The Jan. 12 issue of New Times' flagship paper summarizes a report by Douglas Jones on "widespread problems within the Maricopa County [Ariz.] Elections Department." Jones, a University of Iowa computer science professor, has been a subject of controversy ever since state Sen. Jack Harper issued a subpoena allowing him to examine the county's voting machines. Both Harper and New Times, which paid for Jones' report, have been strongly criticized in the local press. New Times Editor Rick Barrs said local politicians and press have drummed up controversy over the subpoena to obscure the real story: local elections are ripe for error and fraud.

Continue ReadingPhoenix New Times Answers Critics and Releases Election Report

Patty Calhoun gave up the (cowboy) shirt off her back during pledge week on Denver's KBDI-Ch. 12, and in so doing she gained the attention of the Denver Post (here, third item). What happened, in her words: "The lovely teal cowboy shirt in question spent much of its life in my truck, and only got hauled out for respectable events -- such as AAN conventions and an occasional appearance on "Colorado Inside Out," the weekly public-affairs TV roundtable I'm on. One day, Westword's music editor reported that he'd run into some of the TV techs at a club, and they were talking about how much they hated that shirt. So the last time I wore it on TV, when the host was talking about how it was pledge week but our show was never pre-empted, I said I'd donate the dreaded shirt to whoever pledged $100. Someone did, so during last week's show, I took it off." But don't get the wrong idea -- Calhoun was wearing another shirt underneath.

Continue ReadingWestword Editor Doffs Shirt for Public Television

Tired of political rhetoric that went unchallenged, the Orlando Weekly team of Jeffrey C. Billman and J.J. Marley set about creating an annotated version of a speech by the mayor. Their format-busting work earned them an AltWeekly Award, even though Marley was rooting for a different issue to be entered. This is the 33rd in a "How I Got That Story" series highlighting the AltWeekly Awards' first-place winners.

Continue ReadingJeffrey C. Billman and J. J. Marley: Slicing Pie-in-the-Sky