Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner.
The Online News Association has awarded voiceofsandiego.org’s education reporting a top prize for Online Topical Reporting/Blogging for a small site.
While the award went to the organization as a whole, it is for the work of education reporter Emily Alpert. Over the last few years, she has in my mind provided the blueprint for how the modern-day reporter can build a community around her work.
She’s ubiquitous on the beat. She blogs, tweets, appears on television, organizes debates and still finds time to excel at the most important piece of it all: good, old-fashioned shoe-leather reporting.
Thank you, Emily, for all your hard work.
(We just happen to also be running a campaign around Emily’s work right now. If you’re interested in voting for her and supporting our nonprofit journalism organization, please show your support.)
We were also finalists in two other categories, General Excellence in Online Journalism and Innovative Investigative Reporting, and were honored just to be mentioned in the same breath as the winners. Congratulations to all the winners. The full list is here.
I’m the editor of VOSD and am honored to work with Emily and the rest of our crew every day. Contact me at andrew.donohue@voiceofsandiego.org or 619.325.0526. Follow me on Twitter: @AndrewDonohue.