$10,000 Grand Prize Winner
You Decide
http://www.kqed.org/topics/news/perspectives/youdecide/
KQED (San Francisco, CA)
“A different model for reporting both sides of a story and a classic example of where public policy is a conversation and not a lecture.”
– 2004 Batten Advisory Board Judges
A richly reported monthly Web series that dissects key national issues to core arguments, pro and con, and then plays online devil’s advocate, challenging user opinions with points and counterpoints.
$2,000 Runner-up
P.O.V.‘s Borders/Environment
http://www.pbs.org/pov/borders/index_flash.html
POV Interactive (New York City)
“Interesting and important content, highly educational and interactive, beautifully presented. It’s like 3-D chess”
– 2004 Batten Advisory Board Judges
A Web-original series that explores individual choices involving air, water and land resources using non-linear storytelling, digital art, and interactive opportunities.
$1,000 Special Distinction Awards
The Nature of Things: The Investigation of Swissair 111
CBC.ca (Toronto, Ontario)
“Powerful storytelling, splendid navigation, innovative touches throughout.”
– 2004 Batten Advisory Board Judges
An online investigation that employed animation and video to present a straightforward account of the crash that was both informational and applauded victims’ families.
Tribute to Our Troops
http://www.projo.com/extra/terror/tribute
Providence Journal Web site, Projo.com (Providence, RI)
“An extremely simple exercise in small-J journalism that was very community interactive. It’s like the Civil War letters.”
– 2004 Batten Advisory Board Judges
An effortless, interactive database that allows readers to create a Web page for an individual soldier or troop and post messages or photos. About 80,000 messages have been posted to about 6,300 Web pages.
Sing My Song
http://www.usatoday.com/life/graphics/new_song/flash.htm
USAToday.com (McLean, VA)
“It embraces the aspirations and journeys of ordinary people aspiring to achieve their dreams. An exciting template for interactive entertainment news.”
– 2004 Batten Advisory Board Judges
Conceived for the web and extended to a full inside page in the newspaper, this project covered the story of West Virginia’s NewSong Festival.
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
Primary Frontline Pen Pals
nhpr.org/blogs/penpals2004/index.php
New Hampshire Public Radio (Concord, NH) | KUNI Public Radio (Cedar Falls, IA)
Five Iowa and five N.H. voters were paired in weblog exchange during Democratic caucuses and primaries to track their reactions to the campaigns.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation: Canada Votes
http://www.cbc.ca/canadavotes
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (Toronto, Ontario)
A Web site to give Canadian voters information for the June 28 Federal election. Includes: • Red Book: follows past and current promises of Liberal government. • The Daily Answer: Reporter answers a viewer’s question. • CBC News bus: Reporters blog the campaign.
AOL Election Guide 2004
http://www.electionguide04.com/
AOL News (Dulles, VA)
Online breaking news, analysis, hot topics, voter services, local election information via Zip Code, glossary and sideshow of comedy and satire.
Beyond Red & Blue: The New Map of American Politics
Common Wealth Magazine (Boston, MA)
This online-exclusive project analyzes U.S. county voting trends and clusters patterns into a map suggesting there are10 geographic voting typologies.
Electoral College Calculator
OpinionJournal.com (Stockton, NJ)
Explains the Electoral College with a map that users click to indicate how they think each state will vote. Results from previous elections are also made available.
New Hampshire Diary
The Wall Street Journal Online (New York, NY)
Shadows four undecided voters from New Hampshire during the primary to track how they finally decided to vote.