Winners of the 2007 Utne Independent Press Awards

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Political Coverage
The Chronicle of Higher Education

The premier source for all things scholarly, this weekly reader combines grade-A reportage with sharp, smart (dare we say, non­-academic?) prose­, to make a seemingly specialized beat both accessible and relevant to the broadest of audiences. The state of higher education is a political concern of deep import both domestically and around the globe. For that reason alone, this comprehensive, cleanly designed newspaper deserves recognition for its international scope. What raises its political coverage to elite status, though, is “The Chronicle Review,” a fearless, free-thinking section where academia’s best and brightest can take their gloves off and swing with abandon at both sides of the increasingly predictable political divide. Some of our favorite storylines from 2007: “Most everyone has a theory about why the poor stay poor. Most everyone is wrong”; “Sure, we should respond to terrorism with calm, tactical rationality. We should also call its perpetrators what they are: scum”; “Hats off to conservatives’ literary skills—but it’s easy to be entertaining when your ideas are simplistic and illogical.” Politically correct? Hardly. Ahead of the curve? Always.
http://chronicle.com/subscribe/?src=A71LAA 

Social/Cultural Coverage
Gastronomica

 In a word: sumptuous. Perfect-bound, pages ever-so-slightly-glossy, Gastronomica feels heavier in your hand than 140-odd pages should. It’s clean and elegant, from its covers (a simple image, no text) to its content (blissfully free of advertising). It’s a perennial pleasure to devour, as satisfying intellectually as it is visually. For a journal with academic ties—it’s published by the University of California Press, and editor in chief Darra Goldstein and managing editor Jane Canova are from Williams College—Gastronomica is roundly accessible. The Summer 2007 issue, for instance, includes an interview with the developer of “vertical farming”; a photo essay shot in Tequila, Mexico, heavy on the agave plants; a critique of the cult of Michael Pollan (reprinted in Utne Reader’s Jan.-Feb. 2008 issue); a history of “food advice” in America; and a photograph of a “Happier Meal,” a tiny, adorable, felt reproduction of that edible cultural archetype.
http://ucpressjournals.com/journalBuy.asp?j=gfc

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