The excitement surrounding the launch of 48 Hour Magazine back in April was palpable in the local media scene. An attempt to turn the publishing process on its head by giving contributors 24 hours from concept to deadline, the magazine is truly a brave experiment in the way media is made, packaged and sold.

The editor's letter in their first issue declared this: “We all want proof that it doesn’t take a bunch of money and lawyers to make something great. And you know what? It doesn’t.” While the rest of us were cheering, CBS was getting ready to slap 48 Hour Magazine with a cease and desist, arguing that their campy old news show 48 Hours Mystery owned the name.

48 Hour Magazine now has a new name and just as much vim and vigor as before. According to Baycitizen.org, who spoke to editor Alexis Madrigal, Longshot Magazine will be the new name of the project.

With a new issue pending and another sleepless weekend on the horizon, standards will be changing at Longshot Magazine. The first issue was 80 to 90 percent fiction and the team plans to push for more reported content. Towards this end, they're going to provide would-be contributors with a detailed packet of reporting advice.

Despite their long legal nightmare, 48 Hour Magazine/Longshot Magazine was rewarded by J-Lab (The Institute for Interactive Journalism) earlier this week with a $1,000 Knight-Batten Innovation Reward. 

“We’re beyond the ‘wow’ phase of realizing that citizens can impact journalism and we’re now into the ‘how’ phase,” said Jan Schaffer, director of J-Lab. “Welcome to the next chapter for online journalism.” The next chapter indeed, and the reborn Longshot Magazine is helping to write it.

Mat Honan, one of 48 Hour Mag's founding editors, covers the local coffee scene in 7x7's Locked & Loaded blog. Check back Wednesdays for your fix.