Music editor Randall Roberts has been named one of six journalists to receive a 2009 USC Annenberg/Getty Arts Journalism Fellowship. "This year the Fellowship will focus on the visual arts and architecture of Los Angeles, with attention paid to the challenges confronting journalists working in the digital-media era," according to a press release. The three-week program begins in November.

Continue ReadingL.A. Weekly Editor Tapped for Arts Journalism Fellowship

Longtime PW staffer and well-regarded mental health columnist and blogger Liz Spikol has left the paper. Philip Dawdy reports that Spikol will return to blogging at some point, but is currently taking a bit of a break. Her departure comes on the heels of recently reported layoffs, pay cuts and furloughs at the paper, moves addressed by PW parent company Review Publishing's president and chief operating officer in a statement given to AAN News. "Like most organizations, we needed to take proactive and hopefully temporary measures to preserve as many jobs as possible while best positioning the organization for long term growth," George Troyano writes. "We remain very optimistic about the future and will continue to invest in new initiatives and technologies. We will maintain a strategic and creative approach to best maneuver through these challenging times."

Continue ReadingPhiladelphia Weekly Executive Editor Among Those Leaving the Paper

The suburban paper won 15 awards -- almost twice as many as the publication that came in second -- when the winners of the Orange County Press Club's annual contest were announced last week. Gustavo Arellano was a veritable journalism-award vacuum cleaner, sucking up three first-place awards and two third-place finishes. R. Scott Moxley nabbed two first-place trophies, including best columnist, and one second-place award. Matt Coker and Nick Schou were also honored with multiple awards.

Continue ReadingOC Weekly Cleans Up in Local Press Contest

This week's issue includes columns by former owner Jim Laris and current editor Kevin Uhrich, who has been with the paper since 1996. There's also a timeline and a series of short reminisces from a number of alumni, including former LA Reader owner James Vowell and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Steve Coll, the paper's first editor.

Continue ReadingPasadena Weekly Celebrates 25 Years

Lily Burk, whose slaying July 24 in downtown Los Angeles has received widespread attention, was the daughter of Greg Burk, a LA Weekly writer and editor for over two decades. "The LA Weekly community that attended (parties hosted by the Burks) has mostly disappeared from the (LA Weekly) building now," writes Pandora Young in Fishbowl LA. "But the community, though scattered, still exists. We keep track, we keep in touch, and we're devastated by the news of Lily's death."

Continue Reading17-Year Old Murder Victim was Part of ‘LA Weekly Community’

The shock rocker has issued a warning on MySpace against journalists who write "cavalier statements," saying there will be repercussions for the "soon-to-be-murdered-in-their-home press" if more inaccuracies are reported. Manson's threats come on the heels of a recent L.A. Weekly interview with Buddyhead.com founder Travis Keller, who talked about what it was like to meet Manson in 2007. In the piece, Keller paints Manson as a paranoid cocaine addict and a fraud.

Continue ReadingL.A. Weekly Story Leads Marilyn Manson to Threaten Journos

"When David Brewster started the Weekly, I thought it was a fabulous idea because Seattle didn't have anything like the New Yorker but it's a rather sophisticated city," Alan Furst told The Stranger in an interview last month. Furst says that when Brewster approached him about writing for the paper, he was told he could write about anything, so he decided he wanted to write a football column. "The Nordstrom family had just bought the franchise for the Seahawks, and they brought in and unwrapped a brand-new team and there I was up in the press box, eating free hot dogs. It was great!"

Continue ReadingNovelist Remembers the Early Days of the Seattle Weekly

The Louisville alt-weekly won a total of 18 awards in the 2009 Metro Journalism Awards, sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists Louisville Chapter. LEO, which was competing in the Metro Newspapers/Wire Services division, finished first in five categories: Column Writing, Feature Photography, Feature Writing, Health Reporting and Review/Criticism (which it swept).

Continue ReadingLEO Weekly Fares Well at Local SPJ Awards