Eighty-six alt-weeklies submitted 1038 entries for consideration in the 2009 AltWeekly Awards contest. The entries were spread over 21 categories, and, as expected, the total number of entries was down from 2008, by about 25 percent.

The number of entries is the lowest it has been since 2002, which means the downturn isn’t as precipitous as the decline in the average closing price of the S&P 500 stock market index, which last week reached levels that haven’t been seen since 1996.

The recession may have kept 18 alt-weeklies that entered the 2008 contest on the sidelines this year. However, seven other papers that did not participate in the 2008 contest submitted entries this year, so the net loss of participating papers was 11.

Finalists for this year’s contest will be announced in mid-May, and winners will be crowned at the AltWeekly Awards luncheon, to be held on Friday, June 26 during the 32nd annual AAN Convention in Tucson.