Sacramento Magazine's annual "assessment of those wielding power and influence in the region" includes one unlikely pick that caught our eye: an alt-weekly reporter. The mag picked Sacramento News & Review's Sena Christian -- known as the "Eco Warrior Princess" -- because she "goads and guilts us into environmental stewardship with lively prose about all things 'green,' from fashion to toilets." Christian covers the sustainability beat full-time for the N&R, and she's chronicling the paper's $1.4 million "green" renovation of an old grocery store, which will serve as the paper's offices when complete later this year.

Continue ReadingNews & Review Reporter Lands on ‘Power & Influence 100’ List

Two AAN members placed in the overall General Excellence categories: Louisiana's Independent Weekly finished second in the Class I division and OC Weekly finished third in the Class III division. In addition, both Riverfront Times (Special Sections and Arts and Entertainment) and Westword (Consumer Affairs and Food and Nutrition) were finalists in two story-topic categories. More than 1,100 entries were submitted to the annual contest administered by the Missouri School of Journalism, which calls it "the oldest and best-known feature writing and editing competition in American newspapering."

Continue ReadingAlt-Weeklies Honored in Missouri Lifestyle Journalism Awards

Peter Byrne is on leave from the North Bay Bohemian to write The Devil's Pitchfork: Multiple Universes, Mutually Assured Destruction, and the Meltdown of a Nuclear Family, a book he tells AAN News is about "quantum mechanics and multiple universes." Byrne recently learned that the project received a $35,000 grant from The Foundational Questions Institute, a group with a mission to "catalyze, support, and disseminate research on questions at the foundations of physics and cosmology."

Continue ReadingAlt-Weekly Reporter Gets $35,000 Grant for Book Project

Philadelphia Weekly and Seattle Weekly both finished first in two categories in this year's National Association of Black Journalists' Salute to Excellence National Media Awards. PW's Kia Gregory took first-place honors in Newspaper--Feature (Single Story) and Newspaper--Commentary, while Seattle Weekly's Mike Seely finished first in Newspaper--Sports and Brian Miller finished first in Newspaper-Business. Winners were announced Saturday in Chicago. This marks Seely's fourth award from the NABJ in the past five years, according to the Weekly.

Continue ReadingTwo AAN Members Win Four NABJ Awards

Gambit won a total of 12 awards at the 50th annual Press Club of New Orleans awards competition, including four first-place finishes. The paper took the Ashton Phelps Sr. Memorial Award for excellence in editorial writing, and finished first in column, general news, and headline writing. In addition, former Gambit intern and current contributor Lauren LaBorde was one of three students to receive a journalism scholarship at the ceremony.

Continue ReadingGambit Weekly Picks Up a Dozen Local Press Club Awards

In the non-daily print division, both the Memphis Flyer and Miami New Times won four first-place awards in the annual contest which "recognizes outstanding journalism in 11 southeastern states." The Flyer placed first in disaster coverage, editorial writing, feature reporting, and political reporting. It also tacked on two third-place finishes. Miami New Times finished first in consumer reporting, courts and law reporting, criticism (a category swept by alt-weeklies), and non-deadline news. New Times added one third-place finish as well. In addition, New Times Broward-Palm Beach took home two awards, including a first-place win for sports reporting; while both Mountain XPress and North Carolina's Independent Weekly went home with a second-place award. Winners were announced Saturday in Atlanta.

Continue ReadingAAN Members Fare Well at SPJ’s Green Eyeshade Awards

Tommy Russo, owner and publisher of Maui Time Weekly, has been chosen as one of Pacific Business News' annual "Forty Under 40" honorees, AAN News has learned. Meant to highlight Hawaii's top rising young businesspeople, the awards were handed out at a June 26 ceremony. Russo, who founded Maui Time in 1996, was previously named Maui's Young Business Person of the Year in 2005.

Continue ReadingMaui Time Weekly Publisher Honored by Weekly Business Paper

The Associated Press Managing Editors association selected winners for its annual awards this week in New York, and the group cited New Times in the First Amendment category for "for aggressively investigating and reporting on grand jury subpoenas seeking notes, tapes and confidential sources related to Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, an investigation that expanded to other citizens." The awards will be presented during the group's September conference in Las Vegas.

Continue ReadingPhoenix New Times Receives First Amendment Award from AP

Winners of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists' 2008 Column Writing Contest were announced Saturday night in New Orleans. The Village Voice's Lynn Yaeger took first in the Humor (circulation 100,000+) category; judges said she had a "very entertaining style that bounces right along." Edmund Newton, who writes the Tailpipe column for New Times Broward-Palm Beach, placed first in the Notes/Items (all circulations) category; judges said he takes readers on "a tasty ride through life's odder moments."

Continue ReadingTwo Alt-Weekly Writers Honored by Columnists’ Group

When the Los Angeles Press Club announced the 50th annual Southern California Journalism Awards on Saturday night, five AAN papers and an Associate Member were honored. LA Weekly took home 16 awards, including first place in Editorial Cartoon, Entertainment Feature, Online Entertainment, News/Feature/Commentary and Signed Commentary. OC Weekly won a total of five awards, including first place for Entertainment Reviews/Criticism/Column, Group Blog, and Sports. Ventura County Reporter received a first-place prize for News Feature, while Los Angeles CityBeat won three awards and Pasadena Weekly won two. Associate Member Amy Alkon, aka the Advice Goddess, won four awards, including first place for Column.

Continue ReadingAlt-Weeklies Well-Represented in LA Press Club Awards