The Village Voice Web site is one of five finalists in the "Newspaper" category of the 2006 Webby Awards, it was announced April 11. Winners will be named on May 9. Orlando Weekly and Baltimore City Paper have also been honored for their online work: Their Web sites are two of the three finalists in the "Best Weekly Newspaper-Affiliated Web Service" category of the EPpy Awards, which are presented by Editor & Publisher and Mediaweek. (The third finalist is a Pennsylvania community newspaper, The Almanac.) EPpy Award winners will be announced May 19.

Continue ReadingThree AAN Member Web Sites Nominated for Awards

In a March 14 letter, Veterans Affairs Secretary R. James Nicholson admitted VA nurse Laura Berg should not have been investigated for sedition for a letter to the editor she wrote to the Weekly Alibi in which she criticized Bush administration policies. The Albuquerque Tribune reports that Berg received a private apology from her supervisor in mid-February, but she continued to seek a public apology. "My concern about just having a private apology is because this happened to me it has frightened other people. It was intimidating," Berg told the Tribune. Nicholson's letter was addressed to U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman and was made public this week by the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, which represents Berg.

Continue ReadingV.A. Apologizes to Nurse Who Wrote ‘Seditious’ Letter to Weekly Alibi

Having reached "the tweener stage," the Weekly is proud of its warts-and-all history, which is recounted in this week's cover story. From its early days as "a raucous conglomerate of gays, old hippies, cynical journalists, fresh-faced young writers, revolving-door sales reps, and tart-tongued receptionists" facing fierce opposition from the local daily, through its sale to New Times in 2000 and resale to Lee Newquist the following year, the Weekly has focused on "critiquing the emperor’s new clothes" and has stuck by a statement made in the first issue: "We're having fun. ... And we plan to be around for a long, long time."

Continue ReadingFort Worth Weekly: Ten Years and Going Strong

Jon Keller, a political analyst for the local CBS affiliate in Boston, gives high praise to the Weekly Dig in an April 8 post on his blog. Keller calls the newspaper "indispensable" and points readers to a recent Dig story on Keno as a must-read in Massachusetts' legalized-gambling debate. According to his bio on the station's Web site, Keller also broadcasts morning drive commentaries on WBZ NewsRadio 1030 and contributes weekly to The Boston Herald and monthly to Boston Magazine, which is owned by the same company that owns the Dig.

Continue ReadingWeekly Dig Gets Props From CBS Analyst

After more than five months exiled in a cramped temporary office in the New Orleans suburb of Metairie, the Gambit staff is thrilled to move back into their building in Mid-City New Orleans. "Some things still don't work, but we don't care," says Publisher Margo DuBos. The paper is continuing to build toward its pre-storm ad sales and page count, even as the desperate situation in the city makes Gambit's reporting vital.

Continue ReadingGambit Weekly Goes Home

"Ask a Mexican" is "an indictment of the American mind and how it, for whatever reason, cannot accept Mexicans ever becoming Americans," OC Weekly columnist Gustavo Arellano said in an interview with NPR's On the Media last Friday. "The fact that this column exists truly is a joke, and the fact that I have to answer these questions is ridiculous. That said, I will answer these questions to confront all of those stereotypes and really the pitiful nature of the American mind that cannot accept Mexicans being in this country." Arellano also criticized other Mexican and Latino members of the media for focusing on positive stereotypes, which he called "a disservice to Mexican or Latino society or culture."

Continue Reading‘Ask a Mexican’ Writer: Column Is ‘Meant To Be Inflammatory’