They may have been somewhat overshadowed by Dan Savage’s performance at the AltWeekly Awards Luncheon on Friday, but nonetheless, forty-one first-place winners were crowned in Tucson last week for their outstanding work.
L.A. Weekly led the large-circulation division for the second year in a row with four first-place wins, while Santa Fe Reporter led the small-circulation division, also with four first-place wins.
Washington City Paper, City Pages, Phoenix New Times and The Village Voice all received multiple first-place awards in the large-circulation division, while Folio Weekly, Metro Pulse and The Texas Observer repeated the accomplishment among the smaller papers.
And in keeping with AAN’s efforts to promote diversity, “random zombie fans” at Santa Fe Reporter won their first ever AltWeekly Award, a milestone achievement for zombie fans everywhere.
A full list of all winners, along with links to the stories and design work, can be found below.
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DESIGN CATEGORIES
COVER DESIGN circulation 50,000 and over
First Place: Miami New Times, Share the F*&%ing Road, I’m HIV Positive, and Drop-Dead Sexy by Pam Shavalier
Second Place: Willamette Week, The Queer and the Qur’an, Nope, and Yeah! by the Willamette Week Design & Production Staff
Third Place: Riverfront Times, Cougar Heaven, The Veep Fair, and Lip Service by Tom Carlson
COVER DESIGN circulation under 50,000
First Place: Santa Fe Reporter, The Politics of Eating, Down and Dirty, and Vote by Angela Moore
Second Place: Boston’s Weekly Dig, I Want to Ride My Flycycle, Spring Dining Guide, and Abs of Wood by the Weekly Dig Staff
Third Place: Nashville Scene, Gettin’ Jacked, Best of Nashville, and Reckless Love by Rob Williams
EDITORIAL LAYOUT circulation 50,000 and over
First Place: LA Weekly, Death of a Hollywood Beauty by Darrick Rainey
Second Place: NOW Magazine, Banning Handguns in Canada by Troy Beyer
Third Place: Village Voice, The Ultimate Re-Vamping by Ivylise Simones and Howard Huang
Honorable Mention: Phoenix New Times, Green Fatigue by Peter Storch and Jasmine Hobeheidar
Honorable Mention: Village Voice, Prodigy’s 25th Hour by Ivylise Simones
EDITORIAL LAYOUT circulation under 50,000
First Place: Gambit Weekly, Gone Daddy Gone by Amy Morvant
Second Place: Pacific Northwest Inlander, Fall Arts Preview (See Gallery) by Chris Bovey
Third Place: Fast Forward Weekly, The Cinematic Sounds of Calgary’s Underground (download pdf) by Riley Brandt and Kris Twyman
Honorable Mention: San Luis Obispo New Times, Secrets of Recycling (download pdf) by Patrick Howe, Alex Zuniga and Steve E. Miller
ILLUSTRATION circulation 50,000 and over
First Place: Riverfront Times, 7-Up vs. Coke, Part 2 by Brian Stauffer
Second Place: Village Voice, A Wing and a Prayer by Christian Northeast
Third Place: Baltimore City Paper, Sizzlin’ Summer by Paige Shuttleworth
ILLUSTRATION circulation under 50,000
First Place: Santa Fe Reporter, Eureka by Richard Borge
Second Place: Fast Forward Weekly, Twin Peaked by Julie McLaughlin
Third Place: Seven Days, Say Yes! by Matt Mignanelli
PHOTOGRAPHY circulation 50,000 and over
First Place: Baltimore City Paper, City Paper Freelancers 2008 by John Ellsberry, Frank Hamilton, Frank Klein, Michael Northrup, Ryan “Rarah” Stevenson and Jefferson Jackson Steele
