"My So-Called Stalker" led to arrest in Washington City Paper writing debut.
In what the judges called “one of the most remarkable writing debuts in years,” non-journalist Erica Hoffman’s “My So-Called Stalker” took first place in the large-paper Feature Story Category in the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies (AAN) 5th Annual Editorial Awards Contest. The awards were announced on Friday, June 2 at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix, where AAN members met for their 23rd annual convention.
Hoffman (writing for the Washington City Paper under a pseudonym, “Theresa”), detailed what the judges called “her seemingly endless ordeal at the hands of a manifestly unhinged young creep who takes an increasingly unnerving fancy to her — and the seemingly endless indifference, incompetence and unwillingness of the authorities to intervene on her behalf.” The judges dubbed her piece “the standout among this year’s exceptionally strong field: strong, clear, compelling, with a voice by turns droll and harrowing.” After years of inaction on the part of local authorities, Hoffman’s article in the City Paper led to the arrest and conviction of her harasser.
Meanwhile, Anne Constable of the Santa Fe Reporter , Michael King of the Texas Observer , Debbie Nathan of the San Antonio Current and Molly Rath of the Baltimore City Paper each were honored with two awards in the contest.
Rath won both first and second place in the large-paper News Story category for stories about Baltimore’s downtown redevelopment plans and welfare reform. She shared her first-place award with co-author Brennen Jensen.
In the competition among small papers, Constable took first place in the Feature Story category and second place in News Story; her first-place story aired the charges of a Santa Fe advertising firm that Nike stole its creative concepts. King tied for first in Arts Criticism for a series of book reviews and came in second in Media Reporting for his coverage of turmoil at Pacifica Radio. Nathan captured first in Arts Feature for a profile of San Antonio author Sandra Cisneros and an honorable mention in Investigative Reporting.
In the large-paper Feature Story category, the judges awarded a Special Citation for International Reporting to the Village Voice’s Mark Schoofs for his Pulitzer-winning series on AIDS in Africa, calling it a “sweeping, comprehensive and brilliantly reported investigation (that) is an astonishing achievement for a weekly alternative newspaper.”
Another often-honored series, “Above the Law” by Willie Stern of the Nashville Scene, took first place in the large-paper Investigative Reporting category. Here’s how the judges described Stern’s story, which was also awarded top honors by the Investigative Reporters and Editors and the Society of Professional Journalists: “Passionate, talented reporter meets equally passionate opposition from compromised Nashville police officials and a security firm with a shocking history of brutality to and extortion of Hispanics. Reporter wins in a rout — he nails them. An injustice is corrected in Nashville.”
Stern’s prize represents the third consecutive year that the talented investigative reporter has been honored with an award in the AAN contest. He has now won five prizes in three years, including an astonishing three first-place awards in the 1998 contest.
Other repeat winners include the LA Weekly’s Brendan Bernhard, who took first place in the large-paper Arts Feature category for the third straight year; Anne Schindler of Folio Weekly (Jacksonville), who — after capturing first place this year in the small-paper Investigative Reporting category for an “ardently documented, poignantly told portrait of the hardscrabble town of Whitehouse, Florida” — has won either a first- or second-place prize for four straight years; and Liz Langley of the Orlando Weekly, who has taken either first or second place in the small-paper Column category for four years in a row.
Among the large papers, the Chicago Reader, Houston Press and LA Weekly each received two first-place prizes, and Boston Phoenix led with five awards in total. Independent Weekly (Raleigh-Durham) led the way among the small papers with three first places and four awards in all.
In total, 83 papers submitted 763 entries, each of which was read by at least two of the 78 judges who picked the winners in this year’s AAN contest. The judges include a number of award-winning journalists, many of whom had previously written for alternative papers, including Gail Collins of the New York Times; Jonathan Alter of Newsweek; Katherine Boo of the Washington Post; Joe Conason of the New York Observer; Jack Shafer of Slate; Lawrence Weschler of the New Yorker; and journalist-authors Dale Maharidge and Alex Kotlowitz.
The following is a complete list of this years winners.
