Online Journalism Awards

From the Online Journalism Association:

The deadline -- June 30 -- is almost here to enter the Online Journalism Awards, which honor excellence in digital journalism around the world. Launched in May 2000, the OJAs are administered by the Online News Association, in partnership with the University of Miami's School of Communication. The OJAs are traditionally awarded at the Online News Association's annual conference. This year’s honorees will be announced on the final night of ONA09, the Online News Association Conference and Awards Banquet, Oct. 1-3 in San Francisco.

Over the past decade, the OJAs have recognized major media, international and independent sites and individuals producing innovative work in multimedia storytelling. The Awards Committee and judges place special emphasis on entries that are original to the Web or demonstrate mastery of the special characteristics of digital journalism.

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. A panel of industry-leading journalists and new media professionals then judge finalists and select winners at the University of Miami's School of Communication.

For 2009, ONA has introduced changes to acknowledge the important role of emerging technology, the influence of the independent digital journalist and the growth of community reporting efforts. Six awards now come with a total of $30,000 in prize money, courtesy of the Gannett Foundation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and the General Excellence in Online Journalism Award has expanded to include "micro sites."

The 2009 categories are:

The Knight Award for Public Service
General Excellence in Online Journalism
General Excellence in Online Journalism, Non-English
The Gannett Foundation Award for Technical Innovation in the Service of Digital Journalism
Breaking News
Specialty Site Journalism
Investigative Journalism
Multimedia Feature Presentation
Online Topical Reporting/Blogging
Online Commentary/Blogging
Community Collaboration Award
Outstanding Use of Digital Technologies
Online Video Journalism
Student Journalism
To enter, or to find our more about the OJAs, go
here