Phoenix New Times' John Dickerson, Style Weekly's Amy Biegelsen and The Village Voice's Elizabeth Sara Dwoskin have all been named finalists in the 2008 Livingston Awards for Young Journalists competition. The Columbia Journalism School, an AAN associate member, has two current students and six alums among the finalists as well. The winners of the Livingstons, which award three $10,000 prizes to journalists under the age of 35, will be announced June 3.

Continue ReadingThree Young Alt-Weekly Writers in Running for Livingston Awards

In the annual awards given out to "The Best in the West" by the Western Publishing Association, L.A. Weekly won in the overall Tabloids (Consumer) category and in the Best News Story (Consumer) category, while the San Francisco Bay Guardian took first for Best Signed Editorial or Essay (Consumer).

Continue ReadingTwo Alt-Weeklies Win Three Maggie Awards

Westword's Adam Cayton-Holland finished first in Arts and Entertainment Writing, while fellow Westword scribe Jared Jacang Maher finished third in the same category. Phoenix New Times took a second place win for Environment and Natural Resources Reporting and a third place win for Growth and Development Reporting, while OC Weekly's (not the Orange County Register's, as the award announcement says) "Navel Gazing" blog finished second in the Blog Writing category. The annual contest is open to newspapers and news websites in 13 western states.

Continue ReadingAAN Members Fare Well in ‘Best of the West’ Awards

Lafayette's The Independent Weekly won 29 awards and New Orleans' Gambit Weekly won 10 in the Louisiana Press Association's annual contest. The Independent snagged first place for Editorial Cartoon, Feature Story, Lifestyle Coverage, Multimedia Element, Web Project and six advertising awards. Gambit won firsts for Regular Column and online advertising. The two papers tied for first place in Community Service/Service to Readers.

Continue ReadingLouisiana Alt-Weeklies Grab Dozens of State Press Awards

Mike Menza, who had been at the L.A. Weekly for more than 19 years, died on Tuesday after battling cancer. "Menza led a tireless staff in one of publishing's crucial but little-known fields, one requiring physical stamina, intimate demographic intelligence and a head for quick calculation," the Weekly's Steven Mikulan writes. "Mike was our secret weapon," Weekly editor-in-chief Laurie Ochoa says. "One of the big reasons we're still alive and kicking, even [in] this economy, is Mike's genius at knowing exactly where we need to be on the streets -- and how to keep readers hungry for the paper."

Continue ReadingL.A. Weekly and OC Weekly Circulation Director Dies

His position for the syndicate -- editor of acquisitions and development -- has been eliminated. Over the past few years, Rall had successfully brought several alt-cartoonists into the fold at United, including Keith Knight ("The Knight Life") and the Weekly Dig's Tak Toyoshima ("Secret Asian Man"). Rall, who had held the acquisitions job since 2006, says he will still be drawing comics and writing columns for United.

Continue ReadingTed Rall Loses Job at United Media

Two AAN members are finalists in this year's EPpy Awards, which "honor the best websites in the media world." Las Vegas Weekly is a finalist for best entertainment website with fewer than one million unique monthly visitors, while Baltimore City Paper is a finalist for best weekly newspaper-affiliated website, a category the Santa Barbara Independent won last year. Winners of the awards, which are sponsored by Editor & Publisher and Mediaweek magazines, will be announced on May 7.

Continue ReadingTwo Alt-Weeklies Are Up for 2009 EPpy Awards

McGinnis, who is management information systems (MIS) director for PW parent company Review Publishing, says they started sketching out the new site at the end of 2007. The Weekly unveiled the redesign early last month. "From a design perspective, it was about making [the site] look more pleasing," he says. "From a traffic perspective it was about decreasing bounce rate and increasing time on site."

Continue ReadingKeith McGinnis Talks About Philadelphia Weekly’s Site Redesign