Winners of Second Online Journalism Awards Named by Online NewsAssociation and C

Press Release

Winners of Second Online Journalism Awards Named by Online News
Association and Columbia University

BERKELEY, CALIF., Oct. 26, 2001--The winners for the second annual Online Journalism Awards (OJAs) were announced today by the Online News Association (ONA) and the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism at the ONA annual conference in Berkeley

This contest, which honors excellence in Internet journalism, received 870 entries from 15 countries this year and was judged by a team of distinguished journalism leaders. A list of the winners and finalists in each of the eight categories is provided below, along with a list of the judges.

Rich Jaroslovsky, president of ONA and a senior editor at The Wall Street Journal, said: "The roster of winners is impressive indeed, reflecting tremendous work done in a very difficult environment. The number of winners and finalists from outside the United States is particularly worth noting. It shows the global reach and power of the online medium -- and reminds us all that journalistic excellence can transcend national boundaries."

Tom Goldstein, dean of the school and co-chair of the OJA judges, said: "These prizes serve an absolutely essential function, in providing public recognition of high quality journalism and, even more importantly, encouraging better work." "For the second year in a row, we received entries of the highest journalistic quality," said Sreenath Sreenivasan, administrator of the awards and a professor of new media at the school. "The showcase of journalism excellence created by the contest proves that reports of the death of Internet journalism have been greatly exaggerated. In fact, the online coverage of the events of Sept. 11 makes the Web even more relevant than ever before."

The contest was coordinated by ONA awards committee co-chairs Jamie Heller, a columnist for CBS MarketWatch, and Michael Silberman, managing editor, East Coast, for MSNBC.com. Neither served as a judge.A two-step process as used to determine the finalists and the winners.First, a group of more than 110 international journalists, working remotely in teams of two, screened and narrowed the scores of entries in each category to a set of 5-10 nominees.

These nominees were then reviewed by the OJA judges -- 16 journalists with extensive experience in new and old media -- who met at Columbia in early October to select the finalists and the winners. The winning sites received a special plaque and a certificate, while finalists each received a certificate.

Some background information: OJA received 870 English-language entries from 420 Web sites and individuals in 2001; up from 658 entries and 360 sites and individuals in 2000. Five countries are represented among the 42 finalists; sites from 15 countries submitted entries. More than 110 screeners in several countries donated their time, as did the 16 judges.

The judges followed a strict recusal policy, leaving the judging room when their own sites came up for discussion. Two new categories were introduced this year: Innovative Presentation of Information and Feature Journalism. The Online Journalism Awards, or OJAs as they are known, are among several other major journalism awards administered by Columbia, including the Pulitzer Prizes, the National Magazine Awards, the Alfred I.duPont-Columbia Awards for broadcast journalism and the Maria Moors Cabot Prizes for inter-American understanding.