AAN News

Santa Fe Reporter Unleashes Zombie Apocalypsenew

Reporter staff writer Dave Maass has created a fictional zombie apocalypse in Santa Fe, using real information and scenarios. "To determine whether Santa Fe could prevent a zombie infection from expanding into a full-blown global zombie apocalypse," Maass interviewed scientists from Los Alamos National Laboratory, emergency responders, a company that maps infectious disease spread, cops and dozens of others. The result: a multimedia cover story and web packages, including maps, videos, and a zombie photo shoot featuring Santa Fe's mayor. Watch the outbreak spread below:

Santa Fe Reporter  |  10-30-2008  11:38 am  |  Industry News

East Bay Express Crowns Winner of Sarah Palin Songwriting Competitionnew

"The Sarah Palin song competition that we launched four weeks ago drew in seventeen submissions," the Express writes. The paper's music critics graded them for concept, lyrics, humor, style, musical depth, and aesthetic quality, on a scale of 0-5 bloody moose heads. The winner was "Sarah Palin vs. the Flobots" by M. Spaff Sumison (watch it below). The Express runs down the rest of the best -- and, well, the worst -- in this week's paper.

East Bay Express  |  10-30-2008  9:50 am  |  Industry News

The Boston Phoenix Names America's 25 Scariest Conservatives

To celebrate Halloween this year, the Phoenix has prepared a "field guide of sorts" to the "fire-breathing bloviators [who] are using political bogeymen, scare tactics, and scorched-earth ideology to rally their base." The paper argues that the impending likely takeover of the White House and Congress by Democrats will only serve to "make these conservatives angry -- and thus exponentially even more dangerous." Coming in at number one is the omnipresent TV and radio talker Sean Hannity. The rest of the top 10 is, as follows: Richard Lowry, Mike Pence, Matt Drudge, Bill Kristol, Roger Ailes, Rush Limbaugh, Laura Ingraham, Jon Kyl, and Jeb Hensarling. For the full list, check the Phoenix's website. (FULL STORY)
Boston Phoenix Press Release  |  10-30-2008  9:00 am  |  Press Releases

2009 AAN Convention Comes to a Desert Destination Resort in Tucson

Next June, AAN members will descend on the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort & Spa in Tucson for the association's 32nd Annual Convention, hosted by Tucson Weekly. "This is one of the nicest places AAN has ever used for a convention," says San Francisco Bay Guardian executive editor Tim Redmond, who visited the property along with other AAN board members for a meeting last month. Read here for more about the convention and the lush Starr Pass resort. (FULL STORY)
AAN News  |  10-29-2008  1:29 pm  |  Association News

Candidate for U.S. Senate Lifts Austin Chronicle Video for Adnew

In an attempt to link Democratic challenger Rick Noriega to the infamous Howard Dean "scream" of '04, a new campaign ad from incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) "jacked" footage from an Austin Chronicle video showing Noriega excitedly giving his version of CNN's election-night broadcast. The Chronicle's Wells Dunbar says the paper is "considering all our options" in response to what he calls "the unsanctioned, unapproved, and unstatesmanlike" use of its video. But two of Cornyn's spokesmen tell the San Antonio Express-News and Houston Chronicle's Austin bureau blogger that they consider their use of the alt-weekly's video covered by the "fair use" exception in copyright law, and note their ad credited the paper as a source. "I don't think the Chronicle would be raising a peep of objection if their video didn't make Noriega look incredibly out of control," the campaign says.
Austin Chronicle  |  10-29-2008  10:13 am  |  Industry News

