Republican Secretary of State Scott Gessler garnered national headlines recently when he ordered county clerks in Colorado not to send ballots to registered but inactive voters-- and in Colorado that means voters who missed just one election. Detractors called the effort attempted voter suppression and pointed to a host of similar Republican efforts launched nationwide in the wake of the Tea Party-wave election last November that swept Republicans into office across the country. Denver-based Free Speech TV explored the topic this week and asked Colorado Independent reporter John Tomasic, who has reported the story in-depth, to join the discussion.

Hanaa Rifaey, president of the American Independent News Network, which publishes the Michigan Messenger, was interviewed on Free Speech TV on Tuesday about the Occupy Wall Street protests and AINN’s continuing coverage of corporate influence on elections. Video below the fold.

Free Speech TV invited The Florida Independent's Virginia Chamlee on yesterday to discuss her recent feature examining the political clout wielded by Florida's sugar industry. Watch the segment, hosted by Marcy Miranda, after the jump.

Here’s a sentence you don’t see much these days: A new newspaper will hit the streets Thursday. Erin Chavez, former Associate Publisher of the Vail Mountaineer, which closed in June along with the Denver Daily News, will launch a weekly called “Sneak Peak Vail.”

The implementation of a case by case review of at least 300,000 deportation proceedings, announced by the Department of Homeland Security last week, has left room for questions among immigrant advocate groups.

The Iowa Independent’s parent nonprofit, The American Independent News Network, was accepted into the Association of Alternative Newsmedia as the group’s first web-only news outlet following a vote of approval during its annual membership meeting held in New Orleans last month.

The Minnesota Independent's parent nonprofit, the American Independent News Network, was accepted into the Association of Alternative Newsmedia as the group’s first web-only news outlet following a vote of approval during its annual membership meeting held in New Orleans last month. ANN, formerly the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, includes papers like City Pages and the Village Voice among its members.

The Minnesota Independent and seven other local sites were included in The Fix's annual list of best political blogs.

Minnesota Independent reporter Sam Lane recently appeared on Your Call radio in San Francisco. Aired on KALW Public Radio in San Francisco, Your Call hosts a weekly Media Roundtable during which journalists comment on and discuss the coverage of some of the world's biggest stories. Lane discussed the government shutdown as well as the controversy surrounding Rupert Murdoch's News of the World.

The Michigan Messenger’s Todd Heywood was on Off the Record with Tim Skubick this week talking about Gov. Snyder’s record, the presidential campaign in this state and much more. Video below the fold. Watch the full episode. See more Off the Record.