New Orleans Magazine honors me, My Spilt Milk and Oxford American.

The new issue of New Orleans has its annual "People to Watch" feature, and this year its editors decided that I'm someone you should watch. I appreciate the honor and am flattered by the company they've included me in: Melissa Harris-Perry, designer Stephanie Young, Dillard President Walter Kimbrough, NOWFE Director Jamie Peckenpaugh, Ochsner Health System CEO Warner L. Thomas, reporter Cindy Chang and many more.

The issue is on the stands now. Here's the text that applies to me and this website:

Alex Rawls
Writer, MySpiltMilk.com; Guest Editor, Oxford American Louisiana Music Issue 2012

It has been a busy year for writer Alex Rawls. He says his biggest accomplishment of 2012 came when he was asked to guest edit for the Oxford American Louisiana Music Issue. He was honored to be included in the flagship issue for the magazine and appreciated the responsibility and trust Oxford American gave him.

Another big 2012 moment for Rawls was when he left his job as editor of OffBeat magazine for, what he calls, “the very unpredictable world of online journalism.” He started MySpiltMilk.com, a website that covers New Orleans music, art, food and more.

Rawls says he started MySpiltMilk.com because OffBeat’s online presence was growing and he was finding little time to write. With his own website, he could tell the stories he wanted.

Rawls is an example of writers adapting to the future of digital journalism, something that has gained New Orleans a lot of attention in recent months with The Times-Picayune’s shift to digital. Rawls is part of the New Orleans Digital News Alliance, a group of online news outlets that promote each other’s stories and websites. He thinks it’s an exciting time for the city’s writers and readers. “We’re going to be cutting-edge whether we want to be or not,” Rawls says, “and we’re all going to be a part of the process of negotiating a new relationship between the reader, the writer and the community as a whole. I look forward to being a part of that conversation.”