The Society of Professional Journalists' Pacific Northwest Excellence in Journalism competition, unlike many others, features its own alt-weekly division, which pits publications from Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Idaho and Montana against each other. This year, the Pacific Northwest Inlander led the pack with 13 total awards -- six of which were first-place finishes. Five of the Willamette Week's nine total awards were in first place, and Seattle Weekly won 13 total awards and three firsts. The Missoula Independent won five awards, with two first-place wins. The Eugene Weekly won five awards and the Portland Mercury won one.

Continue ReadingSix Alt-Weeklies Pick Up Regional SPJ Awards

At a press conference last week on gun control, Reader staff writer Mick Dumke asked Mayor Richard Daley how effective he thought the city's restrictive gun laws have been, considering the shootings and murders have continued at a high rate. Daley, rather than addressing the issue, picked up a rifle and addressed Dumke directly. "It's been very effective," he said, chuckling. "If I put this up your butt, you'll find out how effective it is. Let me put a round up your, you know." The next day Daley said he regretted his choice of words, while his spokesperson said Dumke was "missing the point" with his line of questioning, a view not shared by the reporter. "Actually, they're missing the point, and they're of course doing it on purpose. They want to miss the point," Dumke writes. "The point is that there's a critical discussion that needs to take place around here about gun control, violence, an understaffed police force, neglected neighborhoods, chronic joblessness, the war on drugs, failing schools, and the priorities of public officials. But Mayor Daley has shown no signs of being interested in it. He's decided what needs to happen, and we're either with him or against him."

 

Continue ReadingChicago Mayor Threatens to Shove Gun Up Chicago Reader Staffer’s Butt

New Times, which got its start in 1970 as a reaction to the Kent State shootings, hosted a party over the weekend to celebrate 40 years in existence. Native Arizonan and former alt-weekly writer and NPR editor Bill Wyman takes the anniversary occasion to look back and take stock of what New Times has built; it was the first paper started by Michael Lacey, who now oversees the Village Voice Media chain with business partner Jim Larkin. After saying he has "no reason to suck up" to Lacey and Larkin, Wyman concludes: "Aren't they everything we supposedly value about the press in the U.S.? They are idiosyncratic and uncorruptible, uncompromising and fearless; unlike a lot of places that adopt the motto, Lacey and Larkin really do print the news and raise hell. And as this troubled time for a troubled industry continues, they just may end up being the last men standing."

Continue ReadingPhoenix New Times Celebrates 40th Anniversary

AAN's 2010 editorial panel competition garnered 16 proposals for topics ranging from video production to nonprofit grants to transportation politics (and everything in between). AAN members now have the opportunity to vote on these proposals. The proposal with the most votes will be featured at the July 15-17 annual convention in Toronto, and its creator will receive a free registration to the convention.

The editorial panel competition was spearheaded by AAN's editorial committee as a means of soliciting new ideas for programming in Toronto and beyond. "No matter who wins this competition, there are a lot of great ideas here, and I'm hoping some of the runner-ups will be game to bring their ideas to the convention as part of the editorial roundtable sessions," said AAN Editorial Chair Julia Goldberg.

Voting will close on Thursday, May 27 at 11:59 pm EST. The winner will be announced on Wednesday, June 2.

CLICK HERE READ THE PROPOSALS AND VOTE

Continue ReadingAAN Opens Voting for Editorial Panel Competition

Sales teams are now required to sell print, web, phone and other products. Writers are stretched to capacity with added blogging and social media responsibilities. Designers must learn new skills to produce additional ads and content for web, mobile and now the tablet. How do you create and maintain an environment that continues to motivate your staffs when more is required of them each and every day?

Jan van der Hoop of HiringSmart will be in Toronto to help us tackle this issue -- one faced across all departments. With more than fifteen years of HR experience, Jan will walk convention attendees through a concrete process to understand the driving factors of performance, measure what truly matters and plan the necessary steps to help ensure your paper remains competitive through the contributions of your staff.

So join us in Toronto for this timely discussion on how to get the most out of your employees.

Continue ReadingAsking More of Your Staff With No Budget for Additional Resources?

How do you choose the right platform for your story? With the Web -- and now mobile -- you have more options than ever. At first glance they seem daunting, but these platforms offer exciting new ways to add depth to your stories and attract new readers. Award-winning multimedia veteran Regina McCombs of the Poynter Institute will be on hand in Toronto to help sort it all out in an hour-long session on July 16. McCombs' courses on video reporting, mobile news, and social media are the gold standard of the news industry, and convention attendees won't want to miss this invaluable session.

"This session is a natural extension of AAN's partnership with Poynter's NewsU to offer our members online training, particularly in the area of new media," said Editorial Chair Julia Goldberg. "Hopefully those who haven't taken advantage yet of AAN's discounts to the NewsU webinars will want to after they attend Regina's session in Toronto."

Continue ReadingThe iStory: Telling Stories Across Platforms

Sidney Simon, owner and CEO of Bartash Inc., one of the nation’s leading manufacturers of magazines, newspapers and niche publications, proudly announces that industry veteran Bob Senske has joined Bartash as its newest Sales Executive. Mr. Senske brings over 25 years of graphic arts experience to Philadelphia’s largest coldset web printer. Most recently, he spent 10 years in sales with A.F.L. Web Printing of Voorhees, NJ.

Continue ReadingVeteran Print Sales Executive Joins Bartash Team