Order of Finish Will Be Announced at the AAN Convention on June 2.
This year’s AAN Editorial Awards Contest began in January with 83 papers submitting 763 entries in 13 categories. Three months and 78 judges later, the award winners have been selected.
The order of finish in each category will be revealed during a special luncheon on Friday, June 2 at the AAN convention in Phoenix.
This year’s awards pool consists of 74 entries representing 42 papers. In the large paper division, the Boston Phoenix led the field with five winning entries. Right behind are Baltimore City Paper, City Pages, LA Weekly and Washington City Paper with three winners each. In the small-paper circulation division, the Independent Weekly led the way with four winners. Gambit Weekly, San Antonio Current and Texas Observer were a close second, each with three winning entries.
The fifth annual edit competition was once again marked by several outstanding individual efforts. In the small-paper division, Anne Constable of Santa Fe Reporter, Debbie Nathan of San Antonio Current and Michael King of Texas Observer will each receive two awards. And in the large-paper division, Baltimore City Paper’s Molly Rath was honored in the same category for two different stories. Rath’s “Back to Reform School, as well as her “West-Side Story” (which was co-written by Brennen Jensen) are both finalists in the News Story category.
Although most award winners will have to wait until June 2nd to learn their fate, there’s no mystery left in the case of two winners. In the large paper division of the Column category, the judges chose to award only a first-place prize; it went to the Houston Press ‘ Margaret Downing. And in recognition of the Pulitzer Prize-winning “AIDS: The Agony of Africa”, the judges in the Feature Story category have honored the Village Voice’s Mark Schoofs with a Special Citation for International Reporting.
Here’s the complete list of winners by category, in alphabetical order by the winner’s last name:
(AAN will link to the entries below that are posted on the web; papers with winning entries are encouraged to submit URLs to Jimmy Askew at jaskew@aan.org.)
ARTS CRITICISM
Circulation Above 54,000
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
Lloyd Schwartz, Boston Phoenix
Circulation Below 54,000
Garry Boulard, Gambit Weekly
Godfrey Cheshire, Independent Weekly
Michael King, Texas Observer
ARTS FEATURE
Circulation Above 54,000
“Poetry and Los Angeles at the Millennium” by Brendan Bernhard, LA Weekly
“This Old Crater” by Edward Lebow, Phoenix New Times
“Give Us the Money” by Chris Thompson, East Bay Express
“Dan Schneider vs. the Rest of the World” by Brad Zellar, City Pages
Circulation Below 54,000
“Can Sandra Survive San Antonio? Can San Anto Survive Her?” by Debbie Nathan, San Antonio Current
“Why Springfield Isn’t Normal” by Pete Sherman, Illinois Times
CARTOON
Circulation Above 54,000
Alex Burns, Creative Loafing (Atlanta)
Steven DeCinzo, Metro Silicon Valley
David Sipress, Boston Phoenix
Circulation Below 54,000
Jerry James, San Luis Obispo New Times
Greg Kerr, Ottawa X Press
V. Cullum Rogers, Independent Weekly
COLUMN
Circulation Above 54,000
Margaret Downing, Houston Press
Circulation Below 54,000
Liz Langley, Orlando Weekly
Melinda Ruley, Independent Weekly
COLUMN-POLITICAL COMMENTARY
Circulation Above 54,000
Ben Joravsky, Chicago Reader
Jim Schutze, Dallas Observer
Jill Stewart, New Times Los Angeles
Circulation Below 54,000
Clancy DuBos, Gambit Weekly
John Hazlehurst, Colorado Springs Independent
Bob Snell, Folio Weekly
CORRECTIONS REPORTING
Circulation Above 54,000
“Inside” by Jim DeFede, Miami New Times
“Trouble in Mind” by Steve McVicker, Houston Press
Circulation Below 54,000
“The Death Lottery” by Eric Bates, Independent Weekly
“Cruel and Unusual” by Betty Brink, FW Weekly
FEATURE STORY
Circulation Above 54,000
“L.A. on $7.37 a Day” by Celeste Fremon, LA Weekly
“My So-Called Stalker” by Erica Hoffman, Washington City Paper
“Dead Dogs Walking” by Melinda Roth, Riverfront Times
“The Terminator” by Amy Silverman, Phoenix New Times
Circulation Below 54,000
“Just Like It” by Anne Constable, Santa Fe Reporter
“Death in the Desert” by Lynda Edwards, Orlando Weekly
Special Citation, International Reporting
“AIDS: The Agony of Africa” by Mark Schoofs, The Village Voice
ILLUSTRATION
Circulation Above 54,000
“Nazi Guards” by Johanna Goodman, Seattle Weekly
“My So-Called Stalker” by Robert Meganck, Washington City Paper
“Dirty Little Air War” by Brian Stauffer, City Pages
“Abe Lincoln Was a Fag–and Other ‘Truths of Gay History'” by Dale Stephanos, Boston Phoenix
Circulation Below 54,000
“Christmas With Uncle Pucker, CityBeat and Other Holiday Disasters” by Ryan Greis, Cincinnati CityBeat
“The Evolution of Racism” by Mark Karcher and Chris Martiniano, Gambit Weekly
“Mother vs. Murder” by Sophia Naess, San Antonio Current
“Book ‘Em” by Charlie Powell, Metro Pulse
INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING
Circulation Above 54,000
“Above the Law” by Willy Stern, Nashville Scene
“Comrades in Crime” by Mike Tobin, Cleveland Scene
“The Other Face of Tri-Met” by Bob Young, Willamette Week
Circulation Below 54,000
“What Really Happened to the Class of ’99?” by Nate Blakeslee and Karen Olsson, Texas Observer
“Mother vs. Murder” by Debbie Nathan, San Antonio Current
“Whitehouse Scandal” by Anne Schindler, Folio Weekly
MEDIA REPORTING
Circulation Above 54,000
“After the Honeymoon” by Dan Kennedy, Boston Phoenix
“Bad News” by Steven Mikulan, LA Weekly
“Nice Guy, Wrong Job” by Jim Mullin, Miami New Times
“Black & White and Red All Over” by David Schimke, City Pages
Circulation Below 54,000
“No Peace at Pacifica” by Michael King, Texas Observer
“Star-Bulletin Shot Down!” by Robert M. Rees, Honolulu Weekly
“Below the Fold” by Joe Tarr, Metro Pulse
MUSIC CRITICISM
Circulation Above 54,000
Mark Athitakis, SF Weekly
Jon Garelick, Boston Phoenix
Rich Kane, OC Weekly
Randall Roberts, Riverfront Times
Circulation Below 54,000
Chad Oliveiri, City Newspaper
Russ Tarby, Syracuse New Times
NEWS STORY
Circulation Above 54,000
“Up Against the Oil” by Monte Paulsen, Metro Times
“Back to Reform School” by Molly Rath, Baltimore City Paper
“West-Side Story” by Molly Rath and Brennen Jensen, Baltimore City Paper
“Raising McCain” by Amanda Ripley, Washington City Paper
Circulation Below 54,000
“Buying Baca Ranch” by Anne Constable, Santa Fe Reporter
“Twice the Pain” by Mara Leveritt, Arkansas Times
“Safety First?” by Steven T. Jones, San Luis Obispo New Times
PHOTO JOURNALISM
Circulation Above 54,000
“Poison Petals” by Laurence Acland, Now
“Industrial Waste” by Michelle Gienow, Baltimore City Paper
Circulation Below 54,000
“Breadth of Life” by George Sakkestad, Metro Santa Cruz
“Quest for Independence” by Eva Soos, Palo Alto Weekly
