New York, (August 29, 2006) – The finalists for the 7th annual Online Journalism Awards (OJAs) were announced today by the Online News Association (ONA) and the USC Annenberg School for Communication. A team of distinguished journalists judged the contest, which honors excellence in digital journalism, during a two-day event on the USC campus on August 24-25.
Here are the finalists for the 2006 Online Journalism Awards.
General Excellence in Online Journalism (Large)
MSNBC
The New York Times
Star Tribune
USA Today
Washington Post
General Excellence in Online Journalism (Medium)
New West
Orlando Sentinel
Roanoke.com
Spokesman Review
General Excellence in Online Journalism (Small)
The Center for Public Integrity
Congressional Quarterly
LJWorld.com
Speaking of Faith (American Public Media)
Breaking News (Large)
“London Terrorist Bombings”, CNN
“NYC Transit Strike,” New York Times
“Hurricane Katrina,” NOLA.com
“Hurricane Wilma,” Sun Sentinel
“Hurricane Katrina," USA Today
Breaking News (Small)
“The 404 Debate,“ CFO.com
“Hurricane Katrina,” Sun Herald
Online Commentary (Large)
“The Drive-In with James Hill,” BET
“BorgBlog,” Jim Borgman, Cincinnati.com
“David Pogue on NYTimes.com,” New York Times
“Architecture,” Slate Magazine
“Moneybox,” Slate Magazine
Online Commentary (Medium)
“Stuck in the 80s,” TampaBay.com
“Stacy Haddox,” TheDay.com
“Survivor: Treasure Coast Blogfest,” TCPalm.com
Online Commentary (Small)
CJR Daily
“Get on the Bus,” Scott Elliott
“Good Morning Silicon Valley,” John Paczkowski
SeeingBlack.com
Outstanding Use of Multiple Media (Large)
“London Attacks,” BBC News
“Hurricane Katrina,” MSNBC.com
"Going Down the Crooked Road,” Roanoke.com
“2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy,” USA Today
Outstanding Use of Multiple Media (Small)
“An Enduring Mystery,” Herald Tribune
“Montgomery Boycott,” Montgomery Advertiser
“Tallahassee Bus Boycott Anniversary,” Tallahassee Democrat
Specialty Journalism (Large)
Business Week
“Taking back the Web: New generation, technologies return Net to social roots,” CNET News.com
“ESPN Insider,” ESPN
NOVA scienceNOW
Specialty (Small)
Bicycling
“Azerbaijan Elections 2005,” EurasiaNet.org
Fine Woodworking
Lawrence.com
McKinneySports.net
Service Journalism (Large)
“The Mercury Menace,” Chicago Tribune
“Identity Crisis: Myth vs. Reality in ID Theft,” CNET News.com
“Walk This Way Challenge,” Prevention
“License to Harm,” Seattle Times
“Couples and Their Cash,” USA Today
Service Journalism (Small)
“Quality Counts at 10: A Decade of Standards Based Education,” Education Week
“Toxic Legacy,” The Bergen Record
Gulf Coast News
Investigative Journalism (Large)
“A Million Little Lies,” The Smoking Gun
“e-Qaeda,” Washington Post
“9/11 Loans,” Associated Press
Investigative Journalism (Small)
“Cause for Alarm,” WTHR 13 Eyewitness News
“Conflicts on the Bench,” Center for Investigative Reporting
“Power Trips,“ The Center for Public Integrity
“Toxic Cargo,” Press Enterprise
Student Journalism
“Chasing Crusoe,” University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Journalism and Mass Communication and the Universidad de Los Andes, Facultad de Comunicación
“My Blue Eyed Girl,” Heather Gehlert, School of Journalism, University of Berkeley
“Peavine Explorations,” Reynolds School of Journalism
“Rezoned,” Jeff DelViscio and Khody Akhavi, Columbia School of Journalism
“The Ancient Way,” School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina, the Department of Journalism at the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain) and the Faculty of Communication at the Universidad de los Andes (Chile)
Knight Foundation Award for Public Service
“Hurricane Katrina: The Storm We Always Feared,” NOLA.com
“Toxic Legacy,” The Record
“Fire Alarm,” Newsday
“Mortgage Fraud: The new street hustle,” Chicago Tribune
“Hurricane Katrina,” Sun Herald
The winners will be announced at the OJA Awards Banquet during the 7th annual national conference of the Online News Association, which will be held October 6 & 7th at the Capital Hilton, Washington, DC.
"I’ve been involved with the OJAs since 2001, for four years as awards chair and this year as a judge, and each year I’ve seen impressive quality and innovation from the finalist sites. This year is no exception,” said Michael Silberman, President of the Online News Association. “Journalism is thriving online at sites large and small, on blogs, with audio, video, animation and of course text, and in conversations between editors and readers.”
"What the Pulitzers have done in setting high standards for newspapers," said Michael Parks, director of the Annenberg School of Journalism. "we hope the Online News Association awards will do in new media. Each year, we have seen tremendous growth and improvement in online journalism."
The finalists and the winners were selected through a two-step process. First, a group of about 100 journalists screened entries in each category and narrowed them to a set of five to ten nominees. The OJA judges, a group of nine journalists with extensive experience in new and old media, met at USC to pick the finalists and the winners, then reviewed these nominees.
The Online Journalism Awards received 694 English-language entries from Web sites in the United States and abroad. The judges followed a strict recusal policy, leaving the judging room during discussions and not voting in any category in which their own sites came up for review.
Rebecca Fairley Raney, Annenberg contest project manager, and Ruth Gersh, Director of Online Services, AP Digital and chairman of ONA’s Awards Committee, coordinated the contest.
The judges for the 2006 awards were:
Mary Lou Fulton, VP Audience Development, The Bakersfield Californian
Sue Gardner, Senior Director, CBC.Ca
Mitch Gelman, Senior VP and Executive Producer, CNN.com
Rich Jaroslovsky, Executive Editor, Government and Economy, Bloomberg News
Chris Jennewein, Director of Internet operations, Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
Anthony Moor, Editor, OrlandoSentinel.com
Laura Sellers, Online Director, East Oregonian Publishing Co.
Michael Silberman, VP & Editorial Director, Rodale Interactive
Jonathan Weber, Founder and Editor in Chief, New West
Located in Los Angeles at the University of Southern California, the USC Annenberg School for Communication (www.annenberg.usc.edu) is among the nation's leading institutions devoted to the study of journalism and communication, and their impact on politics, culture and society. With an enrollment of more than 1,900 graduate and undergraduate students, USC Annenberg offers bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in journalism, communication, public diplomacy and public relations.
The Online News Association (http://www.journalists.org/) is an association composed largely of professional online journalists. The Association has more than 800 professional members whose principal livelihood involves gathering or producing news for digital presentation. The membership includes news writers, producers, designers, editors, photographers and others who produce news for the Internet or other digital delivery systems, as well as academic members and others interested in the development of online journalism.
For further information contact:
Lori Schwab
Executive Director
Online News Association
lschwab@journalists.org
646-290-7900
