The 2009 Online Journalism Awards finalists were announced yesterday and a glance through the list shows the many ways news and the news business are being redefined.
Many finalist projects are the work of traditional newspaper companies that have invested major time and money into their digital news efforts. As you would expect, the New York Times, Washington Post Digital, BBC News and other big-time publishers are well-represented, along with a handful of small and medium-sized papers – including two here in Oregon, the Oregonian for its poignant series on a pregnant woman’s battle with cancer, and the Daily Astorian for its breaking coverage of a plane crash in a nearby beach town.
But many finalists are online-only publications that aim to pick up where cash-strapped newspapers have left off, especially on investigative news. One of the most ambitious is The Chauncey Bailey Project, a collaboration between more than two dozen reporters, photographers and editors from 23 Bay Area print, broadcast and online news organizations. They worked together to investigate the Aug. 2., 2007, shooting death of Oakland Post Editor Chauncey Bailey while he was investigating suspicious activities at a local business. Back in the day, competitive news organizations wouldn’t have dreamed of voluntarily entering into such a collaboration, which goes to show just how much times have changed.
Some other finalists projects from online-only publications:
- Women.Children.Crisis – An online “gateway” run by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting that compiles stories from multiple international sources about the adversities and dangers faced by women and children in crisis situations.
- Muckety – A daily news and information site based on online databases, research and old-fashioned journalism that maps “the paths of power and influence.”
- A staggering swindle – A multi-part, mulitmedia investigation of how a local man used the “easy money excesses of the housing boom” to scam $12.5 million from fake condo sales, by VoicesofSanDiego.org, an independent nonprofit hyperlocal news site.
2009 Online Journalism Award winners will be announced on Saturday, Oct. 3, at the conclusion of the Online News Association annual convention in San Francisco.
From what I’ve heard, the last few ONA conventions have been well worth attending, but I’m predicting this year’s will be the best ever. The pace of change in the news business has accelerated. More laid off reporters and editors are looking for ways to reshape their careers in an online mold. Content management systems, mobile apps and other tech tools have reached a level of maturity and cost that makes them manageable and affordable for even the smallest online publisher. I’m excited to be making the trip – and while I’m there I’ll reporting on what I learn.
If you’re going to ONA let me know – I’d love to host a meetup of fellow freelancers to talk about how independent writers fit into the new world of online news.