When the Minneapolis alt-weekly selected crystal meth as the "Best Cheap Thrill" in its annual "Best of the Twin Cities" issue, the usual suspects lined up to express their outrage, including talk-radio hosts, local TV reporters, health officials, politicians, and irate readers. Editor Steve Perry's first instinct was to stand by the blurb, explaining in an editor's note that it was a joke that was intended to make the point "that it's possible to make entirely too much of the drug hype of the hour--unless you're in radio or television, of course." But after being pounded for twelve hours, Perry issued an apology, saying that he was chastened by "a lot of comments and e-mails ... from readers who've seen the lives of loved ones wrecked or ended by meth."
Foodies at Creative Loafing (Atlanta), Riverfront Times, Westword, L.A. Weekly, East Bay Express, City Pages (Twin Cities), Phoenix New Times, and Houston Press picked up ten of the 21 nominations for which they qualified in the 2006 James Beard Foundation Journalism Awards announced today. The complete list is available as a PDF here. Alt-weeklies were particularly dominant in the "Newspaper Writing on Spirits, Wine or Beer" category, in which all three nominees are AAN members. The awards recognize and honor excellence and achievement in the culinary arts.
In an extensive interview in Rochester, N.Y.'s City Newspaper, the NY Times' media reporter and incipient blogger doled out some advice for the industry that used to provide him with a paycheck. Alternative journalism is "lippy discourse plus culturally literate recommendations plus listings," he said. Problem is, the same "fundamental assets" are also available on the Web, where they're "far more searchable." So alt-weeklies need to do a "better job of putting their brand into digital realms," and they need to compete with the Web "to keep refreshing that sort of children's crusade of talented young reporters (that) make alternative newspapers vital." Carr isn't troubled by the New Times-VVM merger because he's "a fan of the New Times version of newspapering. They do very robust, city-oriented coverage that I think is a force for good, or at least accountability in the cities that they do them in."
Diablo Cody -- former stripper, former City Pages associate arts editor and current City Pages "Pussy Ranch" blogger -- likes to keep busy. Her new book, "Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper," hit stores last week; her first screenplay, "Juno," is scheduled to begin filming in May and is getting buzz as a female "Napoleon Dynamite"; she signed a two-script deal with Warner Bros.; and she is writing a TV pilot for UPN. All of her edgy work is set in Minneapolis. Cody (real name: Brook Busey-Hunt) tells Pioneer Press. "Mark my words, it's going to be like Minneapolis in your face. The world is going to get tired of this city," she says.
When an interview extends over 10 days -- as it did for Melissa Maerz when she went on tour with Minnesota band Friends Like These -- it was important to set up the rules from the start. Whatever wasn't immediately declared off the record was on the record. The resulting account, published in City Pages, was unsparing in its portrayal of the band's disappointments as well as its hopes, offering a dose of on-the-road realism. This is the fourth in a "How I Got That Story" series highlighting the AltWeekly Awards' first-place winners.
Local marketers who advertise on the Internet shouldn't be too quick to abandon newspaper, television, and other forms of traditional media--at least going by the results of the recently released Dieringer Research Group report, "How Consumers Use Media To Make Local Purchase Decisions."
