] the Society of Professional Journalism's Green Eyeshades Awards^[5] and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies' annual contest.^[6] In 2018, the Lagniappe was a finalist for the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce's "Small Business of the Year" award.^[7]

Since 2003, Lagniappe has sponsored and hosted the annual "Nappie Awards", where favorite local people, places, and things are chosen by readers' votes.^[8]

Lagniappe has been a frequent critic of former Mobile Mayor Sam Jones; Jones has accused the paper of falsifying information and distortion.^[9] Jones has refused to be interviewed by the Lagniappe. ^[10]

A Mobile County District Attorney investigation was reported to have been initiated via Lagniappe co-publisher Rob Holbert after Holbert had scheduled a meeting with Chad Tucker, a public relations representative from the prosecutor's office. Holbert initially denied meeting Tucker until he was told that Tucker had gone on record about the meeting. In the meeting, Holbert discussed Jones's campaign finances with Tucker, who passed the information on to an investigator. The investigation concluded with no charges, characterizing the issue as "little more than some sloppy book keeping." Tucker was later hired to be the campaign manager for Jones's rival Sandy Stimpson. ^[11]

References[]