2004 Notable Entries

News Interactives

http://californiaconnected.org/explore

California Connected and KQED Interactive (San Francisco, CA)

“Advances the use of news graphics.”
- 2004 Batten Award Judges

Uses Flash information grapics to tell stories about such California topics as budget deficits, reforming worker’s compensation, urban development, the flow of capital, and more.

Inside Iraq/Mainers at War

http://news.mainetoday.com/war/

MaineToday.com, Portland Press Herald (Portland, ME)

“The tie-in with embedded reporters makes this entry stand out.”
- 2004 Batten Award Judges

Maine residents stationed in Iraq could post photos, videos, and messages on the MaineToday.com Web site. The site spread to include users across the country.

GoSkokie.com: A hyper-local citizens' media experiment

http://mesh.medill.northwestern.edu/goskokie/

Medill School of Journalism (Evanston, IL)

“A really important development for online reporting.”
- 2004 Batten Award Judges

Six Medill graduate students created a Web site to publish citizen-generated content for Skokie, IL.

Hospital Report Card

http://www.ocregister.com/news/2003/hospitals/reportcards

The Orange County Register (Santa Ana, CA)

“Worthy and wonderful consumer/community service.”
- 2004 Batten Award Judges

Uses seven criteria to create performance report cards for hospitals in Orange County area. Additional hospital measures are also provided.

Wide Angle

http://www.pbs.org/wideangle/

PBS, Thirteen/WNET (New York, NY)

“Specially designed with the Web in mind.”
- 2004 Batten Award Judges

Presents world events on television and then offers a deeper look at the issues on its companion Web site.

The Northwest Voice

http://www.northwestvoice.com/

The Bakersfield Californian, Northwestvoice.com (Bakersfield, CA)

“Lots to commend in early going.”
- 2004 Batten Award Judges

A hyperlocal community media site in which citizens generate content, including columns, photos and advertising.

Insideschools.org

http://www.insideschools.org/

Insideschools.org (New York, NY)

“Very informative and helpful to the consumer.”
- 2004 Batten Award Judges

Web site reports on NYC schools, lets users post to message boards about their children’s schools and education policy, announces school closings and allows parents to send letters to government officials.

Tarrant County 3-D

http://www.star-telegram.com/mld/interactivemedia/iseethree_d/Iseethreed.html

Star-Telegram (Fort Worth, TX)

“A fun effort to think differently.”
- 2004 Batten Award Judges

Star-Telegram photographers turned community photos into 3-D as a primer in how 3-D works and to provide entertaining coverage for its April Fool’s edition.

Fighting for Rochester's Future

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/news/extra/fighting/health/index.shtml

Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, NY)

“Good effort at involving the community.”
- 2004 Batten Award Judges

The third, fourth and fifth monthly installments of “Fighting for Rochester’s Future.” Used stories and interactive exercises to involve the community in key local topics, such as downtown revitalization, health, education, taxes.

Dying Tongues

http://www.in-forum.com/specials/DyingTongues/

The Forum and In-Forum.com (Fargo, ND)

“Strong execution . . . nice touches.”
- 2004 Batten Award Judges

Multimedia series that explores efforts to preserve the languages of three Native American tribes from North Dakota’s Fort Berthold Reservation.

Purple People's Investigation & Community Response

http://www.wcpo.com/wcpo/localshows/iteam/purple/solutions.html

WCPO-TV (Cincinnati, OH)

“Fun and had some real impact.”
- 2004 Batten Award Judges

An I-Team reporter involves the community in cleaning up the Purple People Bridge, connecting Kentucky and Ohio, with solutions-oriented reports.

Transom.org

http://www.transom.org/

Atlantic Public Media (Woods Hole, MA)

“This is a great industry tool.”
- 2004 Batten Award Judges

Web site teaches people how to produce their own public radio story and provides an online showcase of their work.

Editorial Blog

http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/blog

The Dallas Morning News (Dallas, TX)

“A smart, appealing way for editorialists to have to stand up and defend their opinions.”
- 2004 Batten Award Judges

Blog for readers to converse with Dallas Morning News editorial board members, making the news organization more transparent and accessible.

Forging America

http://www.mcall.com/news/specials/bethsteel/

The Morning Call (Allentown, PA)

“Elegant piece of history that gives readers a real sense of the community and its struggles.”
- 2004 Batten Award Judges

A multimedia presentation of the 100-year rise and fall of Bethlehem Steel on CD-Rom.

Haiti: The Eroding Nation

South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL)

“Excellent example of packaging using Flash.”
- 2004 Batten Award Judges

A multimedia report and photo essays on Haiti’s ecological problems.

Chronicle Watch

http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/chroniclewatch/

San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco, CA)

“New Age action line. Very interactive, watchdog effort.”
- 2004 Batten Award Judges

Invites readers to pinpoint broken public facilities then trains the newspaper’s spotlight on the problem and the official responsible for fixing it until the problem is fixed.

Wireless Election Connection

http://scprimary.textamerica.com/

Ifra Newsplex (Columbia, SC)

“An interesting experiment.”
- 2004 Batten Award Judges

Using mainly picture cell phones and moblogs, student journalists covered the 2004 South Carolina Democratic presidential primary.

Murder, Race Justice: The State vs. Darryl Hunt

http://darrylhunt.journalnow.com/

JournalNow.com (Winston-Salem, NC)

“Compelling template for trial coverage,
nicely repositioned for the Web.”
- 2004 Batten Award Judges

Multimedia version of reinvestigation of a 19-year-old case in which a black man was wrongly convicted of raping and killing a white woman.

Multimedia and Interactive Journalism -- a body of work

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/

SpokesmanReview.com (Spokane, WA)

“Exceptional commitment to interactivity across the board.”
- 2004 Batten Award Judges

Spotlights pioneering efforts in multimedia obits, a mayor selector, an Iraq casualty database, community blogs, and multi-paper email feedback exercises on current issues for APME.

Fourth World/Our World

http://www.timesunion.com/fourthworld/

Times Union and timesunion.com (Albany, NY)

“Extremely well-executed.”
- 2004 Batten Award Judges

Multimedia presentations of the humanitarian crises in Malawi as a window on the problems confronting sub-Saharan Africa.

Community Gazettes

http://www.gothamgazette.com/community

GothamGazette.com (New York City)

“Community journalism in a well-organized way.”
- 2004 Batten Award Judges on “Community Gazettes”

A hyperlocal site with separate citizen-generated community news pages for New York City’s 51 districts.

Games

http://www.gothamgazette.com/

GothamGazette.com (New York City)

“Another metaphor for journalism. Admirable reporting.”
-2004 Batten Award Judges on “Games”

Quarterly games to help NYC residents understand policy decisions about their budget, electing judges, maintaining the city’s infrastructure, and building neighborhood parks.

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