AAN News
Steve Billings: It's Not Just About Food
When Steve Billings thought about what kind of food reviewer he wanted to be, he knew one thing. He didn't want to write dish-by-dish accounts of dining out. Instead, in his award-winning column for Metro Santa Cruz, he writes of the philosophy behind making sauerkraut, the goals of an organic farmer and other topical subjects. This is the 19th in a "How I Got That Story" series highlighting the AltWeekly Awards' first-place winners.
(FULL STORY)
Isaiah Thompson |
11-29-2005 10:06 am |
Association News
Andrew Wheat: Following the Corporate Money
U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay probably rues the day that Andrew Wheat first laid hands on a spreadsheet. Wheat's research at the liberal think tank Texans for Public Justice informs the political columns he writes for The Texas Observer. His award-winning columns followed the money corporations donated to a political action committee to places it perhaps ought not to have been going. This is the 18th in a "How I Got That Story" series highlighting the AltWeekly Awards' first-place winners.
(FULL STORY)
Charlie Deitch |
11-23-2005 5:57 pm |
Association News
AAN Announces AAN CAN Contest Prize: A Trip to Peru
The Association for Alternative Newsweeklies is holding another contest for sales representatives who sell ads into the AAN CAN Network. The rep who sells the most total dollars from new advertisers into the AAN CAN Network between Nov. 10, 2005 and Jan. 30, 2006 will receive a 9-day trip for two to sunny Peru.
(FULL STORY)
Amy Gill |
11-22-2005 10:40 am |
Association News
Tags: Classified Advertising
Betty Brink: Going From the Underground to the Alternative Press
One of the secret weapons in Betty Brink's reporting arsenal is the way she looks. Because she cuts a grandmotherly figure, people can't help but confide in her. The reporter who started out at an underground paper in college now does award-winning news reporting for Fort Worth Weekly. This is the 17th in a "How I Got That Story" series highlighting the AltWeekly Awards' first-place winners.
(FULL STORY)
Derek Schleelein |
11-20-2005 8:46 pm |
Association News
Steve Bogira: Presenting Court Cases for Readers to Judge
Steve Bogira of the Chicago Reader writes primarily about urban poverty. One place where poor people's stories are told again and again, with unexpected nuances, is in the courtroom. Bogira's award-winning column, Courtside, recounts these stories, as does his recent book, Courtroom 302. This is the 16th in a "How I Got That Story" series highlighting the AltWeekly Awards' first-place winners.
(FULL STORY)
Isaiah Thompson |
11-17-2005 9:03 pm |
Association News
Programming Announced for AAN East and AAN West
The Association of Alternative Newsweeklies today announced the speakers and events for our two staff training conferences, AAN West and AAN East. Registration materials are being mailed to member papers; they should arrive shortly after Thanksgiving, in plenty of time for the early registration deadlines. Check the conference Web sites often for updates.
(FULL STORY)
Amy Gill |
11-17-2005 2:04 pm |
Association News
Ayana Taylor: Gaining the Trust of Resistant Sources
In the same year that Ayana Taylor served as a diversity intern for the Jackson Free Press, she wrote three news stories that won her a first-place AltWeekly Award. She believes it's her persistence that has made interview subjects open up to her, even when they didn't want to talk to the media. This is the 15th in a "How I Got That Story" series highlighting the AltWeekly Awards' first-place winners.
(FULL STORY)
Derek Schleelein |
11-15-2005 8:56 pm |
Association News
Final Gambit Relief Fund Payments Are Issued
Now that it has distributed a total of $2,797.71 to each of Gambit Weekly's 48 staffers, AAN has closed the relief fund designed to help the paper's employees overcome the blow delivered by Hurricane Katrina. In the 10 weeks since it was established, the Gambit Relief Fund received donations totaling $135,558 from 33 organizations and more than 240 individuals. A complete list of contributors appears at the bottom of the story.
