The Panel of 21 Judges for Editor & Publisher's Best Online Newspaper Service Awards scored each candidate Web site with numerical ratings relative to each category. Judges were also able to comment on the various candidates. Below are the scores and a sample of judges' comments for each of the ten first place winners.

The scores go from 1 to 10, with 10 being perfect.

BEST OVERALL ONLINE NEWSPAPER SERVICE
Large Dailies

New York Times on the Web

"This site is just great, my only question is why use GIFs for the navigation? Yes, they look great, once they're loaded, but even with my T1 connection that took some time. Then again, it is not a truly interactive site -- too much of the broadcasting paradigm is left. Still, one of the best sites on the web!"

"This is an excellent site very attractive, easy to navigate and uses the most recent web techniques. It has no chats or sound -- those features could be a good idea so readers can communicate with each other and interchange ideas or impressions."

Scores (average for judges that reviewed this site):

• Design/navigation - 9.5
• Innovation/creativity - 9.0
• Editorial content - 10.0
• Timeliness - 10.0
• Advertising - 8.5
• Online community - 8.5
• Overall impression - 9.0
• OVERALL SCORE - 9.13
• AVG. FOR THIS CATEGORY - 7.40

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BEST OVERALL ONLINE NEWSPAPER SERVICE
Small Dailies

Sunline (Charlotte Herald Sun, Charlotte Beach, Florida)

"Uses the best words in the lanugage when creating a web service -- of, for, with, by -- connects with community. I bookmarked it as one to keep watching. Uses the medium well to serve human needs and interests."

"This is a very impressive site in that it truly intends to be the information source of the community first, a distribution mechanism for the news second. There is a great compilation of local and community links. This is a model for a small community information site, clean, usable and full of useful and interesting information. I'm very impressed."

"An extraordinary site. One of the best in the areas of community service, interactivity and imaginative original content. Its Tributes area enables users to write tributes to departed friends and relatives -- and to write their own obits in advance! Very effective search capabilities for both archives and current classified ads. Great service for readers to build their own homepages and post them on the Sunline's server. Solid community links, and helpful public service re free homepages for local organizations ... Would be hard to ask for more from a small paper. And its creativity outstrips that of many larger papers."

Scores (average for judges that reviewed this site):

• Design/navigation - 9.0
• Innovation/creativity - 9.3
• Editorial content - 9.0
• Timeliness - 9.0
• Advertising - 7.0
• Online community - 9.3
• Overall impression - 9.3
• OVERALL SCORE - 9.06
• AVG. FOR THIS CATEGORY - 6.39

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BEST OVERALL ONLINE NEWSPAPER SERVICE
Weeklies

Academe Today (Chronicle of Higher Education)

"Home page is attractive, well organized."

"Clean graphics, relevant copy, straightforward navigational features makes this site one of the better oline publications around. Strength is also interactivity encouraging response from users on a myriad of topics. Results prominently posted.Even coverage on new media for wired users included."

Scores (average for judges that reviewed this site):

• Design/navigation - 8.5
• Innovation/creativity - 7.5
• Editorial content - 9.5
• Timeliness - 9.0
• Advertising - 8.5
• Online community - 9.0
• Overall impression - 8.5
• OVERALL SCORE - 8.58
• AVG. FOR THIS CATEGORY - 5.79

BEST EDITORIAL CONTENT
Large Dailies

New York Times on the Web

"A truly great site!"

"Provides timely news and updated information both general and global, it does not provide information about the comunity. It is easy to read and navigate and uses graphics and links. Overall it is an excellent site."

Scores (average for judges that reviewed this site):

• Timeliness - 9.0
• Original content - 9.5
• Appropriate to medium - 9.5
• Serve community - 7.5
• Overall impression - 9.0
• OVERALL SCORE - 8.94
• AVG. FOR THIS CATEGORY - 7.45

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BEST EDITORIAL CONTENT
Small Dailies

Space Online (Florida Today)

"They own this niche. They have done an excellent job of packaging their own information and affiliating with others who have relevant information on the space program. They have some ambitious projects in the works to go back and capture old content. Very impressive."

