The U.S. is sending nearly 1000 athletes to compete in the Maccabiah Games, the event sometimes referred to as the "Jewish Olympics" that takes place next month in Israel. Jewish News of Greater Phoenix reports that one of the competitors is none other than Phoenix New Times senior staff writer Paul Rubin, who will be on the men's fast-pitch softball team in the masters division. It won't be Rubin's first time at the games; he's a veteran, having won two gold medals and one silver medal while playing softball for the U.S. in 1985, 1989 and 1993. "Representing your country and your religion is a very important honor, and I'm taking it very seriously," he says.

Continue ReadingWho Knew? Phoenix New Times Staffer Heads to the Maccabiah Games

Village Voice Media's two Florida newspapers fared well in this year's Green Eyeshade Awards, which recognize journalistic excellence in 11 Southern states. Miami New Times won five awards, including first-place finishes in four categories: Coverage of Politics, Crticism, Public Affairs Reporting and Public Service. Sister paper New Times Broward-Palm Beach took home three awards, winning first-place accolades for Non-Deadline Reporting and Sports Commentary. Started by the Atlanta Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, the contest is now administered by regional directors for the Society.

Continue ReadingTwo Alt-Weeklies Win Eight Green Eyeshade Awards

John Dickerson has been named the 2008 Livingston Award winner for local reporting for "The Doctor is Out," a three-part series on medical standards and regulation in Arizona. The Livingstons are limited to journalists under the age of 35 and are the largest all-media, general-reporting prizes in the country. This marks the second year in a row that an alt-weekly has won the award, which comes with a $10,000 prize. Dickerson's series is also an AltWeekly Award finalist in the investigative reporting category.

Continue ReadingPhoenix New Times Scribe Wins Livingston Award

When a news website in Pasadena made headlines last year for its decision to outsource City Hall coverage to reporters in India, the group managing editor of the Hartford Advocate, New Haven Advocate and Fairfield County Weekly wondered if his three alt-weeklies could do the same thing. While John Adamian's idea started as a joke, it quickly led to an actual exercise in outsourcing journalism -- and the results are this week's papers, which have been mostly generated by Indian freelancers. The papers say the experiment proves that outsourcing a local newspaper is possible, but not recommended. "Call us old-school, but we think good, old-fashioned shoe-leather journalism is worth the price," the staff writes in an editors' note. "Outsourcing could certainly fill pages, probably very cheaply, but what's lost is the very essence of local newspapers: presence."

Continue ReadingConnecticut Alt-Weeklies Outsource This Week’s Issue

Between them, Phoenix New Times and the Tucson Weekly won 26 excellence in journalism awards in the Arizona Press Club's annual contest. New Times took home 19 awards, including first-place wins for Arts Writing or Criticism; Blogging; Children, Families and Seniors Issues Reporting; Features Column Writing; Growth and Development Reporting; Public Safety Reporting; and Sports Enterprise Reporting. The Weekly won seven awards, including a first-place finish in the Film, Video and Television Writing or Criticism category.

Continue ReadingArizona Alt-Weeklies Win Big in State Press Contest

Miami New Times and New Times Broward-Palm Beach have a handful of contenders in the Society of Professional Journalists' 59th annual Green Eyeshade Awards. Miami New Times has five finalists, and Broward-Palm Beach has three, in a variety of categories, from Public Service to Sports Commentary. The Green Eyeshade Awards is a regional journalism competition covering Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia. Winners will be announced this summer.

Continue ReadingTwo Florida Alt-Weeklies Finalists in SPJ’s Green Eyeshades Contest

Phoenix New Times' John Dickerson, Style Weekly's Amy Biegelsen and The Village Voice's Elizabeth Sara Dwoskin have all been named finalists in the 2008 Livingston Awards for Young Journalists competition. The Columbia Journalism School, an AAN associate member, has two current students and six alums among the finalists as well. The winners of the Livingstons, which award three $10,000 prizes to journalists under the age of 35, will be announced June 3.

Continue ReadingThree Young Alt-Weekly Writers in Running for Livingston Awards

Westword's Adam Cayton-Holland finished first in Arts and Entertainment Writing, while fellow Westword scribe Jared Jacang Maher finished third in the same category. Phoenix New Times took a second place win for Environment and Natural Resources Reporting and a third place win for Growth and Development Reporting, while OC Weekly's (not the Orange County Register's, as the award announcement says) "Navel Gazing" blog finished second in the Blog Writing category. The annual contest is open to newspapers and news websites in 13 western states.

Continue ReadingAAN Members Fare Well in ‘Best of the West’ Awards

Miami New Times' Lee Klein and Seattle Weekly's Jonathan Kauffman finished first in the Newspaper and Internet categories, respectively, in this year's Bert Greene Awards. In addition, the Austin Chronicle's MM Pack was a finalist in the Newspaper category. The awards, which are organized by the International Association of Culinary Professionals, "recognize excellence in food journalism." Winners were announced last weekend in Denver.

Continue ReadingAlt-Weekly Scribes Win National Food Writing Awards