(FULL STORY)
AAN Staff |
11-15-2005 3:53 pm |
Association News
Tags: Gambit
Harvey A. Silverglate: Railing Against Injustice
Harvey A. Silverglate brings to his commentary on legal issues for The Boston Phoenix an impressive background. He is not only a journalist but a practicing lawyer, one with an acute sense of the failings of the criminal-justice system. His political column, Freedom Watch, won a 2005 AltWeekly Award. This is the 14th in a "How I Got That Story" series highlighting the AltWeekly Awards' first-place winners.
(FULL STORY)
Andrew Vanacore |
11-14-2005 8:32 am |
Association News
Ann Mullen: Righting a Wrongful Conviction
A young man was serving a life sentence for second-degree murder, and a forensic psychologist who worked on the case didn't believe the teenager had done it. So he turned to Ann Mullen, then a writer at Detroit's Metro Times. She dug around and wrote an in-depth story on the flaws in the Detroit Police Department's investigation. Six months later, the young man was freed. This is the 13th in a "How I Got That Story" series highlighting the AltWeekly Awards' first-place winners.
(FULL STORY)
Erika Beras |
11-10-2005 6:58 pm |
Association News
AAN Develops 'No More Tears' Contest Rules and Web Site
Last year, for the first time, the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies conducted its editorial contest online. Although there were some frustrating glitches, entrants overwhelmingly favored the online method of entering the AltWeekly Awards. This year, AAN used feedback from member papers and judges to make improvements, including more specific instructions to make uploading PDFs easier. The 2006 AltWeekly Awards Web site will be launched on Dec. 5.
(FULL STORY)
Ruth Hammond |
11-09-2005 2:50 pm |
Association News
Tags: Design & Production, Editorial
Lisa Sorg: Taking on Mainstream Media Conglomerates
When Lisa Sorg found out a Federal Communications Commission panel had scheduled a hearing in San Antonio, she wanted her community to be well prepared to talk about how media ownership affects what news they hear -- and don't hear. So the editor of the San Antonio Current and her small staff tackled the issue of conglomerates taking over the airwaves, turning out a two-part, multi-story series that won an AltWeekly Award for Media Reporting/Criticism. This is the 12th in a "How I Got That Story" series highlighting the AltWeekly Awards' first-place winners.
(FULL STORY)
Derek Schleelein |
11-08-2005 6:47 pm |
Association News
Rick Sealock: Can He Make It Any Uglier?
Inspired by German illustrator George Grosz, Rick Sealock takes an ornery-manner approach to his art. He distorts the humans and animals he creates in the hopes viewers will draw a social and political message from his work. The Canadian illustrator took both first-place AltWeekly Awards in Illustration this year. This is the 11th in a "How I Got That Story" series highlighting the AltWeekly Awards' first-place winners.
(FULL STORY)
Nora Ankrum |
11-06-2005 4:08 pm |
Association News
Tara Servatius: Crunching the Damning Numbers
It wasn't a phoned-in tip that led to Tara Servatius's story for Creative Loafing (Charlotte), "Flawed Priorities," but some statistics she stumbled across on a Web site. Once she started crunching numbers, she was hooked. Her inquiry led her to draw some pointed conclusions about why students at certain Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools were lagging behind other students. This is the 10th in a "How I Got That Story" series highlighting the AltWeekly Awards' first-place winners.
(FULL STORY)
Joy Howard |
11-03-2005 12:06 pm |
Association News
Michael Little: Writing From the Fringe
Michael Little, a freelancer for Washington City Paper, knows what he likes to write about: "failure and futility -- and losers." That fascination led him to write an arts feature about a woman consigned to an insane asylum in the early 1900s who produced a piece of lace that hinted at her dark sexual story. This is the ninth in a "How I Got That Story" series highlighting the AltWeekly Awards' first-place winners.
(FULL STORY)
Isaiah Thompson |
11-02-2005 9:03 am |
Association News
