OJR: The Online Journalism Review

January 18, 2008

Which online news award means the most?

  • Question of the week: Which of the top awards for excellence in online journalism would you most want to win?
  • It's awards season, and while the writers' strike is scuttling awards programs in the entertainment industry, the online news business chugs along, handing out awards left and right, as the journalism industry has done for generations.

    But which award, if any, matter most to you? Whether you work for an online newspaper, publish a solo blog or manage a discussion forum, we'd like to hear your thoughts about the credibility -- and desirability -- of several major online news awards.

    So cast your vote below, and please leave a thought or two in the comments. (And if you are good, or lucky, enough to have won more than one of these awards, please vote on which one meant the most to you.)

    Comments:

    From Mike Orren on January 18, 2008 at 11:58 AM

    What about the elusive "Quickbooks Profitability Prize"?

    From 205.153.36.171 on January 22, 2008 at 2:50 PM

    Has anyone ever investigated the Webby Awards? What are they, really? I mean, who is the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, sponsors them? I've been in the new media field since before there was a WW Web. I've never met anyone who participates. The idea that there could be one entity that claims to judge everything from news to financial services, tourism, games, mobile advertising, "viral marketing," etc. is absurd on the face of it. I find it a bit embarrassing that every year respectable news organizations (like my own) invariably report on these awards and refer to them as the "Oscars of online."

    From Robert Niles on January 22, 2008 at 4:49 PM

    I agree that the "Oscars of online" is over-the-top hype. But I don't find their selection of honorees to be any less credible to any of the other awards one hears about.

    They're clearly hauling in significant cash, given the entry fees. But they do move traffic to their honorees *far* more effectively than the OJAs, Edgies and EPpies, in my experience with these awards. So one could make an argument that they are cost-effective, should you make finalist, of course.

    From Robert Niles on January 24, 2008 at 11:05 AM

    I see that the EPpy fans are now flooding the poll. Interesting...

    From 66.67.10.115 on January 24, 2008 at 9:12 PM

    The poll is being gamed.

    EPPY?

    From 131.230.32.233 on January 30, 2008 at 11:36 AM

    Online awards often need to add more categories, particularly some of the college ones.
    It's disheartening to see your innovative daily lose to a magazine running a "feature" on sex toys that features maybe three thumbnail pics.
    Hello ICPA. Your online award stinks. Hello CMA, yours stinks a little less. College Publisher, your awards also smell.
    How about divisions for daily, weekly and monthly. How about traffic awards broken into divisions by school enrollment size. How about blog, podcast, video, soundslide categories... for starters.

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