San Jose Mercury News West Magazine
Encyclopedia
San Jose Mercury News West Magazine, also referred to as West and West Magazine, was a Sunday magazine published by San Jose Mercury News
. Jeffrey Klein served as the magazine's editor-in-chief in 1993, and left that year to become editor-in-chief of Mother Jones
. He was replaced by Mercury News columnist Pat Dillon. Dillon left in 1994 to pursue work on a book, and West former medical reporter and magazine writer Fran Smith took over as the next editor-in-chief. Bob Ingle was the magazine's executive editor in 1994. West Magazine has received numerous awards and has been recognized both for its articles and investigative journalism
, as well as its art design.
worked as a reporter for West Magazine in 1987; she went on to receive a Pulitzer Prize
in 1991. By 1993, Klein was editor-in-chief of West, and in January of that year he left to become editor-in-chief of Mother Jones
. He was replaced by Pat Dillon, a Mercury News columnist with a college degree from the University of Washington
and a M.A.
from Boston University
, whose prior experience included work with the Associated Press
and San Diego Union.
In 1994, Dillon left West to work on a book. The next editor-in-chief was Fran Smith, former medical reporter and magazine writer for West. Smith, who had previously worked at Mercury News for 10 years, received a B.S. from Cornell University
and a graduated from University of California, Berkeley
with a master's degree in journalism. In the acknowledgements in his book The Valley of Heart's Delight, author Michael Shawn Malone comments: "At the Mercury-News' West Magazine, first Jeffrey Klein and then Patrick Dillon, let me push the limits of feature writing." In 1994, Bob Ingle served as executive editor of Mercury News. Jerry Ceppos also served as an editor at the magazine.
, a former Nazi rocket scientist. Hubner received the second-place award from the National Education Writers Association, for his November 2, 1986 article "How George Shirley Almost Beat the System," about teacher George Shirley who had been fired in the Spring of 1986 from Salinas Union High School District in Salinas, California
. The Unity Awards in Media Committee of the Lincoln University of Missouri awarded Hubner a first-place award for the same article. Hubner's work was recognized with the UAIM trophy "for news coverage of minority problems and concerns in education", at a formal ceremony in Jefferson City, Missouri
. Susan Faludi received a merit award in 1987 in the California Newspaper Publishers Association
's annual competition, for her contributions to West. In October 1987, the magazine received multiple awards at the Society of Newspaper Design conference in Austin, Texas
. Sidney Fischer was recognized for artwork published in the magazine, Bambi Nicklen for her work as art director, and Ken Coffelt received an award for free-lance writing. Edward O. Welles received a Gerald Loeb Award
in 1987 for his work on the article "Technical Equities".
In 1988 the California Newspaper Publishers Association's annual Better Newspapers competition recognized reporter Susan Faludi for her writing on Japanese American internment
. In 1989, Carole Rafferty received a first-place award at the annual Peninsula Press Club awards dinner, for her article "Sympathy for the Devil". The magazine took multiple awards in the 1989 "Best of the West" journalism contest, out of a pool of submissions from reporters in 13 states from the Western United States
. Journalist Michael Zielenziger received a first-place award for reporting on environmental policies of the Reagan administration. A group of reporters from the magazine received a first-place award for reporting on effects of Proposition 13. John Hubner received a third-place award in the contest, for his article on how Salinas, California tire factory employees were affected by benzene
. In 1990, Gary Blonston received a first-place award for his article "Pandora's Kitchen," at the Peninsula Press Club banquet awards.
In 1991, the Sunday Magazine Editors Association
awarded Hubner first prize for an article series he wrote in the category of "investigative or in-depth reporting", and named a West magazine cover illustration by Sue Coe as one of the 10 best covers of the year. Hubner's article series was judged for Sunday Magazine Editors Association by Harrison E. Salisbury, former foreign correspondent for The New York Times
. Salisbury characterized Hubner's series of articles as "incredible in its detail and the manner in which it has all been put together. I don't think I have seen anything like it in the press or in the electronic media in recent years." The Associated Press News Executives Council of California and Nevada honored Kathy Holub with a first-place prize in features in its annual newswriting and photography contest, for her story of her own rape experience, "A Case of Rape". Staff writer Mike Weiss received a certificate of merit award from in the 1992 J.C. Penney-University of Missouri Newspaper Awards, for his article "The Shield That Failed," about a female police officer who filed sexual harassment charges against her superior. In 1993, West art director Sandra Eisert became the first woman to be honored with the Joseph Costa Award from the National Press Photographers Association, the second-highest award given by the organization. At the 1994 annual conference of Sunday newspaper magazines, SunMag, West was recognized for its June 27, 1993 magazine cover. SunMag placed the June 1993 magazine cover among the 10 best Sunday magazine covers. The cover picture was taken by photographer Jason M. Grow, and the cover was designed by former West art director Sandra Eisert.
