the truth business: awards season!
I'm running around with a chicken with my head cut off because my mom is in the Big City to visit her brother, and so I'm off to visit her, but before I took off for the weekend, I wanted to alert people to something real to chew on when they're done reading about Paris Hilton. Or whatever her name is.

No profession gives itself more awards than journalism. The deadline for the Big One -- the Pulitzer -- is at the end of the month. While I'm a little skeptical of all these awards, I am thankful we get to read these kick-ass stories and the results of months or years of research. So, check these out:

• The Seattle Times' series on high school coaches who prey, and the system that can't catch them. Complete with database, so you can look up your own coach!


• The San Francisco Chronicle's series on the city's homeless, which puts names and faces and an order to that segment of society. The Web site is especially cool.


• The Los Angeles Times' series on Wal-Mart's gobal impacts. You always knew you hated Wal-Mart, now you know why.


• The Providence Journal's coverage of the Great White club fire. This is an especially detailed and sad series. (I don't know if all this is in the newspaper, or just the ProJo's online version.)

I'm not a betting girl, and the deadline hasn't passed yet, so I couldn't guess which one of these, if any, is going to win. I know that's a lot of pages, but it is worth your time to read at least some of these. It's good stuff.