Jonathan Gold's Bro Asks: What About Food's Environmental Impact?new

Mark Gold is executive director of Heal the Bay, a Southern California environmental nonprofit, which can lead to some interesting exchanges with his brother, LA Weekly's Pulitzer-winning food writer. "I am already anticipating the nasty glare I will inevitably get from my marine-scientist brother," J. Gold wrote recently in a report on eating whale in Korea, "[who] has dedicated his life to pretty much the opposite of this." On his blog, M. Gold wonders: "If only Jonathan focused on sustainable seafood for a year, imagine the positive impact he'd have on local restaurants and the dietary choices of the food obsessed." But the food writer (who recently signed on for a column at Gourmet) gets the last word (thus far) in his brother's blog comments. "I stress the local-sustainable-organic trope in my columns almost to the point of self-ridicule," he writes, "and I would as soon amputate a toe as buy meat or fish from a supermarket."
LA Observed  |  10-29-2008  9:27 am  |  Industry News

Former Staffer Asks: Is There Still a Place for the Chicago Reader?new

Edward McClelland measures his former paper's hip quotient, using the fictional Reader music critic who appeared in the 2000 film High Fidelity as a yardstick. "Today, if you made a movie about Chicago hipsters, Caroline Fortis probably wouldn't write for the Reader," McClelland writes in Columbia Journalism Review. "She'd write for Time Out Chicago, or Pitchfork." Reader editor Alison True, Creative Loafing CEO Ben Eason, and former Reader staff writers Neal Pollack and Harold Henderson weigh in with their takes on the Reader's past and its future.
Columbia Journalism Review  |  10-28-2008  1:06 pm  |  Industry News

How I Got That Story: Suzanne Podhaizer

In the eleventh installment of this year's "How I Got That Story" series, Seven Days food editor Suzanne Podhaizer talks about her winning columns, which covered oysters, bread-making and the intersection of chain-restaurant casual dining and sustainability. Podhaizer tells Ling Ma about how she approaches describing food, what she'd cook for her last meal, and the telling theme of her wedding vows. "My vows were almost entirely about how meaningful it is to share food with somebody, and meeting someone you want to give the best parts of a meal to," she says. (FULL STORY)
AAN News  |  10-28-2008  11:45 am  |  Association News

Santa Fe Reporter Dominates News Category in State Press Awards

Reporter staff writer Dave Maass dominated the news writing category for Division 1 Weeklies (over 5,000 circulation) in the annual New Mexico Press Association newspaper contest. Maass won both first and second place in the category, making him the only winner in the category for Division 1. Additionally, SFR writer Zane Fischer placed first for column writing. The awards were announced at a banquet on Sunday. (FULL STORY)
Santa Fe Reporter Press Release  |  10-28-2008  9:12 am  |  Press Releases

More on the Chicago Reader, John Conroy, and Police Torturenew

"No one here told John Conroy to lay off police torture," is the headline to Michael Miner's blog post written in response to last week's Chicago Sun-Times column on Conroy's work on police torture at the Reader and a related piece from the Beachwood Reporter, an online newspaper. Editor Alison True strikes the same chord in a separate blog post, saying that "I encouraged John to explore other subjects," but "never asked him to lay off police torture."
Chicago Reader  |  10-27-2008  10:37 am  |  Industry News

California Alt-Weeklies Take Home Dozens of State Awardsnew

The California Newspaper Publishers Association announced the winners of its annual Better Newspapers Contest on Saturday, and nine AAN members won a total of 38 awards. The Sacramento News & Review won a total of nine awards, five of which were first-place finishes, including a General Excellence win. "The News & Review is a salty and irreverent weekly packed with excellent coverage of news and culture, multiple voices in columns and two pages of letters," the judges wrote. "Its colorful design is inviting and, praises to the sales department, it is packed with ads." In addition, Palo Alto Weekly also won nine total awards; the North Coast Journal won eight; Chico News & Review won four; the San Francisco Bay Guardian won three; Metro Silicon Valley won two; and the Pacific Sun, Pasadena Weekly and SF Weekly each took home one award. CORRECTION: The Santa Barbara Independent also won five awards.
California Newspaper Publishers Association (pdf)  |  10-27-2008  9:09 am  |  Honors & Achievements

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