San Jose Mercury News
The San Jose Mercury News is a daily newspaper in San Jose, California. On its web site, however, it calls itself Silicon Valley Mercury News. The paper is owned by MediaNews Group...
. Jeffrey Klein served as the magazine's editor-in-chief in 1993, and left that year to become editor-in-chief of Mother Jones
Mother Jones (magazine)
Mother Jones is an American independent news organization, featuring investigative and breaking news reporting on politics, the environment, human rights, and culture. Mother Jones has been nominated for 23 National Magazine Awards and has won six times, including for General Excellence in 2001,...
. He was replaced by Mercury News columnist Pat Dillon. Dillon left in 1994 to pursue work on a book, and West former medical reporter and magazine writer Fran Smith took over as the next editor-in-chief. Bob Ingle was the magazine's executive editor in 1994. West Magazine has received numerous awards and has been recognized both for its articles and investigative journalism
Investigative journalism
Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, often involving crime, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years researching and preparing a report. Investigative journalism...
, as well as its art design.
History
Jeffrey Klein began working at San Jose Mercury News in 1979, and in 1986 was promoted to associate editor and columnist. Susan FaludiSusan Faludi
Susan C. Faludi is an American feminist, journalist and author. She won a Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism in 1991, for a report on the leveraged buyout of Safeway Stores, Inc., a report that the Pulitzer Prize committee thought showed the "human costs of high finance".-Biographical...
worked as a reporter for West Magazine in 1987; she went on to receive a Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
in 1991. By 1993, Klein was editor-in-chief of West, and in January of that year he left to become editor-in-chief of Mother Jones
Mother Jones (magazine)
Mother Jones is an American independent news organization, featuring investigative and breaking news reporting on politics, the environment, human rights, and culture. Mother Jones has been nominated for 23 National Magazine Awards and has won six times, including for General Excellence in 2001,...
. He was replaced by Pat Dillon, a Mercury News columnist with a college degree from the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
and a M.A.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
from Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
, whose prior experience included work with the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
and San Diego Union.
In 1994, Dillon left West to work on a book. The next editor-in-chief was Fran Smith, former medical reporter and magazine writer for West. Smith, who had previously worked at Mercury News for 10 years, received a B.S. from Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
and a graduated from University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
with a master's degree in journalism. In the acknowledgements in his book The Valley of Heart's Delight, author Michael Shawn Malone comments: "At the Mercury-News' West Magazine, first Jeffrey Klein and then Patrick Dillon, let me push the limits of feature writing." In 1994, Bob Ingle served as executive editor of Mercury News. Jerry Ceppos also served as an editor at the magazine.
Awards and recognition
Reporter John Hubner was honored with the first-place award in writing in the 1985 California-Nevada UPI Editors Association Newspaper Awards competition, for his series of articles on Arthur RudolphArthur Rudolph
Arthur Louis Hugo Rudolph was a German rocket engineer and member of the Nazi party who played a key role in the development of the V-2 rocket. After World War II he was brought to the United States, subsequently becoming a pioneer of the United States space program. He worked for the U.S...
, a former Nazi rocket scientist. Hubner received the second-place award from the National Education Writers Association, for his November 2, 1986 article "How George Shirley Almost Beat the System," about teacher George Shirley who had been fired in the Spring of 1986 from Salinas Union High School District in Salinas, California
Salinas, California
Salinas is the county seat and the largest municipality of Monterey County, California. Salinas is located east-southeast of the mouth of the Salinas River, at an elevation of about 52 feet above sea level. The population was 150,441 at the 2010 census...
. The Unity Awards in Media Committee of the Lincoln University of Missouri awarded Hubner a first-place award for the same article. Hubner's work was recognized with the UAIM trophy "for news coverage of minority problems and concerns in education", at a formal ceremony in Jefferson City, Missouri
Jefferson City, Missouri
Jefferson City is the capital of the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Cole County. Located in Callaway and Cole counties, it is the principal city of the Jefferson City metropolitan area, which encompasses the entirety of both counties. As of the 2010 census, the population was 43,079...
. Susan Faludi received a merit award in 1987 in the California Newspaper Publishers Association
California Newspaper Publishers Association
The California Newspaper Publishers Association is a nonprofit trade association founded in 1888 that represents the daily and weekly newspapers of California. Its diverse membership consists of over 500 newspapers that elect 35 individuals to its governing board of directors...