Second Place: Riverfront Times, Fighter, It Girls, Life Is Short, Lip Service, Thousand Dollar Baby, Fist City, Mistress, D.I.Y., and Princess by Jennifer Silverberg
Third Place: Washington City Paper, Truce and Consequences, Best of D.C., and When the Rebar Hits the Road by Darrow Montgomery
PHOTOGRAPHY circulation under 50,000
First Place: Style Weekly, Scott Elmquist Photography by Scott Elmquist
Second Place: Folio Weekly, Through The Lens by Walter Coker
Third Place: San Luis Obispo New Times, Momento Mori by Steve E. Miller
2009 Photography Finalist Gallery
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WRITING CATEGORIES
ARTS CRITICISM circulation 50,000 and over
First Place: Washington City Paper, Pine of the Times, Sheet Smart, and Pain by Numbers by Jeffry Cudlin
Second Place: Village Voice, Kill One for the Gipper, What We Learned about the Election in This Summer’s Movies, and Deep Freeze by Jim Hoberman
Third Place: LA Weekly, Benjamin Button, Diary of the Dead, and The Visitor by Scott Foundas
Honorable Mention: LA Weekly, From Reverence to Rape, Waugh and Remembrance, and Was Roman Polanski a Pedophile? by Ella Taylor
ARTS CRITICISM circulation under 50,000
First Place: Metroland, Not as They Seem, Branching Out, and Everything Is Illuminated by Meisha Rosenberg
Second Place: Independent Weekly (NC), Kipper Kids, El Greco, and USPO by Amy White
Third Place: Metro Pulse, So, This Is My Life… by Charles Maldonado
ARTS FEATURE circulation 50,000 and over
First Place: LA Weekly, No Exit Plan and The Life and Death of JT Leroy by Nancy Rommelmann
Second Place: Chicago Reader, Life Without a Script by Anne Ford
Third Place: The Pitch, A Picture of Hope by Jason Harper
ARTS FEATURE circulation under 50,000
First Place: Metro Pulse, Lowbrow Genius by Coury Turczyn
Second Place: Fort Worth Weekly, Magical Misery Tour by Jeff Prince
Third Place: Metro Santa Cruz, Unlock & Roll by Curtis Cartier
COLUMN circulation 50,000 and over
First Place: Phoenix New Times, Globe High School Censors its Student Newspaper, Peter Singer to Talk at ASU, and Sarah Fenske’s in Dogged Pursuit by Sarah Fenske
Second Place: Dallas Observer, No Nature for Old Men, What’s in a Nombre, and Eat My Dirt by Jim Schutze
Third Place: Philadelphia Weekly, “The Angry Grammarian” Sarah Palin: Diagrammed, Web of Confusion, and Ebonics by Jeff Barg
Honorable Mention: OC Weekly, “¡Ask a Mexican!” Why won’t Mexicans vote for a black man?, Is It Racist to Call a Mexican Working at a Coffee Shop a ‘Beaner’?, and Cherry-Picking César Chávez by Gustavo Arellano
COLUMN circulation under 50,000
First Place: Folio Weekly, Sugar Land, Dumb & Dumber, and History Lesson by Anne Schindler
Second Place: Colorado Springs Independent, “Ranger Rich” by Rich Tosches
Third Place: Portland Mercury, “In the Shadows” by Matt Davis
Honorable Mention: Orlando Weekly, “Police Beat” by Jeffrey C. Billman
COLUMN — POLITICAL circulation 50,000 and over
First Place: Village Voice, Bloomberg’s Velvet Coup, Bloomberg’s Term-Limits Coup, and Eliot Spitzer Goes Down by Tom Robbins
Second Place: Chicago Reader, “The Works” Jul. 3, Sep. 18, and Oct. 16 by Ben Joravsky
Third Place: Metro Times, Just Go, Guilty as Charged, and Obama’s Moment by Curt Guyette & W. Kim Heron
COLUMN — POLITICAL circulation under 50,000
First Place: Birmingham Weekly, Gettin’ Gay with Leapin’ Larry, Alabama Exceptionalism, and Leapin’ Larry Fights the Feds by Kyle Whitmire
