Austin360 blogs > Out & About > Archives > 2008 > May > 14 > Entry
Your A-List: Best Newspaper
2009:
The Austin American-Statesman again tops the Your A-List poll for Best Newspaper, grabbing 39 percent of the vote.
The community-minded Westlake Picayune was second with 31 percent, followed by alt-weekly Austin Chronicle in third with 12 percent.
Rounding out the list:
Austin Business Journal, 9 percent;
The Onion, 4 percent;
Ahora Si, 3 percent;
Lake Travis View, 1 percent;
Hill Country News, 1 percent;
Round Rock Leader, < 1 percent;
San Marcos Daily Record, < 1 percent; and
Bastrop Advertiser, < 1 percent.
2008:
And, indeed, the Austin American-Statesman, parent of this entertainment Web site and our employer, won with 49 percent of the vote. In its favor, the Statesman is the city’s only comprehensive daily newspaper and, despite periodic criticism from all directions, ranks high among publications its size for journalistic quality and business soundness.
Backers of The Austin Chronicle, which came in second with 28 percent, will probably say, “well, the vote took place on a Statesman-owned site,” and they’d have a point, but the city’s venerable weekly publication is no stranger to the vagaries of reader-driven polls. Since the early 1980s, the Chronicle has remained one of the strongest independent weeklies in the country and is generally unswerving in its point of view.
The Onion, a newcomer to the local scene, although familiar through its Madison, Wis.-based national spoof, came in third with 12 percent. The recent observation that audiences wouldn’t laugh at “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” if they didn’t already get the news also applies to The Onion. You almost have to be a newsy hound to get its satirical jibes. The addition of local entertainment coverage just enriches an already crowded field.
The local edition of a national chain, the Austin Business Journal earned 3 percent; the Round Rock Leader came close behind, while taking 2 percent or less were Ahora Si, Westlake Picayune, San Marcos Daily Record, Lake Travis View and Bastrop Advertiser.
Write-in: Hill Country News
(In the interest of full disclosure, we should note that Cox Newspapers, the Statesman’s parent company, also owns the Leader, Ahora Si, the Picayune, the View and the Advertiser.)
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment Categories: City, Media, Your A-List
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By Michael Barnes
May 14, 2009 2:55 PM | Link to this
Dave, You were reading last year's results. Happens all the time. Picayune made 31 percent this year. Best, Michael
By Dave
May 14, 2009 11:22 AM | Link to this
The Picayune was only 100 votes behind the Statesmen when voting closed on Tuesday night?
How did they only end up with 2% of the vote?