Non-profits fare well among Online Journalism Awards finalists

The US's growing non-profit journalism industry has left its mark on this year's 2010 Online Journalism Awards shortlist, announced today by the Online News Association, with four nominations for New York-based site ProPublica.

ProPublica is joined on the shortlist by voiceofsanddiego.org, the Center for Public Integrity and California Watch, which made the shortlist for the first time.

Non-profits dominate the Gannett Foundation Award for Innovative Investigative Journalism, Small Site category, with the Center for Public Integrity, ProPublica and voiceofsandiego.org making up three of the four finalists. The fourth nomination went to the Vancouver Sun for a five-part investigative series.

ProPublica is also listed in the investigative category, large sites for its work with NPR and Frontline on US Military's treatment of its wounded. It will compete with the Las Vegas Sun, Los Angeles Times, Philadelphia Inquirer and New York Times, which received five nominations in all.

ProPublica has also been nominated in the General Excellence, Small Site category, which it won last year. It will compete with voiceofsandiego.org and the Texas Tribune.

California Watch will compete in the General Excellence in Online Journalism, Micro Site category against the St. Louis Beacon and last year's winner the Gotham Gazette.

Nominations for the investigative prizes this year increased from three to four in the small site category and from three to five in the large site category.

"We were struck this year by the increase in the quality and quantity of strong investigative work," said Anthony Moor, lead local editor at Yahoo!, who co-chairs the Online Journalism Awards Committee with AP Digital's director of global product Operations Ruth Gersh.

"As digital news comes of age, journalists are finding inventive ways to honor the core values of their craft", he added.

A new category has been added this year to acknowledge to increasing use of tablet and mobile devices. The Outstanding Use of Emerging Platforms category will be contested by NPR for its use of mobile and USA Today for iPad.

The finalists were chosen by 19 judges from a variety of media organisations including Bloomberg, Slate.com and sponsors the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

The winners will be announced at the 2010 ONA Conference and Online Journalism Awards Banquet on 30 October, at the Marriott Renaissance in Washington, D.C.

Click here for the full list of finalists.

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