ATLANTA — Coverage of the the Boston Marathon bombings, national security and international elections by news organizations large and small took top honors Saturday night at the 2013 Online Journalism Awards Banquet, which ended the Online News Association Conference.
At the 14th annual awards dinner, The Guardian won both the Gannett Foundation Award for Investigative Journalism and the Watchdog Journalism Award for digging into leaked National Security Administration files.
Coverage of disasters dominated the Breaking News categories, with the Boston University News Service and Boston.com/ Boston Globe winning for its continuing reporting on the city’s marathon bombing and WNYC for coverage of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Sandy.
Each winner of the three General Excellence Awards — AxisPhilly, The New York Times and The Texas Tribune — took home a $3,000 prize, courtesy of the Gannett Foundation. The Knight Award for Public Service, with a $5,000 prize from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, went to the Boston Globe for “68 Blocks,” a series on a year in the city’s Bowdoin-Geneva neighborhood, The New York Times won the Technical Innovation in the Service of Digital Journalism Award for its JavaScript library for data documents, D3.js.
Launched in 2000, the OJAs are administered by the Online News Association, in partnership with the University of Miami’s School of Communication, and are the only comprehensive set of journalism prizes honoring excellence in digital journalism, focusing on independent, community, nonprofit, major media and international news sites.
Here are the winners in each category, with links to their winning entries:
Knight Award for Public Service
68 Blocks, The Boston Globe
General Excellence in Online Journalism, Small
AxisPhilly
General Excellence in Online Journalism, Medium
The Texas Tribune
General Excellence in Online Journalism, Large
The New York Times
Gannett Foundation Award for Technical Innovation in the Service of Digital Journalism
D3.js, The New York Times
Breaking News, Small
Triumph, Then Tragedy: The Boston Marathon Bombings, Boston University News Service
Breaking News, Medium
Superstorm Sandy, WNYC
Breaking News, Large
Boston Marathon Bombing, Boston.com and BostonGlobe.com
Planned News/Events, Small
Iran Election Watch
Planned News/Events, Medium
2012 Election Coverage, ProPublica
Planned News/Events, Large
The Re-Election of Barack Obama, NPR
Explanatory Reporting, Small (tie)
Ala Wai Canal: Hawaii’s Biggest Mistake?, Honolulu Civil Beat
Coal in the Northwest, EarthFix
Explanatory Reporting, Medium
America Under the Gun: A Special Report on Gun Laws and the Rise of Mass Shootings, Mother Jones
Explanatory Reporting, Large
Beyond 7 Billion, Los Angeles Times
Topical Reporting, Small
Nieman Journalism Lab
Topical Reporting, Medium
Returning Home to Battle, The Center for Investigative Reporting
Topical Reporting, Large
Life in the Hermit Kingdom: Bringing North Korea to the World, Associated Press
Online Commentary, Small
The Fight to Vote, BillMoyers.com
Online Commentary, Medium
Stuff Nation, Fairfax Media New Zealand
Online Commentary, Large
Ezra Klein, The Washington Post
Feature, Small
#Banlieuelanuit, Radio-Canada
Feature, Medium
Black Gold Boom, Todd Melby, AIR, Prairie Public, Zeega
Feature, Large
Snow Fall, The New York Times
Student Projects, Small
The Pulse of Oakland, UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism
Student Projects, Large
Triumph, Then Tragedy: The Boston Marathon Bombings, Boston University News Service
Gannett Foundation Award for Innovative Investigative Journalism, Small
In The Name Of The Law, Honolulu Civil Beat
Gannett Foundation Award for Innovative Investigative Journalism, Medium
Big Money 2012, FRONTLINE, American Public Media’s Marketplace, ProPublica
Gannett Foundation Award for Innovative Investigative Journalism, Large
The NSA Files, The Guardian
Gannett Foundation Award for Watchdog Journalism
The NSA Files, The Guardian
About ONA
The Online News Association is the world’s largest association of digital 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, developers, photographers, educators, students and others who produce news for and support digital delivery systems. ONA also hosts the annual Online News Association 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.