John Dougherty's "Polygamy in Arizona" investigation for Phoenix New Times won first place in the Nondaily Newspaper category of the 2006 Casey Medals for Meritorious Journalism, it was announced today. The awards honor distinguished coverage of disadvantaged children and families. The judges wrote that Dougherty's series "was a tough story to get and the New Times should be applauded for stepping in where authorities failed to go." An honorable mention was given to Jonathan Kaminsky of East Bay Express for "Wounded Warriors," which the judges called "an insightful, unflinching look at a football team in a bleak neighborhood."

Continue ReadingTwo Village Voice Media Papers Earn Casey Medals

Berkeley's alt-weekly dedicated its May 31 cover story to the chain ownership of local dailies, but acknowledged its own corporate ownership in an accompanying piece by John Raeside, who edited the paper for 24 years. (Raeside was also one of the weekly's owners before it was sold to New Times in 2001.) Looking at the "ongoing organizational narrative" of the Express, Raeside notes changes including the elimination of first-person journalism and the inclusion of "the greater East Bay into its editorial mix," but concludes that the paper "continues to rely on good writing and long-form journalism to tell this community's story." He also notes that Judith Moore, who recently passed away, was "in the first rank of the writers whose work has ever graced these pages."

Continue ReadingFounding Editor: Has Chain Ownership Changed the East Bay Express?

In a May 24 East Bay Express article, Robert Gammon explored allegations of questionable behavior by Alameda County schools Superintendent Sheila Jordan. Two trustees of the Board of Education then notified Jordan by memo that they were concerned she might have misused county resources and would like to see relevant documents, the Web site InsideBayArea.com reports. The trustees told InsideBayArea that their inquiry "was prompted in part" by the East Bay Express article.

Continue ReadingEast Bay Express Story Inspires Investigation of Superintendent

That was one of the questions asked last night during a panel discussion in San Francisco on "The Coming Media Monopoly: Concentration of Press Ownership and Its Effects on Democracy." It will surprise few AAN members that panelists Stephen Buel, editor of Village Voice Media's East Bay Express, and Tim Redmond, executive editor of the San Francisco Bay Guardian, didn't see eye-to-eye on the matter. According to the "alternative online daily" BeyondChron, Buel said the Express' sale to VVM-predecessor New Times allowed the paper to hire more staff, purchase new computers and rent more office space. "In the past year, I've seen members of an alternative newsweekly buy houses in the Bay Area, and I think that's cool,” Buel said. Redmond disagreed, arguing that conglomeration results in homogenization of content and the pricing out of any true independent press.

Continue ReadingIs ‘Corporate’ Ownership Good for Newspapers?

A Wednesday meeting of the Berkeley Police Review Commission was attended by protesters demanding an in-depth investigation into alleged misdeeds by Sgt. Cary Kent, according to the Berkeley Daily Planet. Kent was placed on administrative leave in January under suspicion of stealing drugs from police evidence, a fact that was made public in an April 5 East Bay Express article by Will Harper. Kent was first suspected because of poor hygiene and a tendency to fall asleep at his desk; a subsequent investigation of the drug vault showed "at least 181 evidence envelopes had been tampered with," Harper revealed. The Commission could not discuss the case at its Wednesday meeting because it was not on the agenda, although members of the public made statements during the comments period.

Continue ReadingCitizens Rally After East Bay Express Exposes Allegations Against Cop

Foodies at Creative Loafing (Atlanta), Riverfront Times, Westword, L.A. Weekly, East Bay Express, City Pages (Twin Cities), Phoenix New Times, and Houston Press picked up ten of the 21 nominations for which they qualified in the 2006 James Beard Foundation Journalism Awards announced today. The complete list is available as a PDF here. Alt-weeklies were particularly dominant in the "Newspaper Writing on Spirits, Wine or Beer" category, in which all three nominees are AAN members. The awards recognize and honor excellence and achievement in the culinary arts.

Continue ReadingAlt-Weeklies Lap Up Nominations in Food-Writing Awards

Joel McNally has a new medium for the liberal views he regularly expresses in his Shepherd Express political column: He has been tapped to co-host the weekday morning show on WMCS-AM radio in Milwaukee. The Journal Sentinel describes WMCS as "focus[ing] on an African-American audience"; McNally, who is white, said, "We are in this thing together, and we are in this community together, and while the right-wing stations don't make it seem that way, black and white is the future of Milwaukee." The station manager told the newspaper that there may be "disparaging" callers "in the early going," but he hoped that new dialogue could result.

Continue ReadingShepherd Express Columnist Adds ‘Diversity’ to Black Radio Station

The two papers swept the Newspaper Feature Story category in this year's contest, which is administered by the Association for Women in Communications. The Loaf's Mara Shalhoup won in the circulation above 100,000 category, for Learning to Hit a Lick, which also won the Feature Story category in this year's AltWeekly Awards. And the Express' Kara Platoni won in the under 100,000 category, for The Ten Million Dollar Woman. The awards were presented this weekend in Lubbock, Texas.

Continue ReadingCreative Loafing and East Bay Express Pick Up Clarion Awards