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From the Department of Shameless Self-Promotion: WW received nine prizes at the AAN Awards, a national contest recognizing the best work by alternative news media in 2025. Among the haul were five first-place awards, the most by any outlet in the national contest.
Culture reporter Rachel Saslow won first prize in the free speech and democracy reporting category for her profile of the Seth Todd, the South Waterfront protester who donned an inflatable frog costume and inadvertently spawned a nationwide absurdist resistance to President Trump’s immigration dragnet (“Portlander of the Year: The Frog,” WW, Dec. 24, 2025).
“If one of the great reasons for having an alternative outlet is to report the accurate record from the ground of a story that ballooned nationally and somewhere in that process became grossly distorted,” wrote a contest judge, “then the tale of Portland’s frog as told by Rachel Saslow is the finest example of this critical utility imaginable.”
City Hall reporter Sophie Peel took home two first prizes: one for environmental reporting for her investigation into the draconian enforcement of Portland’s tree code (“The Taking Tree,” WW, March 5, 2025), and another for leading WW’s team of summer interns—Seychelle Marks-Bienen, Senya Scott and Asa Gartrell—on a journey into an East Portland urban renewal area that had gotten worse (“Gateway to Nowhere,” WW, Aug. 27, 2025). Anthony Effinger won first prize in health care reporting for his examination of a star-crossed merger bid between Oregon Health & Science University and Legacy Health (“Operation: Merger,” WW, April 23, 2025). Whitney McPhie was awarded first place in editorial design for the pages of a story on urban beekeeping (“To Bee or Not to Bee,” WW, May 7, 2025). McPhie also received an honorable mention for her cover designs.
Education reporter Joanna Hou won second place in short-form news reporting for a story that led to the resignation of Multnomah County’s Preschool for All director, while Chance Solem-Pfeifer took second in arts criticism for his countdown of the 25 best movies made in Oregon in the 21st century. Our inaugural drag performer contest, overseen by Andrew Jankowski, was awarded second place in LGBTQ+ coverage.
See the full roster of award winners and judges’ remarks here.
