AAN News

How I Got That Story: Tracy Moore and Matt Sullivan

In the fifth installment of this year's "How I Got That Story" series, the Nashville Scene writers Tracy Moore and Matt Sullivan talk about their work on Nashville Cream, which garnered a first-place win in the blog category. In a city so strongly associated with country music, they chose to go a different way with the Scene's music blog, which has helped it stand out. "There's a misconception that Tennessee only covers country and honky tonk," Moore says, "So when I took over [the site], I really made the rock scene my thing." (FULL STORY)
AAN News  |  10-02-2008  10:35 am  |  Association News

How I Got That Story: David Koon

In the fourth installment of this year's "How I Got That Story" series, Arkansas Times associate editor David Koon talks to Corina Knoll about his feature profile of writer Mohja Kahf, a novelist, poet and sex columnist working to change public perception of Muslim women. Koon talks about finding the story, trying to paint a true picture of a sympathetic source, and how his creative writing background informs his work. "A lot of the things I know -- how to create character, how to create mood and theme -- translate straight across to features," he says. "I think a lot of people who gravitate toward alternative journalism and do it well come from a creative-writing background." (FULL STORY)
AAN News  |  09-30-2008  12:15 pm  |  Association News

How I Got That Story: Malcolm Gay

In the third installment of this year's "How I Got That Story" series, Malcolm Gay, a regular freelancer for Riverfront Times, talks to Corina Knoll about his feature profile of author Qiu Xiaolong. Gay, who was formerly a Village Voice Media fellow at the East Bay Express and staff writer at the RFT, says he learned how challenging it is to write about a writer. "What they do physically and in terms of their day-to-day existence is very uneventful. So it's hard to bring drama and animation to those scenes," he says. "That's the challenge: to access that inner world and make it evident in the story." (FULL STORY)
AAN News  |  09-25-2008  1:05 pm  |  Association News

How I Got That Story: Adam Sobsey

In the second installment of this year's "How I Got That Story" series, the Independent Weekly's Adam Sobsey talks to Rich Knight about how he got his start as a book reviewer, his playwriting career, and the differences between his work for daily newspapers and alt-weeklies. "I often have more space in the Indy than I do when I write theater reviews for The News & Observer," Sobsey says, "so there's an opportunity for me to say more about what I'm reviewing, either specifically or more broadly." (FULL STORY)
AAN News  |  09-23-2008  12:08 pm  |  Association News

2008 'How I Got That Story' Series Begins Today

After a two-year hiatus, the "How I Got That Story" series today returns to AAN.org to help shed light on the processes employed by first-place AltWeekly Award winners. This year, 19 winners were interviewed by Academy for Alternative Journalism fellows, and each week, two new interviews will be published on AAN.org. These interviews will also appear in the book Best AltWeekly Writing and Design 2008, which will be available soon. To read the first installment of the series, Rich Knight's interview with Washington City Paper art critic Jeffry Cudlin, click here.
AAN News  |  09-18-2008  1:17 pm  |  Association News

How I Got That Story: Jeffry Cudlin

The 2008 AltWeekly Award winner for Arts Criticism talks about his work. (FULL STORY)
AAN News  |  09-18-2008  1:14 pm  |  Association News

'Election Coverage' Listserv Launches

AAN recently created a new listserv for editors to discuss coverage of the 2008 elections. To join listservs for which they are eligible, AAN members need only login to AAN.org and click on the "Listserv Registrations" link in the My AAN section on the right side of the page.
AAN  |  08-13-2008  5:34 pm  |  Association News

Writers Workshop Program Announcednew

Gustavo Arellano will headline an exciting weekend of education and inspiration when AAN's annual writers workshop descends on the leafy campus of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern Univ. in Evanston, Ill. on Aug. 15-16. Writers who register by Aug. 1 will be able to participate in a personal writing critique, during which their work will be analyzed by a small group led by an experienced AAN editor.
AAN  |  07-14-2008  5:36 pm  |  Association News

