The Madison alt-weekly has won seven awards in Milwaukee Press Club's 2007 Excellence in Wisconsin Journalism competition, including first-place finishes in Critical Review of the Arts, Feature Story over 30 inches, Sports Story and Topical Column. Winners were honored at a dinner last weekend.
Nathan Comp took home a first-place award for Feature Writing in the Club's annual Excellence in Journalism contest, the Wisconsin State Journal reports. The Madison alt-weekly's website received two second-place awards in the contest.
Freelancers Sherry Deatrick of Louisville Eccentric Observer and Jennifer Smith of Isthmus, and Byron Woods, theater and dance critic for the Independent Weekly (Durham, N.C.), have each received fellowships to attend the third National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Journalism Institute in Theater and Musical Theater at the USC Annenberg School for Communication in Los Angeles. "All the American arts depend on media coverage and intelligent criticism," says NEA chairman Dana Gioia. "The NEA Arts Journalism Institutes provide professional development to improve both the quantity and quality of this country's arts journalism." The Institute, a $1 million NEA initiative, will be conducted next year from Jan. 30 - Feb. 9.
Bill Lueders' "Cry Rape," which details the sexual assault of a woman and her hellish ordeal navigating the Madison justice system, has been covered by more than 100 media outlets around the world, reports the Capital Times. The author and his subject also appeared last night on FOX News' "Hannity and Colmes" show. The woman's attorney tells the paper that he has also received a preliminary contact from a representative of Oprah Winfrey's production company. A second printing of "Cry Rape" is due in stores this week.
Isthmus News Editor Bill Lueders first chronicled Patty's ordeal in 1998, a year after the visually impaired woman was charged with falsely reporting a rape. Prosecutors eventually dropped the charges, and in 2001 a suspect was charged with her sexual assault. Now the Madison City Council has voted to make an official apology to Patty, to pay her $35,000 in reparations, and to review police department policy on dealing with victims of sexual assault. According to The Capital Times, the apology resolution was "inspired" by the recent publication of Lueders book, Cry Rape, an "engrossing tale" based on his original investigation of the case.
Eager eaters JonMichael Rasmus and Nichole Fromm are munching their way alphabetically through the restaurant guide of Madison's alternative weekly Isthmus, posting the results as they go on their popular Web site, Eating in Madison A-Z. The Wisconsin State Journal catches up with them at restaurant No. 202.
