AAN News
Houston Press Releases iPhone Appnew
Houston Press |
07-09-2010 1:28 pm |
Industry News
OC Weekly & Houston Press Win Maggie Awardsnew
The Western Publishing Association held its banquet on Friday and announced the winners for its annual Maggie Awards, which go to work deemed "The Best in the West." With all five finalists in the overall Tabloids/Consumer category being Village Voice Media papers, we knew an alt-weekly would win, but which would it be? OC Weekly ended up taking home the first-place prize in that category, and the Houston Press finished first for Best Public Service Series or Article/Trade & Consumer for staff writer Chris Vogel's December 2009 story on toxic polluters and lax enforcement at the Houston Ship Channel.
Western Publishing Association |
05-10-2010 4:58 pm |
Honors & Achievements
Three Young Alt-Weekly Staffers Finalists for 2009 Livingston Awardsnew
The Village Voice's Elizabeth Dwoskin, Jaclyn Galluci of the Long Island Press, and Chris Vogel of the Houston Press are among the finalists for this year's Livingston Awards for Young Journalists, an all-media, general reporting contest that awards three $10,000 prizes for Local, National, and International Reporting to journalists under the age of 35. It's Dwoskin's second nomination in a row; last year's local reporting winner was Phoenix New Times' John Dickerson. Winners will be announced on June 2.
The Livingston Awards for Young Journalists |
05-03-2010 2:20 pm |
Honors & Achievements
Three Texas Alt-Weeklies Honored with SPJ Awardsnew
The Fort Worth Weekly, Houston Press and San Antonio Current took home a total of 10 first-place awards in the SPJ Fort Worth First Amendment Awards. Fort Worth Weekly took home leading honors for Defending the Disadvantaged, Green News, Reporting on Open Government, Opening the Books and Student Work, while the Press, competing in the higher-circulation division, won firsts for Defending the Disadvantaged, Green News and Opening the Books. The Current, which like the Weekly was competing in the small-circ division, took home first-place honors in the Investigative and Opinion or Commentary categories.
Fort Worth SPJ |
04-22-2010 12:55 pm |
Honors & Achievements
Houston Press Nabs Three Finalist Spots in IRE Awardsnew
While the Press didn't take home the top award for "Local Circulation Weeklies" in this year's Investigative Reporters and Editors contest, three of the paper's pieces by two staff writers were finalists. Chris Vogel was recognized for his work on the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the juvenile justice system, while Paul Knight's ahead-of-the-curve story on problems with the Toyota Prius was also honored.
Investigative Reporters and Editors |
03-31-2010 8:38 am |
Honors & Achievements
Alt-Weeklies Nominated for a Number of James Beard Awardsnew
As usual, AAN members are well-represented in the list of finalists for the 2010 James Beard Foundation Journalism Awards, which recognize excellence in food writing. The L.A. Weekly's Jonathan Gold and Westword's Jason Sheehan (who is now at Seattle Weekly) are both nominated for the Craig Claiborne Distinguished Restaurant Reviews, and Gold is also a finalist in the Writing on Spirits, Wine or Beer category. Elsewhere, the Newspaper Feature Writing category is comprised only of AAN members, with two Chicago Reader pieces and one from the Village Voice vying for the top prize. Westword nabs another finalist in the Newspaper Feature Writing About Restaurants and/or Chefs, where it is joined as a finalist by Washington City Paper. And last, but certainly not least, the Houston Press is a finalist in the Multimedia Food Feature category. Winners will be announced on May 2.
James Beard Foundation |
03-23-2010 10:24 am |
Industry News
Three Alt-Weeklies Among Bert Greene Award Finalistsnew
The International Association of Culinary Professionals has announced the finalists for this year's Bert Greene Awards, which honor "one of the most sophisticated and dynamic genres in contemporary journalism" -- food writing. This year, both the Houston Press and SF Weekly are finalists in the brand-new Blog category, and the Village Voice's Sarah Digregorio is a finalist in the Culinary Writing without Recipes category for her February 2009 piece on foie gras. The winners will be announced at a ceremony in Portland on April 22.
International Association of Culinary Professionals |
03-04-2010 9:00 am |
Honors & Achievements
Conason: Alt-Weeklies Often 'Far Ahead' on Investigative Storiesnew
In a short blog post on the new Nation Investigative Fund website, Joe Conason says Paul Knight's 2009 story on problems with the Toyota Prius is just the latest example of alt-weeklies -- "those hippie outposts of the old print media" -- "provid[ing] an important outlet for investigative stories that are far ahead of their mainstream competitors." While Conason is certainly right about alts often getting a head start on big stories like the Prius problems, he is wrong about one thing: The story in question originated in the Houston Press, where Knight is a staff reporter. It was reprinted in the OC Weekly and a few other VVM papers.
