2003 Batten Award Winners

This series of three guided tours on subjects ranging from Iraq to the Oscars and the 2002 Congressional elections integrated most every type of interactive content available today into a concise and well-presented packages. Video, audio, text, interviews, quizzes, polls, and games were just some of the tools that came together to give users the big-picture overview of the topic. "We tried to do a lot of merging of media, where we combined slide shows and videos and interactive sidbars and votes and feedback all in the same seamless place," said Ashley Wells, senior interactive producer for MSNBC.com. "It's kind of the dream, the holy grail of convergence."

Said the Batten Award judges: "It's got everything. It pulled together many tools and let users make choices, confront the information and do something with that information."

The series, which was promoted through the MSNBC-TV network, received more than a million combined visitors over a matter of months despite requiring a broadband Internet connection and video software. “MSNBC.com’s efforts set the high-water mark for fresh, interactive storytelling in American journalism” said Bryan Monroe, chair of the Batten Awards Board of Judges and assistant vice president/news at Knight Ridder.

This CD-ROM time capsule was distributed to more than 1 million Chicago Tribune subscribers on the one-year anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001World Trade Center attacks. The project captured the national mood of the aftermath by combining interactive graphics, a timeline, video, audio, and the full text of dozens of Tribune newspaper articles and television packages into an easy-to-navigate package. Single-day street sales of the Tribune increased by 100,000 on the Sunday the project was included in the paper. Copies of the CD were also made available to schools, libraries, and individuals who requested them.

This 19-page web exercise offered users 62 different cost-cutting and revenue-raising options to reduce the state's $4.2 billion budget deficit. MPR's Balancer set itself apart from similar projects through a colorful presentation filled with charts and special windows featuring informative "Headlines" and "Look Out!" warnings that added context to the process. Seven thousand participants submitted 11,000 budgets during the project's run of about two months. The project helped MPR attract a younger audience, one that usually doesn't listen to public radio. Forty-three percent of the participants were age 30 or younger. Responses helped to guide MPR's budget coverage to new topics.

This “virtual man-on-the-street” effort built a database of more than 1,450 “field correspondents” to contribute their two cents on a variety of issues. The contacts were quoted in articles, used to gather breaking news and featured on the Op-ed page. Besides helping the paper keep in better touch with its readers, the project generated story ideas and helped reporters find knowledgable sources apart from the usual stable of experts and officials.

This Web hub for three Maine community sites put a local spin on interactive news. Local news (often generated by community residents), opinions, and picture galleries are mixed with message boards and polls that let visitors have their say. The site also provides local business information and event listings. It is now partnered with a newspaper, launched in September 2003.

J-Lab is a center of the University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism. It is a spin-off of the Pew Center for Civic Journalism (www.pewcenter.org). © 2004 University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism