Lagniappe (newspaper)

Lagniappe - "Something Extra for Mobile" - is a weekly newspaper published in Mobile, Alabama. Lagniappe was first published bi-weekly on July 24, 2002 under the guidance of 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, the Society of Professional Journalism's Green Eyeshades Awards and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies' annual contest.

According to Nielsen/Scarborough Media surveys, Lagniappe has a weekly print readership of nearly 80,000 and a monthly web readership of 50,000 viewers, making it the most read privately owned newspaper in south Alabama. Lagniappe is distributed to more than 1,300 locations in Mobile and Baldwin Counties.

Regular sections in Lagniappe are news, commentary, cuisine, music, style, arts, and sports.[2]

Since 2003, Lagniappe has sponsored and hosted the annual "Nappie Awards", where favorite local people, places, and things are chosen by readers' votes.[4]

The tabloid has been criticized as being highly sensational and selective about its news reporting to favor a largely white audience. Mobile's sole African-American mayor and currect state representative Sam Jones refers to it as the "lie-yapp", claiming the tabloid constantly publishes false stories about African-American politicians and rarely criticizes white politicians, even when other media outlets verify scandals they are involved in. [5] In another case, the newspaper actively coordinated with the Sandy Stimpson campaign to provide information to the Mobile County District Attorney's office in an effort to have Mayor Jones prosecuted. The newspaper's owner, Rob Holbert, initially denied any involvement, but later admitted to having launched the investigation after evidence of it surfaced. District Attorney Ashley Rich said that Holbert "requested a meeting with her" and provided what he considered evidence of the mayor's alleged wrongdoings. The mayor was cleared of all allegations by the DA. Lagniappe's reporting cited subpoenas issued to an unnamed business owner who alleged that the Jones campaign had spent money there without reporting it on financial disclosure forms. That allegation turned out to be false, according to Rich’s investigation. Lagniappe’s reporting made no mention of a meeting with Rich or any role Holbert may have had in initiating the official investigation, leading many in the community to question if Lagniappe is a relevant newspaper or a faux-newspaper pushing a Political machine agenda. [6] The Stimpson campaign was found to have been a regular full-page advertiser with the Lagniappe. [7]

The tabloid advertises it's readers' annual income as averaging over $75,000,[8] despite the average income in the area being under $43,000. [9]