AAN News

AAN Members Win 38 Pacific Northwest SPJ Awardsnew

The winners of the 2007 Society of Professional Journalists' Pacific Northwest Excellence in Journalism Awards were announced on Saturday night, and dozens of awards went to four alt-weeklies. Seattle Weekly led the way with 15 awards, including a total of eight first-place finishes in the Business, Education, Government, Investigative, Lifestyle, Science and Health, Special Section, and Sports categories. The Pacific Northwest Inlander took home 12 awards, including four first-place wins in the Consumer/Environmental Affairs, Humor, Page Design, and Social Issues categories. Eugene Weekly also won seven awards, and the Missoula Independent took home four.
Society of Professional Journalists Region 10  |  06-03-2008  8:55 am  |  Honors & Achievements

Four Alt-Weekly Journalists Named NEA Fellowsnew

Michael Bowen (The Pacific Northwest Inlander), Skylar Browning (Missoula Independent), Brendan Kiley (The Stranger), and Ashley Lindstrom (San Antonio Current) have been named fellows in the fourth National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Arts Journalism Institute in Theater and Musical Theater at USC's Annenberg School. The fellows will participate in a rigorous 10-day program in February with guest faculty including L.A. Weekly theater editor Steven Leigh Morris.
USC Annenberg School for Communication Press Release  |  12-21-2007  8:26 am  |  Honors & Achievements

Missoula Independent Editor to Leave Paper

"I'm writing to announce my impending departure from the Missoula Independent after five lovely years," Brad Tyer writes in a farewell email to colleagues. Tyer joined the Independent in 2002 after spending time elsewhere in the alt-weekly universe, including the Texas Observer, Houston Press, and Willamette Week. "As much as I've enjoyed working in newsrooms, especially this one, I'm also looking forward to seeing what the world looks like through a non-alt-weekly lens for the first time since -- my God -- 1991," he says. Tyer, who expects to leave no later than Oct. 4, says he will stay in Missoula and continue writing.
AAN News  |  09-04-2007  8:31 am  |  Industry News

Missoula Independent Wins Award from State Press Associationnew

The alt-weekly finished in first place in the Excellence in Design, Presentation and Use of Photos category in this year's Better Newspaper Contest, sponsored by the Montana Newspaper Association. Award winners were announced Saturday.
AP via KNX Newsradio  |  06-21-2007  7:57 am  |  Honors & Achievements

Former Alt-Weekly Arts Editor Juggles Projectsnew

After five years of doing a little bit of everything at Missoula Independent, Andy Smetanka now works as a baker when he's not taking classes toward a Master's degree in creative non-fiction or drafting silhouette animation for the Decemberists. New West profiles Montana's Renaissance man. CORRECTIONS: According to the Independent, Smetanka was the paper's arts editor, not the art director, as New West reports. In addition, Smetanka, who left his full-time position at the Independent almost two years ago, still reviews film for the paper on a regular basis.
New West  |  01-22-2007  1:04 pm  |  Industry News

Missoula Independent Columnist Quits Lobbying Jobnew

After roaming the halls of the Montana legislature for more than 20 years as a professional lobbyist, George Ochenski leaves it all behind to focus on his career as a political analyst for Missoula's alt-weekly. Ochenski announced the decision in his latest column, in which he admits that his dual role created problems. "As a writer, the obvious conflicts between what I wanted to be able to convey and the sometimes not-so-good reactions those stories elicited from one party or another within the Capitol, certainly had the potential to create problems for a lobbyist trying to get legislation passed or funded," he writes. NOTE TO READERS: Last week, based on an inaccurate report in The Billings Outpost (see second item), AAN News briefly reported that Ochenski had decided to quit writing.
Missoula Independent  |  01-15-2007  12:53 pm  |  Industry News

Former Missoula Independent "Mentor," Copy Editor Diesnew

Missoula Independent  |  12-08-2006  11:20 am  |  Industry News

Missoula Independent Gets Gawker's Attention

This morning, the bloggers at Gawker.com turned their focus away from New York long enough to post a calendar item from The Missoula Independent. This is the sentence that Gawker found "disturbing": "Bowling and karaoke go together like Israeli bombing and U.S. bombs during Solid Sound karaoke at Westside Lanes."

responds that Gawker missed the point: "that bowling and karaoke don't go particularly well together at all."
08-07-2006  10:20 am  |  Industry News

Montana Close to Passing Legal-Notices Law

Spurred by the lobbying effort of Missoula Independent publisher Matt Gibson, a bill extending legal-notice advertising to free-circulation newspapers passed the Montana state legislature yesterday. The bill must now be signed by Governor Brian Schweitzer to become law. Ironically, Gibson's primary opposition was the Montana Newspaper Association, for which he serves as a member of the board of directors. According to Gibson, a former member of the AAN Board, "AAN publishers need to be alerted to the practical reality that a periodical mailing permit, as commonly required in legal notice statutes, accomplishes very little to protect the people’s right to know. It does not ensure minimum reach or distribution, nor does it require independent verification of circulation. It's superfluous, and legislators can be convinced to change to law."
04-14-2005  1:01 pm  |  Industry News

Texan Takes Reins in Montananew

The Missoula Independent has hired alt-weekly veteran Brad Tyer as its new editor. Tyer, a native of Houston, takes over from Interim Editor David Madison, who will become the paper’s Flathead Bureau Chief in Kalispell, Mont. Tyer was previously editor of the Texas Observer and before that a staff reporter at the Houston Press.
Missoula Independent news release  |  12-17-2002  11:22 am  |  Industry News

Missoula Independent Hires Brad Tyer as Editor

Houston native eager to amp up the Big Sky (FULL STORY)
12-16-2002  6:08 pm  |  Press Releases

Missoula Independent Spreads Holiday Cheer

Special section revenues donated to charity (FULL STORY)
12-12-2001  8:58 am  |  Press Releases

AAN Publisher Says Daily Puts Bulls-Eye on His Backnew

A couple of weeks ago Lee Enterprise's daily paper in Missoula changed the publication day of its weekend section and started to distribute it as a free, stand-alone paper. In a publisher's note, Missoula Independent's Matt Gibson says the move is "a transparent attempt by the Missoulian to impede the growth" of his paper, and calls it unethical, anti-competitive and "probably illegal". He promises that Lee is "going to find themselves in a fight so fierce and unrelenting, they’ll wish they’d picked on somebody their own size."
Missoula Independent  |  10-26-2001  11:22 am  |  Industry News

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