WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwire - May 25, 2010) - The Online News Association, the world's largest membership organization of digital journalists, and the University of Miami's School of Communication today opened their call for entries for the 2010 Online Journalism Awards (OJAs), emblematic of the best in online journalism.
This year, ONA has introduced changes to acknowledge the outstanding and innovative media work done on emerging platforms. Eight awards now come with a total of $33,000 in prize money, courtesy of John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Gannett Foundation, which also is supporting hard-hitting investigative work with two new $2,500 awards.
The newest category honors Outstanding Use of Emerging Platforms, achievement by a site in the use of emerging platforms such as smart phones, eReaders and tablets to tell a story and serve a community.
"Our goal is to recognize efforts that are at the intersection of journalism and technology, including news innovations that are flowing on to new platforms," said Awards Committee Chair Anthony Moor, Lead Local Editor, Yahoo!. "Judges will also be instructed to pay closer attention to how entrants use social tools to gather and disseminate news."
The OJAs are the only comprehensive set of journalism prizes honoring excellence in digital journalism, administered by ONA and its academic partner, the University of Miami's School of Communication. Past winners have included major media, international and independent sites and individuals producing innovative work in multimedia storytelling. Following tradition, this year's honorees will be announced on the final night of ONA10, the Online News Association Conference and Awards Banquet, Oct. 28-30 in Washington, DC.
Applicants are invited to read the 2010 Rules & Guidelines and 2010 Categories, which detail the criteria for each award and then submit their work at JournalistAwards.org until Friday, July 16, at 8 p.m. ET for one of the categories below. (Note: The entry site is optimized for use with Firefox and IE6 or higher):
The Gannett Foundation Award for Technical Innovation in the Service of Digital Journalism: This category, with a prize of $5,000, honors a person or company, journalistic in focus or not, that has built a digital tool significantly enhancing the practice of online journalism.
The Knight Award for Public Service: Recognizes digital journalism that performs a public service for a geographic community through compelling coverage of a vital community issue or event; one $5,000 award.
General Excellence in Online Journalism: Honors a Web site in each of four size categories, plus two from the non-English speaking community, which successfully fulfills its editorial mission, effectively serves its audience, maximizes the use of the Web's characteristics and represents the highest journalistic standards. The award is $3,000 for each winner, funded by the Gannett Foundation.
Breaking News: Honors digital coverage over a 72-hour period of a breaking-news event or development.
Specialty Site Journalism: Recognizes niche Web sites that focus on a single topic.
Gannett Foundation Award for Innovative Investigative Journalism: Honors stories that uncover major news based on the reporters' own exclusive investigations or that offer compelling and original analysis and interpretation. Open to all formats, including Web documentaries; two awards of $2,500 each.
Multimedia Feature Presentation: Awards excellence in telling a story to an online audience using multimedia techniques.
Online Topical Reporting/Blogging: Recognizes beat reporting by an individual or team.
Online Commentary/Blogging: Honors a unique and powerful voice of commentary original to the Web.
Community Collaboration Award: Recognizing a news project or Web site that produces outstanding journalism through strong interaction with the community being served.
Outstanding Use of Digital Technologies: Recognizes achievement by a site in the use of digital techniques to tell a story and serve a community.
Online Video Journalism: Awards excellence in online-originated video journalism.
The finalists and the winners are selected through a two-step process. First, a group of more than 100 journalists screen and rank the entries in each category. In August, a panel of industry-leading journalists and new media professionals judge finalists and select winners at the University of Miami under the auspices of the School of Communication.
This year, the OJA entry process is provided by mBLAST, the lead in media and marketing relationship management, featuring mBLAST's Awards Management solution.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
Contact Information:
For more information, contact:
Jane McDonnell
Executive Director
Online News Association