Seven Days Places Among Top Winners at the 2023 AAN Awards

Associate publishers Don Eggert and Colby Roberts accepted the awards on behalf of the winners Credit: Ellen Meany

Seven Days took home four first-place awards at the July Association of Alternative Newsmedia convention in Dallas, tying for the most wins with the Chicago Reader and the Willamette Week of Portland, Ore. We’re proud and grateful. Thanks, AAN! And thanks to our readers and advertisers for making our local journalism possible.

1st Place Winners

Cover Design
Diane Sullivan, Rick Veitch, Luke Awtry, Harry Bliss

Covers from the entry Credit: Designer: Rev. Diane Sullivan. Artists: Rick Veitch, Luke Awtry, Harry Bliss. ©️ Seven Days

Judge’s comment: “From the standpoint of what a cover should do (engage readers, draw attention, highlight key content, be consistent across issues while providing different material), this [entry] has it all. The talents of so many artists, photographers, designers and writers are on display here, a symphony of delight that compelled readers to look inside.”

Right-Wing Extremism Coverage
“Capitol Offense: Nicholas Languerand’s Quest for ‘Belonging’ Led Him to QAnon, the Insurrection — and Now Prison” by Derek Brouwer and Colin Flanders

Judge’s comment: “Far more than a highly nuanced and deeply reported profile (which it is), “Capitol Offense” also deftly captures the many shades of gray that make the events of January 6 so hard to reconcile across the political spectrum, not only for those on the ideological fringes but at many points in between. The result is one of the best examples of journalists capturing a confusing, contradictory, and often inscrutable period of our nation’s history and reflecting it back to the reader with something that is all too rare these days — clarity and a measured degree of compassion that allows us to better understand Nicholas Languerand, and others like him, without needing to agree with him. Derek Brouwer and Colin Flanders display mastery of their subject and an economy of language that lends this piece a quiet confidence that easily places it at the top of its category. Outstanding work by all involved.”

Feature Story
“Flower Powerhouse: Melinda Moulton Has Blended Business Savvy and a Hippie Ethos to Transform Burlington” by Ken Picard

Judge’s comment: “A beautifully written and thoroughly reported story that held my interest from beginning to end. Not only did it capture how one woman transformed a town, but it showed you her heart and soul, too.”

Multimedia
“How Not to Get Stuck in the Mud in East Barnard with John Leavitt and The Crier” a “Stuck in Vermont” video by Eva Sollberger

Judge’s comment: “Excellent piece. The storytelling, photography and editing make this story suitable for a PBS special … The squishy mud photography makes me feel like I was right there with you.”

2nd Place Winners

Editorial Layout
“On the Road: What Route 100 Says About Vermont” by Diane Sullivan

Explanatory Journalism
“Locked Out: Vermont’s Housing Crisis” by Matthew Roy, Anne Wallace Allen, Derek Brouwer, Rachel Hellman, Courtney Lamdin, Colin Flanders, Chelsea Edgar, Kevin McCallum

Election Coverage
“Becca Balint’s Campaign for U.S. House” by Sasha Goldstein

Column
“Life Stories by Sally Pollak” by Sally Pollak

Cartoon
Tim Newcomb