The papers won a total of 24 awards in the New York Press Association's annual Better Newspaper Contest. Long Island Press won eight awards, including the Sharon R. Fulmer Award for Community Leadership and first-place wins for Coverage of Elections/Politics, Feature Story, Headline Writing, and In-Depth Reporting. Syracuse New Times and the Ithaca Times won five awards each, with New Times taking first for Advertising Excellence, Special Holiday Edition and Sports Action Photo and the Times placing first for Coverage of the Environment and Coverage of Local Government. The New York Press also won six awards.
Robbie Woliver tells AAN News via email that Alphabet Kids - From ADD to Zellweger Syndrome: A Guide to Developmental, Neurobiological and Psychological Disorders for Parents and Professionals was "the book I could have used 15 years ago." Inspired by his own child, he chose to write the book to "provide a road map for parents to help them muddle through the alphabet soup of diagnoses so many children are receiving these days -- many of which are incorrect." In the course of researching and writing, Woliver says he and his wife became inspired to start a nonprofit called Your Day Away that provides a day of respite and support for parents of children with special needs. The nonprofit kicked off in November, and will run as a daily ongoing organization starting next month.
Timothy Bolger describes how he was held for three hours by Secret Service agents before last Wednesday's presidential debate because of "volatile" wifi signals emanating from his computer. "They said they wanted to check my machine to see if there was something that I had installed to bring down the debates, or determine if my computer was simply the victim of hackers and an ineffective virus scanner," he writes. However, "of most interest to them were my instant messages, especially those to my friend Dave. ... His less-than-flattering comments about vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin and his asking if I would meet the candidates raised eyebrows for the investigators." Bolger was eventually released before the debate, though he was ordered not to use wifi for the rest of the evening.
The Press is partnering with The Independent "to offer advertisers a two-paper deal that officials at the free weeklies tout as an 'all Island' option," Newsday reports. The deal was hatched a few months ago during a meeting of the papers' publishers and key officials to discuss a "strategic alliance," according to Michael Castonguay, chief financial officer of the Long Island Press. "It's an advertising-marketing partnership that we hope will expand as we continue to grow on Long Island," he says. According to Newsday, the Press has a circulation of more than 97,000, and the Independent has a circulation of about 20,000.
In this year's installment of the Education Writers Association's journalism contest, Rob Jordan of the Miami New Times and April Jimenez of the Long Island Press both received first-place awards in the Feature, News Feature, or Issue Package category in different circulation divisions (Jordan in under 100,000; Jimenez in over 100,000). In addition, Westword's Luke Turf took home a special citation award in the same category for papers with a circulation under 100,000.
Press co-publisher Jed Morey told Newsday writer James T. Madore that Fisher has been released from her obligation as a columnist and has "moved on to bigger projects," although he would not specify what those projects are. Madore calls the former Long Island Lolita the Press' "most famous columnist," and quotes a media studies professor who speculates that the move will hurt the weekly's circulation. (Long Island Press famously exposed Newsday's inflated circulation figures last year.)
Journalist Maurice Possley claims that two of Fisher's columns about a Texas arson case were only slightly changed versions of articles he and Steve Mills wrote for the Chicago Tribune, according to New York Daily News gossip columnist Ben Widdicombe. The Long Island Press posted a response suggesting that Possley was seeking fame by exploiting Fisher's notoriety. The response concludes by thanking Possley "for creating the opportunity for us to document and remind ourselves about all the research Ms. Fisher puts into her columns."