The Investigative Fund |
02-12-2010 12:31 pm |
Industry News
Alt-Weeklies Reported on Prius Problems -- Last Yearnew
As Toyota acknowledges design problems with the brakes in its hybrid Prius, it's worth taking a look back at Paul Knight's April 2009 story that ran in the Houston Press and several other alt-weeklies, which details the car's "unintended acceleration" problems. "Toyota spokespeople quoted in the story blamed misinstalled floor mats and simple driver error for the wild rides," reports the OC Weekly, which also ran the story. "But now that the U.S. and Japanese governments are applying heat, the world's largest carmaker seems to be taking Prius horror stories more seriously."
OC Weekly |
02-04-2010 3:20 pm |
Industry News
Houston Press Food Writer Sheds Anonymitynew
"For nearly ten years now, I have done my job incognito," Robb Walsh writes. "Now I am joining the ranks of no-longer-anonymous restaurant critics." He notes that fellow VVM food writers Jason Sheehan (Westword) and Jonathan Gold (L.A. Weekly) have had few problems since moving away from the time-honored tradition of being an anonymous food critic. "[I've] noticed absolutely no difference in being recognized in restaurants," Gold says. "None. Zero."
Houston Press |
11-03-2009 8:59 am |
Industry News
Houston Press Food Critic Keeps Writing Through Swine Flu Quarantinenew
"If you are wondering why I am so quiet lately its because I have been quarantined with N1H1," Robb Walsh tweeted last week. But being stuck in his house under doctor's orders didn't stop him from doing his job, he tells Washington City Paper. "There was no change in diet at all. I didn’t even have to stop writing," he says of his quarantine, which ended this Tuesday. "I just reviewed take out food." (Walsh further explains the process in a blog post titled "How to Review a Restaurant When You're Quarantined.")
Washington City Paper | Houston Press |
10-15-2009 1:21 pm |
Industry News
Handful of Alt-Weekly Pieces End Up in 'Best Food Writing 2009'
AAN News has just received a copy of Da Capo's Best Food Writing 2009, and it is chock full of alt-weekly talent. Included in the collection are stories from City Pages' Rachel Hutton ("Spam: It's Not Just for Inboxes Anymore"), New Times Broward-Palm Beach's John Linn ("Highway to Hog Heaven"), SF Weekly's Peter Jamison ("Out of the Wild"), The Stranger's Bethany Jean Clement ("The Beauty of the Beast"), Washington City Paper's Tim Carman ("How Not to Hire a Chef"), and Westword's Jason Sheehan ("The Last of the Great $10 Steaks"). The book also includes a selection from Houston Press food writer Robb Walsh's book on oysters, and is slated to be released this fall.
AAN News |
09-02-2009 4:54 pm |
Honors & Achievements
UPDATE: Houston Press Contributor Also Named Annenberg/Getty Fellownew
Yesterday, we noted that L.A. Weekly music editor Randall Roberts had been named one of the six journalists to receive a 2009 USC Annenberg/Getty Arts Journalism Fellowship. However, we neglected to note that Houston Press contributor Kelly Klaasmeyer will also be in the 2009 class of fellows when the three-week program begins this November. We apologize for the omission.
USC Annenberg School for Communication |
08-14-2009 2:48 pm |
Honors & Achievements
Radio Host Upset that Houston Press Took 'Ask a Mexican' Online Onlynew
Tony Diaz, who hosts KPFT's Nuestra Palabra program in Houston, says that the Houston Press' decision to publish Gustavo Arellano's syndicated column only on the web is like putting it "in the back of the bus." Diaz also says the Press doesn't understand how popular the column is among Hispanics, insinuating the alt-weekly is out-of-touch with that community -- an insinuation that editor Margaret Downing is having none of. "While I certainly understand the disappointment of some of our readers, to say that not carrying the column in print shows a lack of commitment to the Hispanic community is nothing but hyperbole," she says in a statement explaining the move.
Houston Press |
07-21-2009 9:05 am |
Industry News
Four AAN Members Clean Up at the Lone Star Awardsnew
The Houston Press and Fort Worth Weekly were the big winners in this year's awards competition sponsored by the Houston Press Club. The Press won a total of 16 awards. In the big papers division, it finished first for Business Story and General Commentary/Criticism, while staff writer Craig Malisow was named Print Journalist of the Year (his colleague Chris Vogel was runner-up.) In the art and web divisions open to all papers, the Press took home first-place awards for Feature Story, Hard News Reporting, Photo Package and Sports Photo. The Weekly, competing in the small papers division, won a total of 11 awards, including first-place finishes in Feature Story, Investigative Reporting, Politics/Government, Sports Story and Business Story (which it swept). Also in the large division, the Dallas Observer won four awards, including firsts for Feature Story, Sports Story; in the small division, San Antonio Current took home three awards.
Houston Press Club (pdf) |
07-02-2009 8:51 am |
Honors & Achievements
