According to Publisher/Editor Will Swaim, News and Investigations Editor Nick Schou will pen a biography of Gary Webb, the late investigative journalist, for Nation Books. Webb is best known for his San Jose Mercury News "Dark Alliance" series, which explored links between the CIA, Nicaraguan contras, and crack cocaine. Webb worked briefly at the Sacramento News and Review before his suicide in 2004. Schou has reported on the controversy over the "Dark Alliance" series in several articles for OC Weekly.
Gustavo Arellano was selected to participate in the University of Southern California Annenberg School of Communication seminar, "Latinization of Art and Culture in America: Understanding Its Impact and Why It Matters," which will be held the third week of October. Twenty-two fellows were honored with an invitation, but only Arellano and Augustin Gurza of the LA Times were named senior fellows; they are expected to assume leadership roles for the duration of the conference. Arellano was the recipient of an AAN Diversity Internship grant in 2002.
When OC Weekly was launched in 1995, most people figured it wouldn't last: Orange County was (they said) too decentralized, conservative and suburban for an alt-weekly. Even editor/publisher Will Swaim admits he experienced a little anxiety in those early days. Yet here the paper is 10 years later, stronger than ever, making a difference in people's lives, and providing work for its staff that is exciting, fun and rewarding. And Swaim has a few people to thank for that.
R. Scott Moxley, a writer for the Santa Ana, Calif., alt-weekly, first reported on Dr. George Steven Kooshian (pictured) in July 2001, sparking an FBI investigation. The article detailed allegations of illegal practices, which included administering saline solution -- passed off and billed as expensive medication -- to AIDS patients. Because of the doctor's good reputation in the local gay community, Moxley's series of six investigative stories was at times bitterly criticized. Kooshian (and one of his former nurses) will be arraigned Aug. 1 on 25 counts of health-care fraud and other charges.
Hartford Advocate Editor Alistair Highet calls the listings calendar his paper's "universal point of interest." The calendar is -- and long has been -- indispensable for most alt-weeklies, attracting readers who don't necessarily agree with a paper's perceived political stance. But the marketplace is increasingly crowded with online and print publications listing concerts and theater times. Freelance reporter Charlie Deitch speaks with AAN members to find out what they're doing to fend off competitors' attempts to infringe on the alts' longtime stronghold.
The Religion Newswriters Association has awarded news and investigative reporter Gustavo Arellano a Lilly Scholarship for his reportage on the child-abuse scandal in the Catholic Diocese of Orange County, Calif. According to an OC Weekly press release, he is one of just seven winners for 2004. The non-profit and nonpartisan association awards the scholarships to allow writers to pursue religious studies.