AAN Classified Advertising Network Introduces Changes

There have been number of recent changes to the AAN CAN program, all of which are now in effect. They include:
  • New multi-week discounts and regional rates
  • A new monthly AAN CAN e-newsletter
  • A new media kit
  • A new insertion order
For more on the AAN CAN changes, read the full story. For questions, information or sales assistance on AAN CAN, contact sales and marketing director Rick Mundy at 202 289-8484 or rmundy (at) aan.org (FULL STORY)
AAN  |  06-25-2008  1:13 pm  |  Association News

Wrapping Up the 31st Annual AAN Convention

A total of 400 people descended on the Pennsylvania Convention Center and the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown two weeks ago for the 2008 AAN Convention. The three-day event featured the usual mix of presentations and panels, food and booze, and business talk and gossip between alt-weekly staffers and industry types from across North America. AAN committees and staff mostly took care of the first item, while host paper Philadelphia City Paper had the second one covered, and attendees proved themselves more than capable of handling the third on their own. (FULL STORY)
AAN  |  06-19-2008  1:01 pm  |  Association News

Four New Member Papers Admitted into AAN

After a vigorous and sometimes philosophical discussion of media ownership and the changing media landscape, AAN members approved four of the 11 membership applications that were considered during the association's annual meeting on Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia. City Pulse (Lansing, Mich.), Fast Forward (Calgary, Alberta), Hawaii Island Journal (Hilo, Hawaii) and Las Vegas CityLife (Las Vegas, Nev.) were each welcomed into the association. Members also voted to affirm the continuing membership of five papers whose ownership had changed in 2007. (FULL STORY)
AAN  |  06-09-2008  9:55 am  |  Association News

Correction: Membership Committee Recommendations Included an Error

There was a significant error in the 2008 Membership Committee Recommendations posted to AAN.org last week. The Membership Committee did not recommend that the membership of Metro Pulse of Knoxville, Tenn., be affirmed. Metro Pulse was acquired by E.W. Scripps, a media company that owns the daily newspaper, business newspaper, Knoxville Magazine, and other publications in the Knoxville market. Per the AAN bylaws, ownership of member papers must reflect and advance the following values of the association:
  • Competitive editorial and business environment, especially within local markets
  • A multiplicity and diversity of media voices
  • Independence from media conglomerates or other entities deemed detrimental to the interest of the alternative press and the maintenance of media diversity.


The committee feels that Metro Pulse's new ownership situation is not in line with the bylaws and therefore does not recommend the paper for affirmation, and the committee's report has been amended as such.
AAN  |  06-05-2008  3:39 pm  |  Association News  |  Comments (1)

AAN Convention Begins Today in Philly

Programming at the 31st Annual AAN Convention gets underway this afternoon at 2:30 pm. If you can't make it to the City of Brotherly Love to join us, be sure check the Convention Blog during the next few days for updates and coverage.
AAN  |  06-05-2008  10:29 am  |  Association News

Ten Candidates Running for Election to AAN Board of Directors

All of the members who have announced their candidacies are thus far running unopposed. However, AAN bylaws do not require individuals to declare their intention to run in advance. Any regular members who are interested in seeking a seat on the board can be nominated from the floor at the annual meeting, which will be held on Saturday, June 7, during the association's annual meeting in Philadelphia. Read here to find out who has announced they are running, why they want to serve on the board, and what they view as the important issues facing AAN and its members. (FULL STORY)
AAN  |  06-03-2008  1:27 pm  |  Association News

AAN Launches 2008 Convention Community Blog

The convention's still a week away, but today AAN is unveiling this year's community blog, Philadelphia2008.aan.org. This marks the second year AAN is running a community blog for the convention. We'll be using the blog to share updates on the convention as well as recommend places to go in Philly, but the blog is also yours, and we welcome anyone attending the convention to join us and blog -- click here to register.
AAN  |  05-29-2008  4:06 pm  |  Association News

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