Editorial staffers at City Pages (Twin Cities), Dallas Observer, OC Weekly, Seattle Weekly, and SF Weekly are hit.
L.A. Weekly took home several L.A. Press Club Awards for its editorial, design and social media work. OC Weekly and Pasadena Weekly also came away as winners.
The recent Best of the West journalism contest honored several alt-weeklies, including the Houston Press, Phoenix New Times, SF Weekly and Denver's Westword, which each picked up first-place honors.
The District Weekly, which was launched by OC Weekly founding editor Will Swaim, owes unpaid wages and vacation pay to six former employees.
An anonymous user made a "death threat comment" on a blog post about Mass. Congressman Barney Frank, who is openly gay.
OC Weekly has named Gustavo Arellano -- author of the syndicated column ¡Ask A Mexican! -- as managing editor.
The Los Angeles Press Club held its annual SoCal Journalism Awards last night and four AAN papers went home with honors.
The Los Angeles Press Club has announced the finalists for its 52nd Annual Southern California Journalism Awards, and four AAN members and one alt-weekly affiliated columnist are in the running this year. LA Weekly has 23 finalists in 14 categories, including Journalist of the Year (Patrick Range McDonald and Christine Pelisek), Entertainment Journalist (Scott Foundas), Designer (Darrick Rainey) and Online Journalist (Dennis Romero). OC Weekly has five finalists in five categories, including Journalist of the Year (R. Scott Moxley) and Designer (Kelly Lewis). The Pasadena Weekly has seven finalists in six categories, and the Ventura County Reporter has one finalist. Meanwhile, Advice Goddess Amy Alkon is a finalist for five awards, including Journalist of the Year. Winners will be announced on June 27.
The Western Publishing Association held its banquet on Friday and announced the winners for its annual Maggie Awards, which go to work deemed "The Best in the West." With all five finalists in the overall Tabloids/Consumer category being Village Voice Media papers, we knew an alt-weekly would win, but which would it be? OC Weekly ended up taking home the first-place prize in that category, and the Houston Press finished first for Best Public Service Series or Article/Trade & Consumer for staff writer Chris Vogel's December 2009 story on toxic polluters and lax enforcement at the Houston Ship Channel.
The OC Weekly staffer and "¡Ask a Mexican!" columnist, who received a master's degree from UCLA in 2003, will be the keynote speaker for the university's June commencement ceremony. "Gustavo Arellano is a keen observer of life in America — in particular the culture and diversity of Southern California," says Judith L. Smith, dean and vice provost for undergraduate education in the UCLA College of Letters and Science. "He explores today's issues of diversity and ethnicity with incisive commentary and a sharp wit that punches holes in traditional thinking about race and stereotypes." On the OC Weekly blog, Arellano pulls out some of the "flattering reactions" to the decision, like this one from one Tweeter: "That's the weakest thing ever."
