We are excited to announce that new support from SmartNews will award a total of $60,000 in cash prizes over three years for winners of the General Excellence category in the Online Journalism Awards (OJAs).
The General Excellence in Online Journalism award honors exceptional digital news organizations that fulfill their editorial mission, effectively serve their audiences, optimizes digital tools and represents the highest journalistic standards. Winners in each newsroom size subcategory — micro, small, medium and large — will receive a $5,000 prize.
“SmartNews is pleased and honored by the opportunity to work with ONA to support the Online Journalism Awards,” said Rich Jaroslovsky, Vice President of Content & Chief Journalist of SmartNews. “The General Excellence category represents ’the best of the best,’ and the awards not only recognize the outstanding work of the winners but provide inspiration to all who aspire to quality journalism.”
The General Excellence category has been a signature honor since the OJAs launched in 2000. Winners in 2019 were The Wall Street Journal, for meaningful investment in digital experimentation across products, audience engagement, storytelling and partnerships; ProPublica, for powerful journalism and collaborations that have changed minds, laws and lives; Honolulu Civil Beat, for innovative uses of digital tools to inform and serve readers, including highlighting how people are witnessing climate change through the yearlong series Hawaii 2040; and The Pudding, a micro newsroom dedicated to the craft of visual journalism that advances public discourse while informing and entertaining audiences.
We are grateful to SmartNews for this new partnership, and for the opportunity to continue the tradition of elevating innovative work that demonstrate the value and impact of digital journalism.
Join us to celebrate the 2020 OJAs finalists and winners during the 2020 Online News Association Conference (ONA20 Everywhere), hosted online Oct. 1–16. For updates on other ONA programs throughout the year, subscribe to the ONA Weekly newsletter.