The newly minted Pulitzer-winning LA Weekly food critic talks process with On the Media's Brooke Gladstone, saying he doesn't take notes and shies away from fancy food vocabulary and Latinate synonyms. "It must be said that there is only one word that means 'salty,' and if you try to get beyond something being salty -- you know, briny or oceanic -- you're overwriting, and the prose suffers," Gold says. Noting Gold's "intense" devotion to meat, Gladstone asks the critic if he receives letters from vegans demanding equal time. "Yeah, I get letters from vegans, usually more in sorrow than in anger," he says, adding that he also gets a lot of letters from Jewish people complaining that he writes "an awful lot about pork." Over a meal of huaraches with a succulent beef brain and more, Gold tells the Washington Post's William Booth he's eaten at somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 restaurants in LA, and that he finds new haunts by scouring ethnic newspapers. "I don't understand a word of it, but they list an address and I go," he says.

Continue ReadingJonathan Gold Continues His Post-Pulitzer Press Rounds

The Society of Professional Journalists named their finalists yesterday, and AAN papers received seven nominations, including clean sweeps of the weekly news and features categories. Miami New Times and New Times Broward-Palm Beach lead the pack with two nominations, while Creative Loafing (Charlotte), the Memphis Flyer and the Nashville Scene each garnered one. The awards, which honor journalistic excellence in 11 southeastern states, will be announced May 5 in Nashville.

Continue ReadingAlt-Weeklies Well-Represented in Green Eyeshade Award Nominations

They're everywhere -- bars, clubs, Laundromats, post offices, even churches: people busily typing away on the small keypads that are built into the various phones, Sidekicks, Blackberries, Treos and PDAs without which they couldn't survive. We take a look at what a few alt-weeklies are doing to get their content to this new mobile set.

Continue ReadingMobilizing Mobile Technology for Alt-Weeklies

Last week, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) gave the Oklahoma Gazette its Outstanding Media Award for contributions to the goals of NAMI Oklahoma. According to NAMI Oklahama member Jo Rogers, the alt-weekly "provides information for those of us interested in legislative issues which may involve mental health and associated funding."

Continue ReadingOklahoma Gazette Cited for Reporting on Mental Illness

Last week, U.S. Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ) said he would step down from the House Intelligence Committee after a FBI raid on his offices. The New York Times reports the investigation "involves accusations that he improperly used his influence as a congressman to engineer a land swap benefiting a business associate" -- accusations first revealed by New Times last October. In addition, the federal prosecutor who began the investigation was one of the eight U.S. Attorneys fired by the Bush administration last year. But as the Times notes, thus far documents released by the Justice Department "detail a handful of reasons" for officials' unhappiness with Paul Charlton, but do not mention the Renzi investigation.

Continue ReadingPhoenix New Times Story Helps Push Congressman from Committee

Robert Meyerowitz will replace Tony Ortega, who transferred last month after he was named editor of the Village Voice. Meyerowitz served as editor-in-chief of the Anchorage Press from 1998 to 2003. According to a Village Voice Media press release, he also covered the civil war in Nicaragua, freelanced for VVM's Phoenix New Times, and briefly served as editor of the Honolulu Weekly. In an e-mail to Broward-Palm Beach staff, VVM executive associate editor Andy Van De Voorde says Meyerowitz received kudos from Anchorage's daily for "thoughtful and provocative journalism." He adds: "I believe that same description applies in spades to your own paper, and in that sense I think you will find Robert a kindred spirit."

Continue ReadingVeteran Journo Named Editor of New Times Broward-Palm Beach