When Steve Billings thought about what kind of food reviewer he wanted to be, he knew one thing. He didn't want to write dish-by-dish accounts of dining out. Instead, in his award-winning column for Metro Santa Cruz, he writes of the philosophy behind making sauerkraut, the goals of an organic farmer and other topical subjects. This is the 19th in a "How I Got That Story" series highlighting the AltWeekly Awards' first-place winners.

Continue ReadingSteve Billings: It’s Not Just About Food

U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay probably rues the day that Andrew Wheat first laid hands on a spreadsheet. Wheat's research at the liberal think tank Texans for Public Justice informs the political columns he writes for The Texas Observer. His award-winning columns followed the money corporations donated to a political action committee to places it perhaps ought not to have been going. This is the 18th in a "How I Got That Story" series highlighting the AltWeekly Awards' first-place winners.

Continue ReadingAndrew Wheat: Following the Corporate Money

One of the secret weapons in Betty Brink's reporting arsenal is the way she looks. Because she cuts a grandmotherly figure, people can't help but confide in her. The reporter who started out at an underground paper in college now does award-winning news reporting for Fort Worth Weekly. This is the 17th in a "How I Got That Story" series highlighting the AltWeekly Awards' first-place winners.

Continue ReadingBetty Brink: Going From the Underground to the Alternative Press

Steve Bogira of the Chicago Reader writes primarily about urban poverty. One place where poor people's stories are told again and again, with unexpected nuances, is in the courtroom. Bogira's award-winning column, Courtside, recounts these stories, as does his recent book, Courtroom 302. This is the 16th in a "How I Got That Story" series highlighting the AltWeekly Awards' first-place winners.

Continue ReadingSteve Bogira: Presenting Court Cases for Readers to Judge

The Association of Alternative Newsweeklies today announced the speakers and events for our two staff training conferences, AAN West and AAN East. Registration materials are being mailed to member papers; they should arrive shortly after Thanksgiving, in plenty of time for the early registration deadlines. Check the conference Web sites often for updates.

Continue ReadingProgramming Announced for AAN East and AAN West

In the same year that Ayana Taylor served as a diversity intern for the Jackson Free Press, she wrote three news stories that won her a first-place AltWeekly Award. She believes it's her persistence that has made interview subjects open up to her, even when they didn't want to talk to the media. This is the 15th in a "How I Got That Story" series highlighting the AltWeekly Awards' first-place winners.

Continue ReadingAyana Taylor: Gaining the Trust of Resistant Sources

Now that it has distributed a total of $2,797.71 to each of Gambit Weekly's 48 staffers, AAN has closed the relief fund designed to help the paper's employees overcome the blow delivered by Hurricane Katrina. In the 10 weeks since it was established, the Gambit Relief Fund received donations totaling $135,558 from 33 organizations and more than 240 individuals. A complete list of contributors appears at the bottom of the story.

Continue ReadingFinal Gambit Relief Fund Payments Are Issued

Harvey A. Silverglate brings to his commentary on legal issues for The Boston Phoenix an impressive background. He is not only a journalist but a practicing lawyer, one with an acute sense of the failings of the criminal-justice system. His political column, Freedom Watch, won a 2005 AltWeekly Award. This is the 14th in a "How I Got That Story" series highlighting the AltWeekly Awards' first-place winners.

Continue ReadingHarvey A. Silverglate: Railing Against Injustice

A young man was serving a life sentence for second-degree murder, and a forensic psychologist who worked on the case didn't believe the teenager had done it. So he turned to Ann Mullen, then a writer at Detroit's Metro Times. She dug around and wrote an in-depth story on the flaws in the Detroit Police Department's investigation. Six months later, the young man was freed. This is the 13th in a "How I Got That Story" series highlighting the AltWeekly Awards' first-place winners.

Continue ReadingAnn Mullen: Righting a Wrongful Conviction