AAN members voted on several key matters during the association's annual meeting on Saturday, July 17. Eleven seats on the Board of Directors were filled, three publications were admitted into the association, and a bylaws amendment allowing online-only publications to apply for membership was passed by an overwhelming majority.
The Weekly, competing with other large-circulation newspapers, won a total of 13 awards in the annual competition sponsored by the LA Press Club. Staff writer Christine Pelisek had a big night, winning first-place honors for Feature, Hard News and Investigative/Series (where she also received an Honorable Mention). Pelisek also finished second for Journalist of the Year. The Weekly placed first in three additional categories: Columnist, Entertainment News or Feature and Political Coverage. Syndicated "Advice Goddess" columnist Amy Alkon also took home a first-place win for Headline Writing in the large-circ category. Amongst the smaller papers, three AAN members were recognized for their work. OC Weekly won three first-place awards, for Design, Entertainment News or Feature and Entertainment Reviews/Criticism/Column. Pasadena Weekly won three awards, and the late LA CityBeat won one.
Earlier this week, we noted that a piece in the Fort Worth Weekly had won a 2008 Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) Award in the local-circulation weeklies category, but we neglected to mention that four other alt-weekly stories were IRE finalists. In the local-circulation weeklies category, Phoenix New Times' John Dickerson had two stories place, while the Houston Press' Chris Vogel had one. In addition, L.A. Weekly's Christine Pelisek was the runner-up for the Tom Renner Award, which is specifically for crime reporting.
