AAN News
Washington City Paper Wins Homeless Journalism Awardnew
City Paper contributor Arthur Delaney has won the Street Sense David Pike Excellence in Journalism award for "Median Man," his story about "Billi," a man living in a tent on the freeway. Delaney will be honored at a ceremony this Thursday.
Washington City Paper |
06-11-2008 8:57 am |
Honors & Achievements
Washington City Paper's Dave Jamieson Wins Livingston Awardnew
Jamieson, a former City Paper staff writer, has just won the Livingston Award for his May 2007 investigative account and narrative about serial arsonist, "Letters From an Arsonist." The Livingston Awards are limited to journalists under the age of 35, are the largest all-media, general-reporting prizes in the country, and come with a $10,000 prize. "The story is a testament to what journalism can do and should do more often. In this era of cutbacks and imperatives to blog!blog!blog! Jamieson proved that journalism is still best served by expert reporting and expert writing," writes City Paper's Jason Cherkis. "If you want a textbook case of why this publication should still matter to District residents and its owners down south, this is it." See the full list of Livingston winners here.
Washington City Paper |
06-05-2008 8:06 am |
Honors & Achievements
Four Alt-Weekly Journalists Named Livingston Award Finalistsnew
The Dallas Observer's Megan Feldman and Jesse Hyde, Phoenix New Times' John Dickerson, and Washington City Paper's Dave Jamieson are among this year's Livingston Award finalists. The contest awards three $10,000 prizes for Local, National, and International Reporting to journalists under the age of 35. The winners will be announced on June 4.
The Livingston Awards |
05-05-2008 8:25 am |
Honors & Achievements
Washington City Paper Arts Editor Talks Blogs & Arts Journalismnew
In a Q&A with the Tales from the Reading Room blog, Mark Athitakis discusses the future of arts journalism, the changes afoot in the alt-weekly industry, and argues that print folks must embrace the web to survive. "I think journalists need to rethink what 'publishing' is and experiment more with video, audio, blogging, and social networking tools," he says. "You have to rethink it in part because the next generation of readers embrace all of those things, and it's folly to dig in your heels, stick with print, and say you're not interested in reaching those people, or say that everybody has to process your ideas on your terms."
Tales from the Reading Room |
02-22-2008 12:29 pm |
Industry News
Is the Alt-Weekly Market for Comics and Illustration Drying Up?new
"If you stop and think about it, it's hard to think of anyone who's broken out of that once-vital corner of the comics world in a dozen years," writes the Comics Reporter. Reacting to the news that Washington City Paper will stop using freelancer Robert Ullman to illustrate the Savage Love column, the Reporter wonders if the alt-weekly market for illustrators, cartoonists, and comic artists has "begun its final decline" as papers have to focus more on bottom-line pressures. "I think that's the way it's trending, definitely, but I'm not ready to pull a sheet over the corpse quite yet," Ullman says. "I don't know, I would think that with all the conglomeration that's going on with alt-weeklies these days, that there'd be more money for things like illustration, not less."
The Comics Reporter |
12-13-2007 9:49 am |
Industry News
David Carr: Muckraking Pays, Just Not in Profitnew
The Times columnist says that given all of the newspaper industry's woes, last week's Chicago Reader and Washington City Paper newsroom layoffs might not seem significant. But Carr, who was editor of the City Paper in the 1990s, thinks the cuts illustrate the larger issue of an industry-wide abandonment of investigative journalism. Creative Loafing CEO Ben Eason says that's not the case. "We are not trying to make any other statement here other than it is a competitive world out there and we are doing what we can to make sure we are putting out an excellent paper in the communities we serve," he tells the Times.
The New York Times |
12-10-2007 12:28 pm |
Industry News
Washington City Paper's Production Department 'Celebrates' Last Daynew
Washington City Paper |
10-18-2007 9:08 am |
Industry News
Washington City Paper's Food Writer Talks Shopnew
"My mother back in Kansas City likes to tell her friends that I work at the Washington Post, because I think she's embarrassed about alternative newspapers," says Tim Carman, who writes the Young & Hungry column for City Paper. He tells Cork & Knife that working with the award-winning critic Robb Walsh at the Houston Press earlier this decade (when Carman was managing editor) jump-started his desire to "do something with food," but his bum knee prevented him from actually working in a restaurant. He landed the City Paper gig ("I didn't think I had a shot," he says), and now eats in restaurants close to twice a day. "Your dining routine is an endless search for the new and interesting," he says when asked about the toughest part of his job. "Sometimes, I (or my wife, Carrie, god bless her) would just like to relax and unwind in an old familiar place."
