‘All Politics is Local’ blog wins national award

Editor & Publisher announced The Columbian’s “All Politics is Local,” as a winner today in the newspaper industry journal’s annual EPPY Awards.

The online blog won in the category of “Best News/Political Blog with under 1 million unique monthly visitors,” beating finalists “The Spot” by The Denver Post and Washington Monthly’s “Political Animal.”

“All Politics is Local” received honorable mentions in the EPPY Awards in 2012 and 2011.

Clark County government reporter Erik Hidle and Vancouver city government reporter Stephanie Rice are the primary contributors to “All Politics is Local,” along with Eric Florip, who covers transportation and the environment, and Tyler Graf, who covers small cities.

Selected posts from “All Politics is Local” run in the Sunday newspaper on the cover of the Clark County section.

Among the posts submitted to the contest were Florip’s (premature?) obituary for the Columbia River Crossing, Hidle’s post about Clark County Commissioner David Madore saying he doesn’t know how someone can have a “meaningful” life on $50,000 a year and Rice’s report of Vancouver Mayor Tim Leavitt flexing for Gov. Jay Inslee.

The blog, which has the tagline, “We go to meetings so you don’t have to,” was started in December 2010 as a way to share behind-the-scenes stories from local government that otherwise wouldn’t make the news.

It is the most-read blog on The Columbian’s website, said Web Editor John Hill. Hill added that October has been a record-setting month for blog hits, which he credited to the campaign-related posts on “All Politics is Local.”