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From the Department of Shameless Self-Promotion: Willamette Week took home seven prizes at the 2017 Association of Alternative Newsmedia Awards, including four first-place awards.
The four first-place awards were the most for any alternative newspaper in the nation.
Rachel Monahan received a first place prize for beat reporting, for five stories on Portland's housing shortage. The stories focused on no-cause evictions, tenant rights and the removal of housing supply by short-term rental websites like Airbnb.
Matthew Korfhage was named the best food writer at any alt-weekly for three pieces of food writing, "I Ate the Whole Thing", "Closing Time" and "Ramen Stories." (L.A. Weekly's Beard Award-winner Besha Rodell took second place.)
The best special section published by any alt-weekly last year was Going Coastal, edited by Martin Cizmar. The glossy guide took Portlanders on a tour of the best things on Oregon's North Coast.
And a team of WW editorial writers—Rachel Monahan, Nigel Jaquiss, Beth Slovic, Piper McDaniel, Sophia June and Aaron Mesh—won the first-place prize for public service for their story "Resist"—a cover story, published one week after the election and six nights of street protests, evaluating the threats Donald Trump's presidency posed to Portland.
"Bundyland," a story about the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge by John Sepulvado, received a third-place prize for long form news story.
In the race reporting category, Leah Sottile received an honorable mention for her story "Shakedown," about a 19-year-old who was facing a year in prison for a gram of marijuana.
Lastly, in the innovation/format buster category, WW received an honorable mention for Slurptown, which found our reporters visiting with the chefs making exotic soups from around the world in Portland.
The awards were judged by the Phillip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland. The winners were chosen from 817 entries submitted by 67 alternative publications from across the U.S. and Canada.
