Five finalists have been named for the 2005 Batten Awards for Innovations in Journalism, which gives cash prizes up to $10,000 for "setting new standards for interactive journalism, advancing creativity in digital storytelling and recalibrating the role that news organizations play in their communities."
Here's a look at what the judges said about the five finalists, plus links to other notable entries as well. Lots of excellent ideas here worth checking out.
The five finalists are:
- The View, Interactive Magazine Online (IMOL)
A quarterly netcasting magazine crafted of hip new story forms produced by senior "solo-jos" – backpack journalists from England, the U.S. and South Africa – using video-centric Web tools to tell point-of-view stories. - "The Cost of War," Newsday
An extravaganza of detailed information and artful graphics about the U.S. effort in Iraq that set a new bar for telling fact-dense stories, inviting readers to burrow deeper into its interactive tiers of news. - "Town Square," News & Record, Greensboro, N.C.
A daring initiative to rethink the role of the newspaper in the community. It is newly evolving to incorporate community voices and heightened transparency of the newsgathering process. - ChicagoCrime.org
An innovative integration of a public database with Google's online mapping technology to deliver a comprehensive, interactive experience for Chicago's neighborhoods. It is one journalist's ability to see all the pieces and put them together. - Public Insight Journalism, Minnesota Public Radio
An imaginative venture that has built up a 10,000-person "public source network." Its innovative online collaborative software, the "Idea Generator," engaged people in brainstorming such public issues as the future of small towns and the racial performance gap in school test scores.
