Don Eggert is an art director who loves deadlines: he thrives on the challenge of working against time constraints and enjoys the sense of relief that a job is done. He spent two hours, start to finish, creating his award-winning layout, "The Blogger." This is the 35th in a "How I Got That Story" series highlighting the AltWeekly Awards' first-place winners.
The 2006 AltWeekly Awards received 1554 entries from 99 member newspapers. Improvements made to the contest rules and Web site were successful in making the process less problematic. If the AAN staff is not buried alive by the onslaught of paper and FedEx boxes, we will next begin sorting entries and distributing them to the preliminary round judges.
Mara Shalhoup's award-winning feature story is a long-form narrative that often assumes the perspective of a teenage prostitute-turned-killer. It wasn't a hard article to write, Shalhoup says, and the strong response proves that readers want more stories with a human focus. This is the 34th in a "How I Got That Story" series highlighting the AltWeekly Awards' first-place winners.
By now, all newspapers planning to enter the 2005 AltWeekly Awards should have logged in to the contest site and reviewed the steps necessary to upload entries. Each entry must be registered online, regardless of whether the material itself is being entered in PDF or tearsheet format. As the midnight EST deadline approaches on Friday, the Web site may become slower, so don't wait until the last minute! Hard copies and payment must be received in the AAN office by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 24.
Tired of political rhetoric that went unchallenged, the Orlando Weekly team of Jeffrey C. Billman and J.J. Marley set about creating an annotated version of a speech by the mayor. Their format-busting work earned them an AltWeekly Award, even though Marley was rooting for a different issue to be entered. This is the 33rd in a "How I Got That Story" series highlighting the AltWeekly Awards' first-place winners.
Newmark, founder of free online classified site craigslist.org, will share his thoughts on the topic of journalism. He will also leave plenty of time for questions from the audience. Newmark will address conference attendees during the traditional AAN West lunch, which will be held this year on Saturday, Jan. 28.
Tom Christie led the staff of L.A. Weekly in kicking their year-end "Zeitlist" issue into gear. He says "it's surprising how the past year comes into focus" when compiling lists like "6 Reasons Why November 2 Wasn't a Total Gay Political Nightmare." This is the 32nd in a "How I Got That Story" series highlighting the AltWeekly Awards' first-place winners.
Whiten began working for AAN this week as editor of its alt-weekly portal, AltWeeklies.com. He received a M.A. in media studies last May from New York University, where he researched alt-weeklies and free commuter dailies. Whiten was also a freelance writer for the past four years, having reported on local politics and media for AAN member papers Boston's Weekly Dig and the New York Press, in addition to publications like Extra!, Block Magazine and the Jersey Journal.
David Butow has photographed some of the most dangerous places on Earth, including war-torn Iraq, where he documented violence and destruction in his award-winning shots for Los Angeles Citybeat. Yet he says it doesn't take him long to readjust to the L.A. mindset. This is the 31st in a "How I Got That Story" series highlighting the AltWeekly Awards' first-place winners.
To get a good cover, all you need is an old keyboard from the computer morgue, a Bible under a mechanic's spotlight, or an associate publisher willing to lie down and play dead. That's how Oklahoma Gazette art director Christopher Street and photographer Shannon Cornman came up with their award-winning cover designs. This is the 30th in a "How I Got That Story" series highlighting the AltWeekly Awards' first-place winners.
