2007 Online Journalism Awards - Finalists

Online Journalism Awards 
 
Posted: September 11, 2007 
2007 Online Journalism Awards - Finalists

New York, (September 11, 2007) – Finalists for the 8th annual Online Journalism Awards, honoring excellence in digital journalism, have been announced by the Online News Association and the USC Annenberg School for Communication.

A total of 70 finalists ranging from small independent sites to some of the biggest brands in online news were selected from more than 700 entries.

The finalists were chosen by a team of distinguished journalists during a two-day event on the USC campus September 7 and 8. Winners in each of the 20 categories will be announced at the OJA Banquet during the 8th annual conference of the Online News Association (ONA), October 19 at the Sheraton Centre, Toronto.

“The range of finalists this year demonstrates the remarkable diversity in online journalism and the ever-growing number of sites producing first-rate content,” said ONA President Kinsey Wilson. “From established brands, to small community start-ups, we’re seeing great work at every level.”

For the second year, the Knight Foundation is sponsoring the Knight Public Service Award. The winner will receive $5,000. "This year's contest proves once again that public service journalism is alive and well in the digital world," said Eric Newton, Knight Foundation's vice president, journalism program. "When news organizations put their minds to it, they can provide news in the public interest in new forms as well as traditional."


Here are the finalists for the 2007 Online Journalism Awards:

General Excellence (Large)

ESPN
The New York Times
Slate
Washington Post
USA Today

General Excellence (Medium)

DenverPost.com
Des Moines Register
Globe and Mail
NewsOK


General Excellence (Small)

Center for Public Integrity
King 5
New West
Ventura County Star

Breaking News (Large)

AP, Virginia Tech Shootings
CNN, Breaking News of the Virginia Tech Shootings
Denver Post, Christmas Blizzard
The New York Times, The Deadly Rampage at Virginia Tech
Orlando Sentinel, Coverage Of Deadly Tornadoes

Breaking News (Small)

Roanoke.com, Virginia Tech Shootings
The Times and Democrat, The Great Debate

Online Commentary (Large)

Newsweek, Christopher Dickey
NPR, My Cancer
Slate, William Saletan
Slate, Blogging the Bible

Online Commentary (Medium)

Newsday, Walt Handelsman
Delaware Online, Pulp Culture
Tampa Bay, Stuck in the 80s
Denver Post, Al Lewis, Talk Back to Al

Online Commentary (Small)

American Prospect Online
New West.net Wild Bill
This I Believe

Outstanding Use of Digital Media (Large)

Detroit Free Press, 40 years of RESPECT
Discovery Channel, Everest Beyond the Limit
Honolulu Advertiser, Wonderful World
Los Angeles Times, Altered Oceans
New York Times, Frugal Traveler: American Road Trip
Star Tribune A People Torn: Liberians in Minnesota
Washington Post, OnBeing

Outstanding Use of Digital Media (Small)

Bakersfield.com, The Trial of the Vincent Brothers
Florida Today, Orphans and Angels
Roanoke.com, Off the Scale
Wisconsin State Journal, Hip Hop 101

Specialty Journalism (Large)

Beliefnet
Livescience.com
Webmd

Specialty Journalism (Small)

Council on Foreign Relations
Go Vols
HoopGurlz
The Next Mayor
Speaking of Faith

Service Journalism (Large)

CBC, News Consumer Reporting
Consumer Reports, Nursing Homes
Orlando Sentinel, Charter Schools
Toronto Star, Lost in Migration
Washington Post, Lean Plate

Service Journalism (Small)

Des Moines Register, Iowa Caucuses
Fresno Bee, Crime Map
LoHud.com, Assignment Guatemala
Oakland Tribune, Not Just a Number

Investigative Journalism (Large)

ABC News, Brian Ross Investigates: "The Mark Foley Investigation"
ESPN.com An Un-American Tragedy Pat Tillman
Miami Herald – House of Lies
Newsday, Investigating the Gap
Salon, Mark Benjamin--Deploying Sick Troops To Iraq
Washington Post, Walter Reed and Beyond

Investigative Journalism (Small)

Center for Investigative Reporting, Danger On Your Plate
Center for Public Integrity, Collateral Damage: Human Rights and US. Military Aid After 9/11
Chitown Daily News, A Man of Two Lives
CorpWatch, David Phinney
East Valley Tribune, A risky game: ASU Sun Devil Stadium

Beat Reporting (Large)

CNET’s News.com, Microsoft and Vista
Houston Chronicle Science Guy
Wall Street Journal, The Law Blog
Wired.com, Defense
Yahoo! News' People of the Web

Beat Reporting (Small)

Colorado Confidential
Edweek.org, Supreme Court Coverage
Florida Today, Space Beat
Minnesota Monitor

Student Journalism

1001Words
Atacama Stories
Border Beat
Our Tahoe
The Science of Sex

Knight Foundation Award For Public Service

Chicago Tribune, Teens at the Wheel
The Oakland Tribune, Not Just a Number
Miami Herald, House of Lies
Tallahassee.com, Saving our Springs
Toronto Star, Lost in Migration

The winners will be announced at the OJA Awards Banquet during the 8th annual national conference of the Online News Association, which will be held October 18 and 19 at the Sheraton Centre, Toronto.

The finalists and the winners were selected through a two-step process. First, a group of more than 100 journalists screened entries in each category and narrowed them to a set of five to ten nominees. The OJA judges, a group of 10 journalists with extensive experience in new and old media, who met at USC to pick the finalists and the winners, then reviewed these nominees.

The Online Journalism Awards received 712 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.

The judges for the 2007 awards were:

Lane Beauchamp. Managing Editor CBS Television Stations Digital Media
Suki Dardarian, Managing Editor, News Coverage and Enterprise, The Seattle Times
Jeff Dionise, Design Director, USAToday
Rich Jaroslovsky, Executive Editor, government and economy, Bloomberg News
Sandeep Junnarkar, Associate Professor. The CUNY Graduate School of Journalism
Logan Molen, Vice president / Interactive Media, The Bakersfield Californian
Kim Moy, Managing Editor, Broadband at Yahoo!
Jill Hunter Pellettieri, Slate Magazine
Laura Sellers, Online Director, East Oregonian Publishing Co.
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 1,700 graduate and undergraduate students, USC Annenberg offers B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in journalism, communication, and public relations.

The Online News Association is a membership organization composed largely of professional online journalists. The Association has more than 1,200 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.