2011 Online Journalism Award winners announced

By on September 25, 2011

BOSTONBBC News, Flipboard, the Los Angeles Times, Zeit Online and the Washington Post were among the news and technology organizations that took top honors tonight at the 2011 Online Journalism Awards Banquet.

The Los Angeles Times (“Breach of Faith”) and Pro Publica (“Dialysis: High Costs and Hidden Perils of Treatment Guaranteed for All”) each won $2,500 and the Gannett Foundation Award for Innovative Investigative Journalism at the 12th annual awards ceremony.

BBC News, The Globe and Mail, Voice of San Diego, NJ Spotlight, OWNI and LA NACION each won General Excellence Awards in their respective categories. Each award includes a $3,000 prize, courtesy of the Gannett Foundation. The Asbury Park Press took home the Knight Award for Public Service for “Barnegat Bay Under Stress,” which comes with a $5,000 prize from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

This year, the awards introduced changes to acknowledge the explosion of journalistic innovation on new digital platforms. Entries for all awards were open to news produced for any digital device.

“What’s most gratifying is to see the proliferation of quality work from next-generation digital journalists,” said Anthony Moor, OJA Chair. “While there is justifiable concern about the fate of numerous long-established newsrooms, there’s a healthy amount of excellent work coming from a new class of publications that don’t rely on broadcast or print to inform the public.”

Launched in 2000 and administered by the Online News Association, in partnership with the University of Miami’s School of Communication, the OJAs are the only comprehensive set of journalism prizes honoring excellence in digital journalism, focusing on independent, community, nonprofit, major media and international news sites. Six awards now come with a total of $33,000 in prize money, courtesy of the Gannett Foundation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Here are the winners in each category, with links to their winning entries:

Knight Award for Public Service
Barnegat Bay Under Stress – Asbury Park Press

General Excellence in Online Journalism, Large Site
BBC News

General Excellence in Online Journalism, Medium Site
The Globe and Mail

General Excellence in Online Journalism, Small Site
voiceofsandiego.org – Voice of San Diego

General Excellence in Online Journalism, Micro Site
NJ Spotlight

General Excellence in Online Journalism, Non-English, Small Site
OWNI

General Excellence in Online Journalism, Non-English, Large Site
LA NACION

Breaking News, Large Site
Coverage of the uprisings in Egypt – Al Jazeera

Breaking News, Small Site
A Snow Storm Hits New York and WNYC Listeners Map the Cleanup – WNYC Radio

Specialty Site Journalism, Affiliated
NPR Music – NPR (Tie)

Pipeline – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette/post-gazette.com (Tie)

Specialty Site Journalism, Independent
edweek.org – Education Week, Editorial Projects in Education

Gannett Foundation Award for Innovative Investigative Journalism, Large Site
Breach of Faith – Los Angeles Times

Gannett Foundation Award for Innovative Investigative Journalism, Small Site
Dialysis – ProPublica

Multimedia Feature Presentation, Large Site
Traumatic Brain Injury: Coming home a different person – The Washington Post

Multimedia Feature Presentation, Medium Site
Exile Without End: Palestinians in Lebanon – CBC News, Radio-Canada, ALT Digital Design Studio

Multimedia Feature Presentation, Small Site
Crisis Guide: Pakistan – Council on Foreign Relations / MediaStorm

Multimedia Feature Presentation, Student Site
Global Warning – Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University

Online Topical Reporting/Blogging, Large Site
CNN Belief Blog – CNN Digital

Online Topical Reporting/Blogging, Medium Site
Ward Room – NBCChicago.com

Online Topical Reporting/Blogging, Small Site
OpenSecrets.org

Online Commentary/Blogging, Large Site
Arianna Huffington – The Huffington Post

Online Commentary/Blogging, Medium Site
No award

Online Commentary/Blogging, Small
No award

Outstanding Informational Graphic or Data Visualization, Professional
Tell-All Telephone – Zeit Online

Outstanding Informational Graphic or Data Visualization, Student
No award

Online Video Journalism, Large Site
Caught in the Crossfire: Victims of Gang Violence – Los Angeles Times

Online Video Journalism, Medium Site
Exile Without End: Palestinians in Lebanon – CBC News, Radio-Canada, ALT Digital Design Studio

Online Video Journalism, Small Site
Powering a Nation: Spilling Over – UNC News21

Online Video Journalism, Student
Haiti’s Lost Children – University of Miami (Tie)

Now What Argentina? – University of North Carolina & Universidad Pontifica de Argentina (Tie)

Community Collaboration
The Tiziano Project | 360 Kurdistan

The Gannett Foundation Award for Technical Innovation in the Service of Journalism
Flipboard

A group of 34 industry-leading journalists and new media professionals teamed up to review entrants and select finalists. Twelve of those judges, representing a diverse cross-section of the industry, met at the University of Miami’s Coral Gables, Fla., campus and eight more conferred internationally to determine winners from independent, community, nonprofit, major media and international news sites.


About ONA
The Online News Association is the world’s largest association of online journalists. ONA’s mission is to inspire innovation and excellence among journalists to better serve the public. The membership includes news writers, producers, designers, editors, bloggers, technologists, photographers, academics, students and others who produce and distribute news for digital delivery systems. ONA also hosts the annual Online News Association annual conference and administers the Online Journalism Awards.

About the University of Miami School of Communication
The University of Miami School of Communication prepares analytical and responsible communication professionals for success in a global society. The School offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in journalism, broadcasting, advertising, public relations, visual journalism, communication studies and motion pictures. The School’s state of the art, all-digital facilities and resources are among the most advanced in the country. Approximately 1,500 students are enrolled.

About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation promotes journalism excellence worldwide and invests in the vitality of the U.S. communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers. Since 1950 the foundation has granted more than $400 million to advance journalism quality and freedom of expression. Knight Foundation focuses on ideas and projects that create transformational change.

About the Gannett Foundation
The Gannett Foundation is a corporate foundation sponsored by Gannett Co., Inc. whose mission is to invest in the future of the communities in which Gannett does business, and in the future of our industry. It supports projects that take a creative approach to fundamental issues such as education and neighborhood improvement, economic development, youth development, community problem-solving, assistance to disadvantaged people, environmental conservation and cultural enrichment.

For more information, contact:
Jane McDonnell
Executive Director
646-290-7900
director@journalists.org

Jane McDonnell

Jane McDonnell

As executive director, Jane oversees and manages the day-to-day operations of the world’s largest membership organization of digital journalists, working closely with the Board of Directors. Her purview includes membership, partnerships, global community outreach, budgeting and revenue generation, fundraising and development, the Online Journalism Awards, and providing vision for ONA’s state-of-the-art annual conference.