Five alt-weeklies won a number of awards in the Oregon and Southwest Washington chapter of the Society for Professional Journalists' 2008 Excellence in Journalism Awards. Among non-daily newspapers in Oregon, Willamette Week took home 10 first-place awards, while Eugene Weekly took home one. Among alt-weeklies in the Northwest region, WW won six first-place awards; Seattle Weekly won four; the Missoula Independent won two; and the Pacific Northwest Inlander won one.
In the old days, when the media reported on problems in the newspaper industry, alternative newspapers weren't included. But alt-weeklies are immune no longer: In 2008, many AAN papers faced some of the same issues afflicting their mainstream brethren in the print media. However, you can still find alt-weeklies that had a pretty good year in 2008. That's just what AAN's editor Jon Whiten did, and he reports on 10 papers that increased revenue in a story published by Editor & Publisher.
The winners of the 2007 Society of Professional Journalists' Pacific Northwest Excellence in Journalism Awards were announced on Saturday night, and dozens of awards went to four alt-weeklies. Seattle Weekly led the way with 15 awards, including a total of eight first-place finishes in the Business, Education, Government, Investigative, Lifestyle, Science and Health, Special Section, and Sports categories. The Pacific Northwest Inlander took home 12 awards, including four first-place wins in the Consumer/Environmental Affairs, Humor, Page Design, and Social Issues categories. Eugene Weekly also won seven awards, and the Missoula Independent took home four.
Michael Bowen (The Pacific Northwest Inlander), Skylar Browning (Missoula Independent), Brendan Kiley (The Stranger), and Ashley Lindstrom (San Antonio Current) have been named fellows in the fourth National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Arts Journalism Institute in Theater and Musical Theater at USC's Annenberg School. The fellows will participate in a rigorous 10-day program in February with guest faculty including L.A. Weekly theater editor Steven Leigh Morris.
Putting out a summer guide is not every alt-weekly staff writer's idea of a good time. To produce the Pacific Northwest Inlander's award-winning special section, editor and publisher Ted S. McGregor Jr. gathered his staff in a room and wouldn't let them out until they came up with some ideas that would make the guide not only fun to create but fun to read. This is the 29th in a "How I Got That Story" series highlighting the AltWeekly Awards' first-place winners.
Editor and publisher Ted S. McGregor, Jr., made an appearance this morning on the Al Franken Show, which was broadcast from the Inlander's hometown of Spokane, Wash. McGregor got a chuckle from the host, whose new book is called "The Truth (with jokes)," when he said his 13-year-old paper has proven that its readers want "the truth, with movie reviews." He also discussed alt-weeklies and their place in the universe, and gave a shout-out to his alt-weekly friends publishing in conservative towns like Colorado Springs, Cincinnati and Louisville. (To hear the interview, move the scroll bar on this podcast about four-fifths of the way through the show.)
The Pacific Northwest Inlander unveils its redesign today. Seattle designer Mark Evans, a familiar name among AAN papers, began the makeover last spring. Inlander Publisher Ted S. McGregor Jr. says the redesign is a signal the weekly is “not content to stand still.”
