AAN News

High-Stakes Poker Masternew

Men Nguyen is a seven-card poker stud with 20 Visa cards at his disposal and a half-dozen lock-boxes containing hundreds of thousands of dollars. He travels with a band of adoring cardsharp proteges, fellow Vietnamese refugees, who tithe a percentage of their winnings to him while reverently calling him “Master.” LA Weekly's Michael Kaplan follows Nguyen into his tight-knit Vietnamese community and the world of high-stakes poker.
LA Weekly  |  05-15-2003  11:00 am  | 

Metro Pulse Sold to Local Contractor

Joe Sullivan, publisher of Metro Pulse for 10 years, has sold the Knoxville, Tenn., weekly to Brian Conley, a general contractor who has development contracts with the city. Conley, who was briefly a co-owner of the Pulse in the mid-1990s, pledges he will guard the alt-weekly's editorial independence, even as it investigates his own dealings with the city (see story link below). Sullivan stays on as editor in chief and columnist. (FULL STORY)
Ann Hinch  |  05-15-2003  10:37 am  |  Industry News

City Pages Debuts Weblog Section

"Twin Cities Babelogue" has turned more than 20 writers, editors and freelancers loose on the paper's Web site to talk about anything they want, any way they want. The experiment is paying off so far, with 10 percent of all Web site visitors now checking out the Babelogue during their time on the site. "I figured it was going to be a waste of time and lobbied openly against it," Senior Editor Brad Zellar tells AAN News. "Turns out, however, that I've taken to it." (FULL STORY)
Matt Pulle  |  05-14-2003  1:40 pm  |  Industry News

AAN Writers Are Winners and Finalists in James Beard Awardsnew

New Times writers swept the Newspaper Restaurant Review or Critique category of the 2003 James Beard Foundation Journalism Awards with Jason Sheehan of Westword winning, while Jill Posey-Smith of Riverfront Times and Robb Walsh of Houston Press were finalists. Mark Stuertz of the Dallas Observer was the winner in the Newspaper, Magazine or Internet Reporting on Consumer Issues, Nutrition and/or Health category for his article “Green Giant." Dara Moskowitz, City Pages (Twin Cities) and Walsh were finalists in the newspaper series category.
James Beard Foundation  |  05-14-2003  1:14 pm  |  Industry News

Boy of Summer Wants It Backnew

In these days of Lebron James hysteria, it's easy to forget that high-schooler-hype isn't exactly a new phenomenon. Actually, it dates back to 1973, when Texas schoolboy David Clyde became the first baseball player to go directly from high school to the Major Leagues. Clyde flamed out in spectacular fashion, playing bits and pieces of eight seasons before blowing out his arm and leaving the game for good. Today he's alive and well and living in Tomball, Texas. And, as Dallas Observer sports columnist John Gonzalez reports, he'd like a little bit of his life back.
Dallas Observer  |  05-14-2003  10:05 am  | 

Corkery Sues Fangs for $2.4 Millionnew

San Francisco Bay Guardian  |  05-14-2003  5:23 pm  | 

Youth Is Stranger Than Fictionnew

Eight young people talk with Pittsburgh City Paper over a couple cases of beer. "We turned on a tape recorder but kept our pie holes shut, asking one participant, Oscar Lehman, to act as moderator. (Well, we didn’t just sit there -- we kept their frosty mugs filled with pale ale and quaffed a few ourselves!)" Thing is, the interviewees were role-playing CP staffers, but the joke may not have been on readers. "The efforts of Pittsburgh’s self-appointed youth-retention and regional-marketing experts are so utterly inane, self-indulgent and classist, that it’s hard to make a joke about them," Editor Andy Newman writes.
Pittsburgh City Paper  |  05-13-2003  10:35 am  | 

Cotts: Times' Management Blinded by Blair's Dazzlenew

Village Voice  |  05-13-2003  4:34 pm  | 

Indie Gas Stations Face"Agasination" by Majorsnew

Running a gas station is a tough business, but during price spikes like the one that recently sent fuel prices to record highs, it becomes all but impossible for independents to make money selling gas. SN&R's Jeff Kearns reports on how the oil giants are tightening their grip on the gas market, squeezing small retailers out of business, and charging everyone more at the pump.
Sacramento News & Review  |  05-12-2003  4:35 pm  | 

The Soul of Census Track 7new

Jessica Lyons delves into the heart and soul of Monterey County's Census Track 7, one of the most densely populated districts in the United States, a gang-ridden neighborhood filled with vibrant life and deep despair. She rides with a councilman in search of a park in the impoverished neighborhood. They never find it, but they find a place where they can look out over a lush golf course in the affluent part of town. "It's got to be so goddamn depressing," the councilman tells her. "You live in the ghetto, but you can see out.
Monterey County Coast Weekly  |  05-09-2003  10:59 am  | 

Jayson Blair Fabricated Sniper Storiesnew

Washington City Paper  |  05-09-2003  12:21 pm  | 

Podcast