Tucson Weekly's Reality Journalism Competition Puts Al "Dick" Perry in fourth spot on AZ ballot, while Texas Gov. Rick Perry is in the seventeenth slot.
Tucson Weekly sponsors reality journalism competition in conjunction with Arizona presidential primary.
In an interview with AAN, Tucson Weekly editor Jimmy Boegle describes the events of Jan. 8 and reflects on a period he calls, "the four most emotionally draining days of my journalism career."
The Arizona Newspapers Association recognized Tucson Weekly for General Excellence and reporter Jim Nintzel as Journalist of the Year, among other awards.
In Arizona nearly anyone can qualify for the presidential primary by filling out some forms and meeting a few basic requirements. With this in mind, the Weekly launched Project White House in November, and thus far has put 20 candidates (of 48 total) on the ballots. Yesterday, a drawing clarified in what order those candidates' names -- as well as more prominent ones like Obama and Romney -- will appear on the ballots. Some people think the long list of unknown names could be taxing on voters, but the Weekly's Jim Nintzel, who is coordinating the process, defended his candidates and the contest. "I think it's a wonderful opportunity to really get people engaged in the democratic process," he says. "A lot of people have dreamed of running for president for a long time, and this is really an opportunity for them to do so." He adds: "The Project White House candidates have just as good a chance at winning the Arizona primary as Ron Paul does."
