SF Weekly's Katy St. Clair took home a first-place Humor column award from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists in its annual contest. Roy Edroso of The Village Voice, Stephen Lemons of Phoenix New Times, and Chuck Strouse and Elyse Wanshel, both of Miami New Times, were also recognized by the group.
This innovative program came to be after the young paper was having trouble selling restaurant ads for actual cash -- most establishments simply wanted to trade for food. Those meals are now sold via the Weekly Card, which is a sort of credit card for local businesses. Members pay the Weekly a flat fee of $24.95 when they sign up for a card, and then receive 40 percent off retail price at the participating businesses. Users can then add credit to the cards as they wish. Publisher Chuck Leishman recently talked to AAN News about the program's origins, its success, and his plans for other markets.
Chuck Thurman died last weekend, the Weekly reports. He was 53 years old. Over 14 years, Thurman held a variety of roles at the Weekly: arts writer, contributing editor, arts & entertainment editor, and associate editor. He left the paper in 2002. "Chuck had a deep connection to this community and a great love for it, and more zest for life than most," writes Weekly founder and CEO Bradley Zeve. "He also was committed to this newspaper and instrumental in helping the Weekly carve out its mission and its place in Monterey County". A celebration of Thurman's life will be held Saturday, May 17, at 2pm, at the Wharf Theater in Monterey.
David Brewster, who sold his interest in the Seattle alt-weekly in 1997, has recruited two other former Weekly staffers to work on Crosscut, which will cover Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and parts of British Columbia, according to the Seattle Times. Former Managing Editor Chuck Taylor will be Crosscut's editor, while former Editor-in-Chief Knute "Skip" Berger will write for the site, set to launch March 12. Brewster says he started working on Crosscut about 18 months ago, to counteract "the growing fatalism of Seattle journalism."
The finalists in the National Association of Black Journalists' 2006 Salute to Excellence Awards were announced Friday, and six of the nine nominations in the "Newspaper - Circulation Under 150,000" division are Village Voice Media newspapers. The other three finalists are not alt-weeklies. Riverfront Times is the leader with three nominations: "Newspaper - Enterprise" for Randall Roberts' "It Was Just Like Beverly Hills"; "Newspaper - Sports" for Mike Seely's "Alley Cat"; and "Newspaper - Features" for Ben Westhoff's "Rap vs. Rapture." Dallas Observer has two contenders in the "Newspaper - Sports" category: Keven McAlester for "Balls Out" and Paul Kix for "Alone No More." Finally, Chuck Strouse of Miami New Times is nominated in the "Newspaper - Commentary" category for "Free this Priest." The awards recognize exemplary coverage of people or issues in the African diaspora. Winners will be announced August 19 at the NABJ convention in Indianapolis.
Chuck Strouse's June 29 column addresses "hypocrisy, bullying, and misplaced priorities among the nation's top Latino journalists," specifically focusing on an argument between Sam Diaz, Washington Post assistant technology editor and financial officer for the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and Monica Rhor, an Orange County Register reporter who edited the newspaper for the recent NAHJ convention. The point of contention is a quote by Diaz printed in the convention newsletter: Diaz alleges it was inaccurate and misleading, but Rhor refused to run a correction. Both Rhor and the NAHJ president, Rafael Olmeda, respond to the Miami New Times column in letters printed on Romenesko. "It saddens me that the accomplishments of such a talented group are being overshadowed by a debate which I consider unwarranted," Rhor says.
After 18 years at the alt-weekly, Jim Mullin (pictured) will step down from his position. The announcement comes less than a month after former city official Arthur Teele's suicide, which came on the heels of a New Times cover story about Teele's involvement with a transvestite prostitute. Mullin says that while he was "profoundly affected" by the tragedy, he'd been considering leaving the paper for the past year. His successor will be Chuck Strouse, the current editor of New Times Broward-Palm Beach.
Readers of Gambit Weekly, New Times Broward-Palm Beach, Miami New Times, Weekly Planet (Tampa), Weekly Planet (Sarasota), Folio Weekly and Orlando Weekly have lately seen Mother Nature at her worst. Distributed in areas affected by the hurricanes that have pounded Florida and surrounding states since August, these alt-weeklies have come out on schedule -- thanks to determined staffers and contingency plans.
