In the East Bay Press Club's 2006 Excellence in Print Journalism Contest, the Express finished first in nine categories: sports feature, business feature, technology feature, general news, columnist, long feature, lifestyle feature, criticism or reviewing, and profile. According to a press release, the awards are "somewhat unique in that all print media organizations are judged against each other -- there are no separate categories for circulation or for magazines." Winners were announced Friday evening at a banquet in Oakland.

Continue ReadingEast Bay Express Wins 17 Regional Journalism Awards

That's what the Washington Post is calling the reaction to City Paper's cover story about the "online 'closed social network' catering to preppy bons vivants" known as Late Night Shots. According to The Hill, the story "had [Late Night Shots] looking very elitist, a little racist and fairly misogynistic. What's more, reporter Angela Valdez named names." Since the story came out last week, City Paper's website has been "on fire" with "threats of lawsuits, attacks on Valdez and a rousing debate on social strata," the Hill reports. Editor Erik Wemple says he knew the story would get some play, but didn't think it would cause such a stir. Writers over at Wonkette remain less-than-impressed by the controversy, and by Late Night Shots in general: "When they quit crying that the mean free alt-weekly made fun of them and get back to coming up with comical terms for date rape and revealing their intense fear of black people without stock portfolios, maybe we'll once again give them the attention they so intensely desire."

Continue ReadingWashington City Paper Story Sets Off ‘Clique Warfare’

When the Advocate staff learned that the New Haven Police Department was holding a bumper sticker contest to advertise its gun hotline, they kicked around dozens of ideas, riffing on common bumper stickers. Ultimately, the paper decided to submit two: "My child is an Honor Student ... who hasn't learned how to fire a gun," and "I'd rather NOT be shooting a gun." The latter beat out 24 other slogans in votes cast by around 200 cops, the Hartford Courant reports. Advocate staff writer Chris Arnott wrote the text and production manager Matthew Ford did the design, according to the New Haven Independent. "This is a genuine thing," Arnott said at a press conference unveiling the stickers. "Not a snarky Advocate thing."

Continue ReadingNew Haven Advocate Wins Anti-Gun Bumper Sticker Contest

D.X. Ferris will author one of the first of the popular 33 1/3 books on heavy metal, according to a press release. The book series "documents some of the most important albums ever made," and Ferris will turn his attention to Slayer with 33 1/3: Reign in Blood. For the book, which is due out in Spring 2008, he's turning to like-minded Slayer fans for their input, via MySpace. "This is a cool project, and your questions will make it better," says Ferris. "And that way, in a few months, once you've dropped a few bucks on the thing, you won't put it down and think, 'I wish he would have written about this, that, and the other thing.'"

Continue ReadingCleveland Scene Staffer Tapped to Write Book

Chip Scanlan, Alex Kotlowitz, Michael Tisserand and several members of the AAN Editorial Committee will head the writers' portion of the program at the annual conference, which will be held Aug. 10-11 on the Northwestern University campus in Evanston, Ill. A design track has been added this year as well; Robb Montgomery, Luke Hayman, Lesa Snider King and members of the Design and Production Committee will head that program. The registration fee is $75 for AAN members.

Continue ReadingMedill Program Announced