Second Place: San Luis Obispo New Times, Don’t mess with Uncle Sam, Pot and porn, and Semantics, Romantics by the New Times Staff
Third Place: Pacific Northwest Inlander, Interdependents, Rotten Crumbs, and Obama for President by Ted S. McGregor
FEATURE STORY circulation 50,000 and over
First Place: Westword, The Good Soldier by Joel Warner
Second Place: Creative Loafing (Atlanta), Sober by Thomas Wheatley
Third Place: Westword, Father of Invention by Joel Warner
Honorable Mention: Houston Press, Mental Anguish by Margaret Downing
Honorable Mention: LA Weekly, From Silver Lake to Suicide by Barry Isaacson
FEATURE STORY circulation under 50,000
First Place: Texas Observer, Private Trauma by Patrick Michels
Second Place: Fort Worth Weekly, His Last War by Jeff Prince
Third Place: Texas Observer, See No Evil by Emily DePrang
Honorable Mention: Pacific Northwest Inlander, Boys of Summer (pdf) by Luke Baumgarten
FOOD WRITING circulation 50,000 and over
First Place: LA Weekly, Breaking Free, Keep on Trucking, and A Proper Brasserie by Jonathan Gold
Second Place: Riverfront Times, The Pope of Pork by Kristen Hinman
Third Place: City Pages (Twin Cities), Spam: It’s not just for Inboxes, With Honeycrisp’s Patent, and Manny’s Attempts to Raise the Steaks by Rachel Hutton
FOOD WRITING circulation under 50,000
First Place: Metro Santa Cruz, The Jester’s Quest by Christina Waters
Second Place: Monterey County Weekly, Spit Fire Flavor by Mark C. Anderson
Third Place: Santa Fe Reporter, Fast Approaching, Chase the Dragon, and Peanut Gallery by A Qasimi
INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING circulation 50,000 and over
First Place: Phoenix New Times, Prescription for Disaster by John Dickerson
Second Place: Westword, State of Emergency by Jared Maher
Third Place: Baltimore City Paper, The Shadow Economy Series: Flight Connections, Redemption Song and Dance, One Angry Man, Creative Licensing, Preacher, Teacher, Forger, Spy, Grave Accusations, Friends of Milton Tillman Jr., All the Emperor’s Men, Citizen of the Year, and All Around Player by Jeffrey Anderson, Edward Ericson Jr., Chris Landers, and Van Smith
Honorable Mention: New Times Broward-Palm Beach, To Hug a Porcupine by Deirdra Funcheon
INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING circulation under 50,000
First Place: Orlando Weekly, Might Makes Right by Jeffrey C. Billman
Second Place: Santa Barbara Independent, Greka’s Monkey Business by Ethan Stewart
Third Place: Folio Weekly, Don’t Bother (pdf) by Susan Clark Armstrong
MEDIA REPORTING/CRITICISM circulation 50,000 and over
First Place: Washington City Paper, One Mission, Two Newsrooms by Erik Wemple
Second Place: Westword, The Rocky Mountain News is Going Down, Five Rocky Stars Who Could Be Going Up, and Last Rites on the Rocky Mountain News’s Twittering by Michael Roberts
Third Place: Philadelphia Weekly, Pushing Paper by G.W. Miller III
MEDIA REPORTING/CRITICISM circulation under 50,000
The first-place winner of this category will receive the Connye Miller Award for Media Reporting, a cash prize of $300. Miller served as the founding editor and co-publisher of The Local Planet Weekly in Spokane, Wash. The award, endowed by her husband Matt Spaur, commemorates Miller’s dedication to her newspaper’s role as a media critic and watchdog. Miller died in June 2003 from complications related to the rare disease porphyria.
