AAN News
OC Weekly's 'Ask a Mexican' Pushes PC Boundaries
Originally published in 2004 as a one-time spoof, Gustavo Arellano's "Ask a Mexican" has taken on a life of its own, landing the 27-year-old reporter and editor a regular gig on a right-wing talk radio show as well as the front page of today's Los Angeles Times. In his weekly column, Arellano answers the kind of frank questions about Mexican stereotypes (e.g., "Why do Mexicans put on their Sunday best to shop at Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Target, etc.?") that aren't normally asked in polite society. According to the Times, he gets away with it because his writing is "historically and culturally accurate" and "imbued with affection for Mexican immigrants." But not everyone is thrilled. OC Weekly Editor Will Swaim tells the Times he still fields the occasional call or e-mail demanding that Arellano be fired.
02-23-2006 1:31 pm |
Industry News
OC Weekly Writer Signs Book Deal
According to Publisher/Editor Will Swaim, News and Investigations Editor Nick Schou will pen a biography of Gary Webb, the late investigative journalist, for Nation Books. Webb is best known for his San Jose Mercury News "Dark Alliance" series, which explored links between the CIA, Nicaraguan contras, and crack cocaine. Webb worked briefly at the Sacramento News and Review before his suicide in 2004. Schou has reported on the controversy over the "Dark Alliance" series in several articles for OC Weekly.
01-24-2006 8:45 am |
Industry News
Orange County Gets New Free A&E Weekly (reg. req.)new
Editor & Publisher |
10-02-2005 1:49 pm |
Industry News
OC Weekly Writer Named Annenberg Senior Fellow
Gustavo Arellano was selected to participate in the University of Southern California Annenberg School of Communication seminar, "Latinization of Art and Culture in America: Understanding Its Impact and Why It Matters," which will be held the third week of October. Twenty-two fellows were honored with an invitation, but only Arellano and Augustin Gurza of the LA Times were named senior fellows; they are expected to assume leadership roles for the duration of the conference. Arellano was the recipient of an AAN Diversity Internship grant in 2002.
09-21-2005 10:34 am |
Industry News
OC Weekly on Its 10th: Thank You Comrades!
When OC Weekly was launched in 1995, most people figured it wouldn't last: Orange County was (they said) too decentralized, conservative and suburban for an alt-weekly. Even editor/publisher Will Swaim admits he experienced a little anxiety in those early days. Yet here the paper is 10 years later, stronger than ever, making a difference in people's lives, and providing work for its staff that is exciting, fun and rewarding. And Swaim has a few people to thank for that.
(FULL STORY)
Will Swaim |
09-14-2005 4:41 pm |
Industry News
OC Weekly: Stories That Made a Differencenew
OC Weekly |
09-14-2005 2:38 pm |
Industry News
OC Weekly Series Spurs Federal Indictmentsnew
R. Scott Moxley, a writer for the Santa Ana, Calif., alt-weekly, first reported on Dr. George Steven Kooshian (pictured) in July 2001, sparking an FBI investigation. The article detailed allegations of illegal practices, which included administering saline solution -- passed off and billed as expensive medication -- to AIDS patients. Because of the doctor's good reputation in the local gay community, Moxley's series of six investigative stories was at times bitterly criticized. Kooshian (and one of his former nurses) will be arraigned Aug. 1 on 25 counts of health-care fraud and other charges.
OC Weekly |
07-22-2005 11:59 am |
Industry News
Diversity Internships Help Launch Writing Careers
Joy Howard |
03-16-2005 5:55 pm |
Association News
The Listings Calendar: Alts' Mainstay Faces Stiff Competition
Hartford Advocate Editor Alistair Highet calls the listings calendar his paper's "universal point of interest." The calendar is -- and long has been -- indispensable for most alt-weeklies, attracting readers who don't necessarily agree with a paper's perceived political stance. But the marketplace is increasingly crowded with online and print publications listing concerts and theater times. Freelance reporter Charlie Deitch speaks with AAN members to find out what they're doing to fend off competitors' attempts to infringe on the alts' longtime stronghold.
(FULL STORY)
Charlie Deitch |
01-05-2005 12:29 pm |
Industry News
OC Weekly Reporter Awarded Prestigious Scholarshipnew
The Religion Newswriters Association has awarded news and investigative reporter Gustavo Arellano a Lilly Scholarship for his reportage on the child-abuse scandal in the Catholic Diocese of Orange County, Calif. According to an OC Weekly press release, he is one of just seven winners for 2004. The non-profit and nonpartisan association awards the scholarships to allow writers to pursue religious studies.
OC Weekly Press Release |
11-10-2004 5:59 pm |
Industry News
OC Weekly Reporter Awarded Prestigious Scholarship
11-10-2004 5:15 pm |
Press Releases
Papers in Orange County and Pittsburgh Win Diversity Grants
AAN Staff |
07-12-2004 5:29 pm |
Association News
OC Weekly Names Will Swaim Publisher
Swaim to Retain Editorship and Oversee All Business Operations
(FULL STORY)
06-21-2004 8:14 am |
Press Releases
Right-Wing Group Subpoenas OC Weekly Photographsnew
Judicial Watch, which
buried Bill and Hillary Clinton in legal papers, has subpoenaed OC Weekly writer Gustavo Arellano for all the photographs he shot of a fight that broke out at an anti-immigrant rally in Anaheim, Calif., in December 2001. Judicial Watch represents the anti-immigrant group California Coalition for Immigration Reform, which claims the city of Anaheim didn't protect CCIR members when a melee broke out with counter-protesters. OC Weekly publishes the photographs in question, and it seems they may actually hurt CCIR's case.
OC Weekly |
06-23-2003 1:56 pm |
Industry News
Angry Billionaire Pulls $120,000 in OC Weekly Adsnew
Donald Bren, a developer and GOP
stalwart in Southern California, is on both
Forbes' list of wealthiest Americans and
OC Weekly's list of "scariest" Orange
Countians. Despite OC Weekly's
frequent exposes of Bren's
“shenanigans,” his company was a
regular advertiser until a few weeks ago,
when it yanked ads worth about $120,000
a year. "Our crime? We’d forgotten to
adhere to Bren’s prime directive: thou
shalt not publicly discuss the actions of
my wandering penis," R. Scott
Moxley writes.
OC Weekly |
06-12-2003 11:29 am |
Industry News
Tags: Retail Advertising, OC Weekly
