2006 Knight-Batten Award Winners
Global Voices Online, a web site about how news affects daily life and conversations in more than 130 countries, is this year's $10,000 Grand Prize winner in the Knight-Batten Awards for Innovations in Journalism.
The site uses skilled multilingual editors to find and publish thoughtful or entertaining bloggers who discuss what people are talking about in a given country. Blogs are organized by country and by topics. Global Voices Online also uses podcasts to inform readers and start conversations.
"It's an extraordinary site that allows for both editorial gatekeeping and wide access to news and information from underreported parts of the world," said the panel of judges.
The judges also credited the project and its corps of bloggers with helping to elevate standards in the blogosphere. Global Voices is sponsored by Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society.
Six more innovative efforts each received $1,000 awards.
Earning $1,000 Awards of Distinction are:
* HealthNewsReview.org – A clearinghouse for health news launched by a University of Minnesota professor to help journalists write accurate medical reports and help consumers find useful health news. A team of 20 professionals audit news articles from 50 of the largest newspapers, television stations and the Associated Press, assessing strengths and shortcomings based on 10 standardized criteria. "Strong methodology, great content, and a great service for reporters and the public," the judges said.
* Transparent Newsroom – The Spokane (Wash.) Spokesman-Review robustly invites readers into creation of the daily newspaper by webcasting every day's news meetings, blogging its editorial decisions and responding to reader questions and criticism. "The level of transparency and the commitment from the top down is unmatched," the judges said. "They're doing what others don't have the guts to do."
* IBISEYE.com – This Sarasota Herald-Tribune web site calls up 155 years of hurricane history, tracks real-time Atlantic Ocean tropical storm activity, and predicts future damage to eight million properties in the path of any storm. "We were blown away by this amazing tool and database that also solicits the wisdom of the crowd," the judges said.
* U.S. Congress Votes Database – This WashingtonPost.com searchable database, updated daily, enables users to research every recorded vote in the U.S. House and Senate since January 1991. "It's national; it's local. It's a very powerful tool that smartly ties together many databases to allow people to follow their elected representatives," the judges said.
* Bakersfield Californian's Social Media Platform – Its new Bakomatic participatory media platform allows local residents to build community networks by creating profiles, adding to a Friends list, and submitting stories, photos and events for publication. "Another cool way into community news and information from these nimble pioneers. They've done so much, so right, so early," the judges said.
In addition, a new $1,000 Wild Card Award was given this year for an early, developing innovation. This year's winner is TCDailyPlanet.com, which formally launched in May and gathers news from more than 35 ethnic and community news outlets in the Twin Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minn. "It targets so many fragmented city groups and helps them to connect," the judges said.
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