First Place: Arkansas Times, Fear Factor by David Koon and Gerard Matthews
Second Place: Independent Weekly (NC), Cuts to Run Deep at N&O, The Herald-Sun’s nosedive, and What’s Up? More bad news at The N&O by Fiona Morgan
Third Place: Orlando Weekly, The Incredible Shrinking Sentinel by Jeffrey C. Billman, Billy Manes, Deanna Sheffield and Bob Whitby
Honorable Mention: Tucson Weekly, “Media Watch”: KUAZ Firing Brings Possible End to Mortimer’s 50-Year Career, KGUN Reporter Investigated for Allegedly Impersonating Victim-Witness Advocate, and Layoffs at ‘Citizen’ Lighter Than at Other Gannett Operations by John Schuster and Tim Vanderpool
MUSIC REPORTING / CRITICISM circulation 50,000 and over
First Place: Village Voice, Down In Front by Rob Harvilla
Second Place: Boston Phoenix, Newport, Nights Out, and Fourth Quarter CDs by Jon Garelick
Third Place: Dallas Observer, Swagger Like Us by Pete Freedman
MUSIC REPORTING / CRITICISM circulation under 50,000
First Place: Pacific Northwest Inlander, Abe Kennedy, Noise, and Pap by Luke Baumgarten
Second Place: Independent Weekly (NC), Pity for Black Kids, Lil Wayne, and Billy Corgan’s Bombast by Robbie Mackey
Third Place: Orlando Weekly, Euro With a Thousand Faces, Wither Without You, and Beach Blanket Brilliance by Justin Strout
NEWS STORY — LONG FORM circulation 50,000 and over
First Place: SF Weekly, Snitch by Ashley Harrell
Second Place: Village Voice, NYPD Inaction Over A Missing Black Woman Found Dead Sparks a Historic Racial-Bias Lawsuit by Sean Gardiner
Third Place: Willamette Week, Señor Smith Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 by Beth Slovic
NEWS STORY — LONG FORM circulation under 50,000
First Place: Folio Weekly, Trial & Error (pdf) by Gwynedd Stuart
Second Place: Pacific Northwest Inlander, Busted by Nicholas Deshais
Third Place: Texas Observer, Systemic Neglect by Dave Mann
NEWS STORY — SHORT FORM circulation 50,000 and over
First Place: City Pages (Twin Cities), Midwest Oil Mining a Crude Idea, Local Couples Fight for Gay Rights, and Holly Collins Returns by Beth Walton
Second Place: Miami New Times, Killers in the Can, Burn Baby Burn, and Voter Fraud Ahead by Francisco Alvarado
Third Place (tie): Salt Lake City Weekly, Secret Police; Crime and Prejudice; Graybar Hotel by Ted McDonough
Third Place (tie): San Francisco Bay Guardian, Godzilla versus Mothra, Nuclear Fallout, and Vicious Circle by Sarah Phelan
NEWS STORY — SHORT FORM circulation under 50,000
First Place: Louisville Eccentric Observer, Taming the Wild West, Turn off the Radio, and Double Whammy by Phillip Bailey
Second Place: Portland Mercury, Blog This, Taser Eraser, and Leonard’s Secret List by Matt Davis
Third Place: Pasadena Weekly, The Weekly is no Tom Tombrello, The great Pasadena Bond Caper, and Hater Nation by Joe Piasecki
SPECIAL TOPIC — ELECTION COVERAGE circulation 50,000 and over
First Place: City Pages (Twin Cities), Moles Wanted, Police Raid Anarchist Homes, and Dozens of Journalists Arrested at RNC by Matt Snyders
Second Place: Phoenix New Times, John McCain’s Fame is Based on His POW Status, But He Has Abandoned Fellow Veterans by Amy Silverman
Third Place: Village Voice, The Book of Sarah (Palin) by Wayne Barrett
SPECIAL TOPIC — ELECTION COVERAGE circulation under 50,000
First Place: Texas Observer, John McCain’s Gramm Gamble by Patricia Kilday Hart
Second Place (tie): City Newspaper, Election Action 2008 by Christine Carrie Fien, Jeremy Moule, Tim Louis Macaluso, Mary Anna Towler, and Karl Slominski
Second Place (tie): Portland Phoenix, Election 2008 Coverage by Portland Phoenix Staff and Freelancers
