WE’RE NUMBER TWO! WE’RE NUMBER TWO! (Except V.C. Rogers, who took home first place for cartooning.) This year, INDY Week did pretty good at the national AAN Awards in Austin, Texas, which Jeff and I just got back from; we won at least second place in all five categories in which we were nominated. Read the finalists and winning stories below:
ARTS FEATURE circulation under 45,000
First Place: Rap’s Poetic License: Revoked by Sam Lefebvre, East Bay Express
Second Place: Code Green by Brian Howe, INDY Week
Third Place: Best of Enemies by Chris McCoy, Memphis Flyer
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MUSIC WRITING circulation under 45,000
First Place: Music Writing (I; II; III) by Matt Stieb, San Antonio Current
Second Place: Music Writing (I; II; III) by Grayson Haver Currin, INDY Week
Third Place: We’ll Always Have Short Vine by Brian Baker, Cincinnati CityBeat
Honorable Mention: Music Writing (I; II; III) by Alex De Vore, Santa Fe Reporter
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BEAT REPORTING circulation under 45,000
First Place: Farming, Sustainability and the Environment in Western NC (I; II; III; IV; V) by Carrie Eidson, Mountain Xpress
Second Place: Criminal Justice Reporting (I; II; III; IV; V) by John H. Tucker, INDY Week
Third Place: Cops and Courts (I; II; III; IV; V) by Mark Davis, Seven Days
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ARTS CRITICISM circulation under 45,000
First Place: What Was Withheld; The Sonic Sweet Spot; and Oceanic Aspirations by Sarah Burke, East Bay Express
Second Place: Rite of Refusal;Identity Crisis; and Blackboard Shattering by Byron Woods, INDY Week
Third Place: Fifty Shades of Grey; Is Loving the Wrong Approach?; and I Thought I Might Find You Here by Eileen Townsend, Memphis Flyer
Honorable Mention: Jess T. Dugan’s Portraits Look Into You; Art in Odd Places; and The “Visual Anthropology” of Bayeté Ross Smith by Richard T. Reep, Orlando Weekly
CARTOON (listed alphabetically by last name)
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First Place: V.C. Rogers, INDY Week (I; II; III; IV; V)
Second Place: Jen Sorensen, Jen Sorensen Comics (I; II; III; IV; V)
Wax Wroth 