"It is certainly very broad and the archive will supply all the information space freaks could want."

Scores (average for judges that reviewed this site):

• Timeliness - 8.7
• Original content - 9.0
• Appropriate to medium - 8.3
• Serve community - 8.7
• Overall impression - 8.3
• OVERALL SCORE - 8.50
• AVG. FOR THIS CATEGORY - 6.57

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BEST EDITORIAL CONTENT
Weeklies, Other

@Computerworld

"The quality of the editorial is excellent. The features section is comprehensive and the computer industry news is right up-to-date. I'm not impressed with the Computerworld Minute. The quality is so poor it's not worth the bandwidth committed to it. If this site has a fault, it is that there is simply too much informtion!"

Scores (average for judges that reviewed this site):

• Timeliness - 7.5
• Original content - 8.5
• Appropriate to medium - 9.0
• Serve community - 9.0
• Overall impression - 9.0
• OVERALL SCORE - 8.75
• AVG. FOR THIS CATEGORY - 6.18

BEST USE OF ADVERTISING
Large Dailies

Philadelphia Online (Philadelphia Inquirer & Daily News)

"The advertising portion looks better than the news. The sponsor's pages, linked from display ads in the front page, do have attractive design. Though the classified section is yet to be complete, the existing categories can bring advertisers and customers together."

"I like the use of ads down the right side rather than the simple banner, then a repeat of the auto show later with a clear demarcation. Nice graphic use and linking to the setup of the auto show with a floor plan and other auto ads. Nice stuff!"

"Obviously, Phila. Online has been very successful in attracting advertisers. Nice mix of ads, attractively and creatively presented."

Scores (average for judges that reviewed this site):

• Attracts advertisers - 8.7
• Innovative types of ads - 8.7
• Join merchant, buyer - 9.3
• Ad/edit differentiated - 8.7
• Overall impression - 8.7
• OVERALL SCORE - 8.75
• AVG. FOR THIS CATEGORY - 7.19

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BEST USE OF ADVERTISING
Small Dailies

Bakersfield Californian

"The advertising section of this online service is good. It is based on search mechanisms -- you'll have to know what you are looking for. The rotating display ads are effective." "What The Bakersfield Californian did was create an easily searchable database, and the results are linked to individual merchants' ads and/or sites. Very effective."

Scores (average for judges that reviewed this site):

• Attracts advertisers - 7.7
• Innovative types of ads - 7.0
• Join merchant, buyer - 7.3
• Ad/edit differentiated - 8.0
• Overall impression - 7.7
• OVERALL SCORE - 7.58
• AVG. FOR THIS CATEGORY - 6.07

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BEST USE OF ADVERTISING
Weeklies, Other

Review.net (Warfield's Business & Technology)

"Good regional publication; well-designed; on point." "I question the efficacy of listing advertisers in long columns of links. What is the readers' motivation for seeking out these lists and clicking on a link? Better to present the ad as a display, banner, button, etc. to elicit visual recognition /reinforcement."

Scores (average for judges that reviewed this site):

• Attracts advertisers - 8.0
• Innovative types of ads - 8.0
• Join merchant, buyer - 7.3
• Ad/edit differentiated - 8.3
• Overall impression - 8.0
• OVERALL SCORE - 7.96
• AVG. FOR THIS CATEGORY - 5.91

BEST OVERALL NON-NEWSPAPER ONLINE SERVICE

News.Com (C|NET)

"fast-smart-easy-current-newest news"

They way they target content, execute design, add value and carry out their advertising strategy makes this one of the best examples of what an online information service, and specifically, a new information service, should be."

Scores (average for judges that reviewed this site):

• Design/navigation - 9.0
• Innovation/creativity - 8.0
• Editorial content - 9.0
• Timeliness - 9.0
• Advertising - 7.7
• Online community - 8.3
• Overall impression - 8.7
• OVERALL SCORE - 8.58
• AVG. FOR THIS CATEGORY - 6.66