From journalism school on up we writers hear how important it is to learn new skills, including how to use the unique properties of the Internet to tell a story.

But how do you know a good online story from a bad one?

One way is to read the very best.

This week, the American Society of Magazine Editors unveiled the winners of the 2010 National Magazine Awards for Digital Media.

While the usual big-name media companies were represented, some of the top prizes went to rather obscure publishers, including the Jewish magazine Tablet, for podcasting, and Yale Environment 360 for Leveling Appalachia: The Legacy of Mountaintop Removal Mining – not the sexiest headline, but the piece is definitely worth checking out.

Read the entire list here.

Webbedia Group, a new media training firm created by veteran journalists, is holding two free online training sessions on emerging technology and “post-mainstream journalism careers” for recently laid off newspaper staffers and other writers. The identical, 75-minutes sessions will run Tuesday, Dec. 23 at 4 p.m. EST and Wednesday, Jan. 7 at 11 a.m. EST.

According to Webbmedia manager Amy Webb, the seminars will cover new tech trends, how to combine them with traditional journalism skills and “how to apply your skills set to land a gig doing new kinds of journalism in unexpected places.”

Participants in the sessions will get help brainstorming new projects or Websites and hear about different revenue models and branching out from traditional news organizations. “This won’t be an hour of learning code or new software – it’ll be instruction on how to think and understand digital communications differently using a more entrepreneurial spirit,” says Webb, a former Newsweek and Wall Street Journal staffer and current Online News Association board member.

Former Gannett and Conde Nast staffers have first dibs on session spots but any working journalists are welcome, according to Webb. Sessions are limited to 100 each and are already 70 percent full, but if there’s enough interest, the firm may add a third later in January.

Registration closes Dec. 15. To sign up or for more details go to www.mydigimedia.com.

According to this report from the Washington Post, US News will continue to publish a print once a month, but the issues will be consumer guides, like its popular annual college and hospital rankings. According to the Post, US News has long been a distant third in the newsweekly category, behind Time and Newsweek, and has seen several rounds of layoffs in the past few years. On the other hand, the US News Website is attracting about 7 million visitors a month, and officials are optimistic about the magazine’s digital transformation. “For all of you who have worked so hard to make this transition possible, say good-bye to Web 2.0 and welcome to Journalism 5.0,” US News President Bill Holiber and editor Brian Kelly wrote in a memo to staff, according to the Post.

The Christian Science Monitor published this announcement last week that beginning in April 2009, it will become the first national newspaper to publish a daily paper online only. Plans call for CSM to continuously update its Website, CSMonitor.com, throughout the day as well as publish a daily email edition and a weekly print edition. According to the Monitor, the paper – which turns 100 on Nov. 25 – has been losing readers for 40 years, but readership of its Website has grown to 1.5 million visitors a month.

While a lot of writers I know are mourning the loss of the CSM as they know it, I feel quite the opposite. If the news business is going digital – and it is – publications like US News and CSM that are first to make the change will have that much more time to figure out a sustainable financial model.

The move to an all-digital format has other implications for writers, including freelance writers. It makes learning how to incorporate multimedia into stories that much more critical. And if the first publications to go all-digital are going to be big winners, so will the freelancers who are able to keep up with them.

Here’s an option for getting that training. The Poynter Institute and News University are running a Webinar called Reporting With Video: Basics for Print Journalists on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2 to 3 p.m. Eastern time. The Webinar costs $24.95.

The instructor is Regina McCombs, a Poynter faculty member. Before joining Poynter, McCombs worked as a multimedia producer at StarTribune.com in Minneapolis, and news photographer and field producer at KARE-TV in Minneapolis.

The one-hour Webinar will cover video storytelling basics, including basic techniques, how to structure a video story, editing principles and how to add sound. The Webinar will include live audio and slideshow presentation in which participants can post questions and respond to poll questions posed by the host.

To participate, you need a broadband Internet connection, Flash plug-in, version 8.0 or higher, firewall that allows port 1935 or 443, monitor with 1024 or higher resolution, speakers, Windows XP or Vista or Mac OS.

For more information or questions, contact Poynter at webinars@newsu.org.