Cork & Knife |
10-01-2007 12:10 pm |
Industry News
CL's John Sugg: Our New Chain is More than a Balance Sheetnew
The columnist and Creative Loafing shareholder says his company's acquisition of the Chicago Reader and Washington City Paper is neither an "idealistic foray" nor a "hostile takeover of independent papers." The way Sugg sees it, the two papers were caught up in a "broader crisis in the publishing business" that their former owners weren't nimble enough to navigate. He also defends CEO Ben Eason, who hasn't exactly been welcomed with open arms in Chicago and Washington. "He believes alt-weeklies can help readers strengthen their communities," says Suggs. "Eason loves to see controversy in his newspapers. He admits mistakes, takes risks and has an ambitious vision for new media. His lieutenants often disagree with him; he listens ... sometimes."
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
08-02-2007 3:41 pm |
Industry News
Chicago Reader, Inc. President: 'I Guess it Was Time'new
"We've received so many overtures over the years and they’ve never come to pass," Bob Roth tells Reader media critic Michael Miner. "[But] we got a better offer than I expected." Creative Loafing CEO Ben Eason tells the Washington Post it was an "eight-figure sale" and that he tried to buy the Reader's minority stakes in the Stranger, the Portland Mercury and the Amsterdam Weekly, but that Roth wouldn't sell. Miner tells the Chicago Tribune that the Reader staff is "discombobulated" at the moment. "This has been a very insular paper," Miner says. "We've seen other papers buffeted by change that hasn't affected us until now." Miner also reports that Reader publisher Mike Crystal and editor Alison True will remain with the paper, but production will be moved to Atlanta, according to a report in the Chicago Sun-Times. Production of City Paper will also be moved to Atlanta, where all four of Creative Loafing's papers are currently produced. Back in Washington, editor Erik Wemple says that budget cuts that had already begun will continue, but "there's no fat in our newsroom that I can identify and so this is difficult process. I refuse to pay freelancers less money, and so we'll have to get terribly, terribly creative." MORE COVERAGE: Forbes; Crain's; St. Petersburg Times; Chicago Public Radio.
Chicago Reader |
07-25-2007 9:11 am |
Industry News
Washington City Paper's 'Crafty Crew' on the Origin of Crafty Bastardsnew
Kim Dorn, Sara Dick, and Liz Eckstein tell Nest in a Q&A that the idea for City Paper's annual craft fair, which celebrates its fourth anniversary this year, originated in the heart of the classifieds section. "Through our free ads, we create a community marketplace where people can sell goods and services directly to each other. ... We had been tossing around the idea of hosting a big citywide yard sale," they say. "In the spring of 2004, the indie craft movement was just getting its legs and we decided it made more sense to do an arts-focused event. ... [Publisher Amy Austin] is a huge supporter of the arts and theatre and pretty much gave us free reign."
Nest |
07-19-2007 12:06 pm |
Industry News
Alt-Weekly Art Director Closes His Squished Penny Museumnew
Washington City Paper's Pete Morelewicz and his wife Christine Henry have decided to close their collection of squished pennies to the public after running it out of the front hallway of their home for 11 years, the Washington Post reports. "We started to get so many visitors that we were overwhelmed," Morelewicz says. "We didn't have enough time to accommodate everyone who wanted to visit us. And that was really tough for them as well as for us, because we wanted to make people happy."
The Washington Post |
07-09-2007 12:29 pm |
Industry News
Washington City Paper Unveils Redesign, Sends Out Hawkersnew
Despite MediaBistro's speculation that the hawkers were sent out in response to the recent D.C. launch of The Onion, City Paper staffers were just helping to promote the redesign yesterday as they braved chilly temperatures to hand out free papers. On the City Paper's blog, reporter Jonathan York notes his lack of preparation compared to the hawkers of free dailies the Washington Examiner and Express. "These guys were pros," he says. "As the wind brought snowflakes, my hands were bare, and Messrs. Examiner and Express wore gloves."
MediaBistro |
04-06-2007 1:02 pm |
Industry News
Influential Musician to Write Column in Washington City Papernew
Bob Mould, best known as the singer, guitarist and songwriter for the indie bands Hüsker Dü and Sugar, will answer reader questions on "music, cooking, travel, politics, religion, neighborhoods, sociology and more" in a column appropriately called "Ask Bob Mould," according to City Paper. Arts editor Mark Athitakis tells AAN News the idea "was kicking around for a while here at the office" and that the column will run "on the opening spread of the arts section."
Washington City Paper |
04-03-2007 12:59 pm |
Industry News
Washington City Paper Launches Redesigned Websitenew
Admitting it "has had a rather checkered history when it comes to our commitment to the Web," the paper announces it is moving into "the mid-2000s" with its newly reconfigured site. Among the changes: the blogs are no longer using Blogger, i.e., an open-source software solution; a "toolbox" with listings and classifieds has been added to each page on the site; and the previously pay-for-access editorial archives are now free.
Washington City Paper |
02-12-2007 1:14 pm |
Industry News