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MISCELLANEOUS CATEGORIES
BLOG circulation 50,000 and over
First Place: Houston Press, Hair Balls by The Houston Press Staff
Second Place: Washington City Paper, City Desk by The Washington City Paper Staff
Third Place: San Francisco Bay Guardian, Politics Blog by The San Francisco Bay Guardian Staff
Honorable Mention: Austin Chronicle, Newsdesk by The Austin Chronicle News Staff
BLOG circulation under 50,000
First Place: Santa Fe Reporter, Swing State of Mind by Dave Maass and staff
Second Place: Gambit Weekly, Blog of New Orleans by The Gambit Weekly Staff
Third Place: Arkansas Times, Arkansas Blog by Max Brantley
CARTOON
First Place: Tom the Dancing Bug by Ruben Bolling
Second Place: Slowpoke by Jen Sorensen
Third Place: Worst-Case Scenario & Hip Tip by Kenny Be (Westword)
Honorable Mention: Mr. Fish by Dwayne Booth (LA Weekly)
INNOVATION / FORMAT BUSTER circulation 50,000 and over
First Place: Washington City Paper, Washington City Paper Files for Chapter 86 Content Bankruptcy by Erik Wemple, Andrew Beaujon and Jule Banville
Second Place: Metro Times, The Adventures of Kwame-man (web version) (download pdf) by Curt Guyette, W. Kim Heron and Sean Bieri
Third Place: Village Voice, The Official Village Voice Election-Season Guide to the Right-Wing Blogosphere by Roy Edroso
INNOVATION / FORMAT BUSTER circulation under 50,000
First Place: Santa Fe Reporter, Things To Do in Santa Fe When You’re Undead by Dave Maass, Ursula Coyote and Random Zombie Fans.
Second Place: Metro Pulse, Superhero vs. Autobiographical Comics (download pdf) by Coury Turczyn, Matthew Everett and Travis Gray
Third Place: Fast Forward Weekly, Christmas Sex Stories Contest: “A Tingle of Joy” (pdf), “Barely Christmas” (pdf), and “Treesome” (pdf) by Tom Bagley, Genevieve Simm and Travis Sengaus
Honorable Mention: Orlando Weekly, Anti-coverage for Anti-Pop (download pdf) by Justin Strout and Shan Stumpf
PUBLIC SERVICE circulation 50,000 and over
First Place: Long Island Press, Heroin by Robbie Woliver, Timothy Bolger, and Michael M. Martino
Second Place: Houston Press, Selling You by Craig Malisow
Third Place: Metro Times, Detroit’s Big Burn by Curt Guyette
PUBLIC SERVICE circulation under 50,000
First Place: Metro Pulse, “Jackie Walker”: The Jackie Walker Story, Local Hero, and A Promise Kept by Betty Bean
Second Place: San Antonio Current, Hot Wired, The Series by Greg Harman
Third Place: Arkansas Times, The Fayetteville Shale Play by Gerard Matthews, David Koon and John Williams
Honorable Mention: City Newspaper, Reportage of the Rochester, NY Public Defender Search by Christine Carrie Fien, Jeremy Moule and Mary Anna Towler
SPECIAL SECTION circulation 50,000 and over
First Place: LA Weekly, LA People 2008 by Laurie Ochoa and LA Weekly staff
Second Place: Seattle Weekly, Teach Me Tonight : Seattle Weekly’s 2008 Fall Arts Guide by Mark D. Fefer
Third Place: City Pages (Twin Cities), Comix Issue by Freelance Contributors
Honorable Mention: Village Voice, Best of NYC by Village Voice Staff
SPECIAL SECTION circulation under 50,000
First Place: Seven Days, What’s Good: The Student’s Off-Campus Guide to Burlington by Don Eggert, Cathy Resmer and Paula Routly
Second Place: North Bay Bohemian, Arcadia by North Bay Bohemian Staff
Third Place: Source Weekly, The Source Weekly’s Dining Guide by Elise Jones
Honorable Mention: Cincinnati CityBeat, Annual Manual by CityBeat Staff
Honorable Mention: Santa Fe Reporter, Devour, a Locavore’s Guide to Santa Fe by Gwyneth Doland, Larry Kohr and Angela Moore
