Time to toot our own bugle:
The Phoenix New Times has been selected as one of the "10 That Do It Right" for 2009 by Editor & Publisher magazine. Our competition in the field: Every other newspaper in the country, apparently. The magazine says this isn't a "best-of" award, "but rather a collection of newspapers that are doing one particular thing very well (sometimes more than one thing), and merit recognition for that effort and achievement." Sounds good to us.
New Times is being honored primarily due to -- you guessed it -- our ongoing coverage of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
The other nine newspapers that "do it right" for this year include the Las Vegas Sun, St. Petersburg Times and Star Tribune in Minneapolis.
Here's what E&P has to say about lil ole us:
New Times (Phoenix)
In some quarters, Village Voice Media (VVM) is the very antithesis of what the alternative press is supposed to be. It's too big, they say, and its cookie-cutter formatted papers are not just insufficiently politically radical; their libertarian bent can seem an awful lot like -- gasp! -- conservatism.
Yet, again and again the old New Times papers get into righteous scrapes with the powers-that-be over First Amendment and other fundamental issues the local dailies overlook. The Phoenix New Times is selected here for its long campaign to shine a light on Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, a classic desert despot. A special prosecutor had VVM CEO Jim Larsen and Executive Editor Mike Lacey arrested when New Times reported on a suspicious Arpaio real estate deal. Their ongoing lawsuit will no doubt dredge up more interesting information about the sheriff. Area dailies might want to take note.
The part about the arrests of New Times executives Lacey and Larkin is missing a few details, but what the heck -- you get the point. Many of you know the story fairly well, anyhow. (And if you don't, click here).
Raise your glass and help us celebrate for a moment: Here's to doing it right (or at least trying our damnedest)!
Now back to our regularly scheduled program...