's annual competition, for her contributions to West. In October 1987, the magazine received multiple awards at the Society of Newspaper Design conference in Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
. Sidney Fischer was recognized for artwork published in the magazine, Bambi Nicklen for her work as art director, and Ken Coffelt received an award for free-lance writing. Edward O. Welles received a Gerald Loeb Award
Gerald Loeb Award
The Gerald Loeb Award, also referred to as the Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism, is a recognition of excellence in journalism, especially in the fields of business, finance and the economy. The award was established in 1957 by Gerald Loeb, a founding partner of...
in 1987 for his work on the article "Technical Equities".
In 1988 the California Newspaper Publishers Association's annual Better Newspapers competition recognized reporter Susan Faludi for her writing on Japanese American internment
Japanese American internment
Japanese-American internment was the relocation and internment by the United States government in 1942 of approximately 110,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese who lived along the Pacific coast of the United States to camps called "War Relocation Camps," in the wake of Imperial Japan's attack on...
. In 1989, Carole Rafferty received a first-place award at the annual Peninsula Press Club awards dinner, for her article "Sympathy for the Devil". The magazine took multiple awards in the 1989 "Best of the West" journalism contest, out of a pool of submissions from reporters in 13 states from the Western United States
Western United States
.The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply "the West," traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time...
. Journalist Michael Zielenziger received a first-place award for reporting on environmental policies of the Reagan administration. A group of reporters from the magazine received a first-place award for reporting on effects of Proposition 13. John Hubner received a third-place award in the contest, for his article on how Salinas, California tire factory employees were affected by benzene
Benzene
Benzene is an organic chemical compound. It is composed of 6 carbon atoms in a ring, with 1 hydrogen atom attached to each carbon atom, with the molecular formula C6H6....
. In 1990, Gary Blonston received a first-place award for his article "Pandora's Kitchen," at the Peninsula Press Club banquet awards.
In 1991, the Sunday Magazine Editors Association
Sunday Magazine Editors Association
Sunday Magazine Editors Association, also referred to as SUNMAG, or Sunmag, is an organization of editors of Sunday newspaper magazines. It represents a majority of the major newspaper magazines in the United States....
awarded Hubner first prize for an article series he wrote in the category of "investigative or in-depth reporting", and named a West magazine cover illustration by Sue Coe as one of the 10 best covers of the year. Hubner's article series was judged for Sunday Magazine Editors Association by Harrison E. Salisbury, former foreign correspondent for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
. Salisbury characterized Hubner's series of articles as "incredible in its detail and the manner in which it has all been put together. I don't think I have seen anything like it in the press or in the electronic media in recent years." The Associated Press News Executives Council of California and Nevada honored Kathy Holub with a first-place prize in features in its annual newswriting and photography contest, for her story of her own rape experience, "A Case of Rape". Staff writer Mike Weiss received a certificate of merit award from in the 1992 J.C. Penney-University of Missouri Newspaper Awards, for his article "The Shield That Failed," about a female police officer who filed sexual harassment charges against her superior. In 1993, West art director Sandra Eisert became the first woman to be honored with the Joseph Costa Award from the National Press Photographers Association, the second-highest award given by the organization. At the 1994 annual conference of Sunday newspaper magazines, SunMag, West was recognized for its June 27, 1993 magazine cover. SunMag placed the June 1993 magazine cover among the 10 best Sunday magazine covers. The cover picture was taken by photographer Jason M. Grow, and the cover was designed by former West art director Sandra Eisert.
See also
- Robert CohnRobert CohnRobert Cohn is an entrepreneur and businessman known for the founding of Octel Communications, the company that commercialized voice mail and was largely responsible for making it ubiquitous on cell phones, in companies and on residential phones. In 1982, Cohn founded Octel Communications...
- San Jose Mercury NewsSan Jose Mercury NewsThe San Jose Mercury News is a daily newspaper in San Jose, California. On its web site, however, it calls itself Silicon Valley Mercury News. The paper is owned by MediaNews Group...
- Sunday Magazine Editors AssociationSunday Magazine Editors AssociationSunday Magazine Editors Association, also referred to as SUNMAG, or Sunmag, is an organization of editors of Sunday newspaper magazines. It represents a majority of the major newspaper magazines in the United States....
Further reading
- "The 100 most powerful people in Silicon Valley", West magazine, San Jose Mercury NewsSan Jose Mercury NewsThe San Jose Mercury News is a daily newspaper in San Jose, California. On its web site, however, it calls itself Silicon Valley Mercury News. The paper is owned by MediaNews Group...
, (June 7, 1987)