Arts Criticism
Circulation Above 54,000
First Place: Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
Second Place: Lloyd Schwartz, Boston Phoenix
Circulation Below 54,000 (Tie)
First Place: Godfrey Cheshire, Independent Weekly
First Place: Michael King, Texas Observer
Second Place: Garry Boulard, Gambit Weekly
Arts Feature
Circulation Above 54,000 (Tie)
First Place: “Poetry and Los Angeles at the Millennium” by Brendan Bernhard, LA Weekly
First Place: “Give Us the Money” by Chris Thompson, East Bay Express
Second Place: “This Old Crater” by Edward Lebow, Phoenix New Times
Third Place: “Dan Schneider vs. the Rest of the World” by Brad Zellar, City Pages
Circulation Below 54,000
First Place: “Can Sandra Survive San Antonio? Can San Anto Survive Her?” by Debbie Nathan, San Antonio Current
Second Place: “Why Springfield Isn’t Normal” by Pete Sherman, Illinois Times
Cartoon
Circulation Above 54,000
First Place: Steven DeCinzo, Metro Silicon Valley
Second Place: Alex Burns, Creative Loafing (Atlanta)
Third Place: David Sipress, Boston Phoenix
Circulation Below 54,000
First Place: V. Cullum Rogers, Independent Weekly
Second Place: Jerry James, San Luis Obispo New Times
Third Place: Greg Kerr, Ottawa X Press
Column
Circulation Above 54,000
First Place: Margaret Downing, Houston Press
Circulation Below 54,000
First Place: Melinda Ruley, Independent Weekly
Second Place: Liz Langley, Orlando Weekly
Column-Political Commentary
Circulation Above 54,000
First Place: Ben Joravsky, Chicago Reader
Second Place: Jill Stewart, New Times Los Angeles
Third Place: Jim Schutze, Dallas Observer
Circulation Below 54,000
First Place: John Hazlehurst, Colorado Springs Independent
Second Place: Clancy DuBos, Gambit Weekly
Third Place: Bob Snell, Folio Weekly
Corrections Reporting
Circulation Above 54,000
First Place: “Trouble in Mind” by Steve McVicker,
Houston Press
Second Place: “Inside” by Jim DeFede, Miami New Times
Circulation Below 54,000
First Place: “Cruel and Unusual” by Betty Brink, FW Weekly
Second Place: “The Death Lottery” by Eric Bates, Independent Weekly
Feature Story
Circulation Above 54,000
First Place: “My So-Called Stalker” by Erica Hoffman, Washington City Paper
Second Place: “L.A. on $7.37 a Day” by Celeste Fremon, LA Weekly
Honorable Mention: “Dead Dogs Walking” by Melinda Roth, Riverfront Times
Honorable Mention: “The Terminator” by Amy Silverman, Phoenix New Times
Circulation Below 54,000
First Place: “Just Like It” by Anne Constable, Santa Fe Reporter
Second Place: “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
First Place: “Nazi Guards” by Johanna Goodman, Seattle Weekly
Second Place: “Abe Lincoln Was a Fag–and Other ‘Truths of Gay History'” by Dale Stephanos, Boston Phoenix
Third Place: “Dirty Little Air War” by Brian Stauffer, City Pages
Honorable Mention: “My So-Called Stalker” by Robert Meganck, Washington City Paper
Circulation Below 54,000
First Place: “Mother vs. Murder” by Sophia Naess, San Antonio Current
Second Place: “Christmas With Uncle Pucker, CityBeat and Other Holiday Disasters” by Ryan Greis, Cincinnati CityBeat
Third Place: “The Evolution of Racism” by Mark Karcher and Chris Martiniano, Gambit Weekly
Honorable Mention: “Book ‘Em” by Charlie Powell, Metro Pulse
Investigative Reporting
Circulation Above 54,000
First Place: “Above the Law” by Willy Stern, Nashville Scene
Second Place: “Comrades in Crime” by Mike Tobin, Cleveland Scene
Third Place: “The Other Face of Tri-Met” by Bob Young, Willamette Week
Circulation Below 54,000
First Place: “Whitehouse Scandal” by Anne Schindler, Folio Weekly
Honorable Mention: “What Really Happened to the Class of ’99?” by Nate Blakeslee and Karen Olsson, Texas Observer
Honorable Mention: “Mother vs. Murder” by Debbie Nathan, San Antonio Current
Media Reporting
Circulation Above 54,000
First Place: “Bad News” by Steven Mikulan, LA Weekly
Second Place: “After the Honeymoon” by Dan Kennedy, Boston Phoenix
Third Place: “Nice Guy, Wrong Job” by Jim Mullin, Miami New Times
Honorable Mention: “Black & White and Red All Over” by David Schimke, City Pages
Circulation Below 54,000
First Place: “Below the Fold” by Joe Tarr, Metro Pulse
Second Place: “No Peace at Pacifica” by Michael King, Texas Observer
Third Place: “Star-Bulletin Shot Down!” by Robert M. Rees, Honolulu Weekly
Music Criticism
Circulation Above 54,000
First Place: Randall Roberts, Riverfront Times
Second Place: Jon Garelick, Boston Phoenix
Third Place: Mark Athitakis, SF Weekly
Honorable Mention: Rich Kane, OC Weekly
Circulation Below 54,000
First Place: Russ Tarby, Syracuse New Times
Second Place: Chad Oliveiri, City Newspaper
News Story
Circulation Above 54,000
First Place: “West-Side Story” by Molly Rath and Brennen Jensen, Baltimore City Paper
Second Place: “Back to Reform School” by Molly Rath, Baltimore City Paper
Third Place: “Up Against the Oil” by Monte Paulsen, Metro Times
Honorable Mention: “Raising McCain” by Amanda Ripley, Washington City Paper
Circulation Below 54,000
First Place: “Twice the Pain” by Mara Leveritt, Arkansas Times
Second Place: “Buying Baca Ranch” by Anne Constable, Santa Fe Reporter
Third Place: “Safety First?” by Steven T. Jones, San Luis Obispo New Times
Photo Journalism
Circulation Above 54,000
First Place: “Poison Petals” by Laurence Acland, NOW
Honorable Mention: “Industrial Waste” by Michelle Gienow, Baltimore City Paper
Circulation Below 54,000
First Place: “Breadth of Life” by George Sakkestad, Metro Santa Cruz
Honorable Mention: “Quest for Independence” by Eva Soos, Palo Alto Weekly
