2021 EPPY Award winners

The winners demonstrate what is great about this industry — ingenuity, integrity and perseverance in pursuing excellence. The EPPY winners showed up, stepped up to the challenge and gave us their best. We’re in awe of each of you.”

Robin Blinder, Associate Publisher, E&P

Minnesota Public Radio won the EPPY for the Best Local Radio News Website with 1 million or more unique visitors.

“The MPR News digital team is a mighty crew that continues to outdo itself. The team consistently seeks creative storytelling to display on the website and digital platforms. What helps MPR stand apart is the level of engagement the team has with our audience. At a time when covering the dueling pandemics could impact the quality of news reporting, MPR News continues to strive to serve the audience with journalism excellence. Our website is a central source of news and information for the communities we serve,” said Sarah Glover, MPR news managing editor.

Duchesne Drew, president of Minnesota Public Radio, added: “MPRNEWS.ORG is a vital part of how we inform and connect with Minnesotans. We're committed to being more essential to more Minnesotans, and our website is central to fulfilling that mission. We aim to be a news outlet that helps Minnesotans see our region more clearly and value it more deeply. Our digital storytelling and interaction are at the heart of this work.”

Pictured is an MPR mobile screenshot from the award-winning website. (Photo provided)

The Tennessean | USA TODAY Network won an EPPY for Best News or Event Feature (1 million or more unique visitors) for their coverage of “The Christmas Day Bombing.”

“Tennessean journalists accomplished much in a short amount of time in a very competitive, chaotic environment,” said Michael A. Anastasi, vice president and editor.

Anastasi especially credited the leadership of Tennessean editors Maria De Varenne, Liz Schubauer and JJ Hensley. “Our journalists deployed rapidly, many abandoning long-planned vacations, in order to serve their community. They continued working with tenacity and urgency for days on end as the story pivoted to an investigative and enterprise focus. There was never a moment when the entire staff wasn’t all in. I couldn’t be prouder.”

Andrew Nelles arrived on the scene within minutes and was the only photojournalist to capture the burning remnants of the RV that held the bomb, an image that was published across the world via The Associated Press.

Pictured is a shot of the burning wreckage from The Tennessean website, along with the front page of its Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020 issue. (Photo provided)

The San Diego Union-Tribune won the EPPY for the Best Community Service Project / Reporting (1 million or more unique visitors) for the “Social Justice Reporting Project.”

The publisher and editor of The San Diego Union-Tribune, Jeff Light, responded: “It was a privilege to support these independent voices both journalistically and financially. I’m glad to see them recognized, especially in this climate of dwindling resources and diminished outlets for original, candid work. In addition to our staff, our steering committee included professionals from San Diego’s NAHJ, NABJ, AAJA and SPJ chapters, all of whom dedicated their time as coaches and mentors.”

Pictured in the “Social Justice Reporting Project” screenshot are staff members (left to right, top tier) Nicole Antonacci, Savannah Cadet-Haynes, Jordi Lebrijia, (left to right, bottom tier) Semoria F. Mosley, Beto Soto, Jeff Valenzuela (Photo provided)

The Orlando Sentinel won the EPPY for Best Podcast (1 million or more unique visitors) for “Joel Greenberg: The Man, The Scandal, The Players.”

Jeff Weiner, who wrote and hosted the podcast, commented: “This podcast was the product of years of reporting by talented colleagues, who exposed over and over again that Joel Greenberg was abusing his public office and the taxpayers’ trust. I’m proud that we were able to bring their work to a new audience and expose Greenberg and his allies to the scrutiny they long deserved.”

The podcast series was a collaboration between (pictured, left to right) Jeff Weiner, editor for the Orlando Sentinel’s Justice & Safety team, and Wesley Alden, the Sentinel’s video and podcast producer. (Photo provided)

Capitol Broadcasting Company and Dennis Draughon won an EPPY for the Best Editorial/Political Cartoon (fewer than 1 million unique visitors).

Pictured are the winning cartoon along with a photo of Dennis Draughon, Capitol Broadcasting Company. (Photos provided)

The Weather Channel won the EPPY Award for the Best Incorporation of Sponsored/Branded Content (1 million or more unique visitors) for “State Farm: General Safety and Preparedness.”

Patty Cox, editor-in-chief, The Weather Channel Company, said: “We appreciate Editor & Publisher for recognizing this important work. Safety is our most important responsibility and informs every decision we make when it comes to our severe weather coverage.”

Pictured are two images from the winning entry. (Photos provided)

BuzzFeed News, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and more than 100 media partners won the EPPY Award for the Best Business Reporting (1 million or more unique visitors) for “The FinCEN Files."

Pictured is the FinCen project banner and a photo of FinCen project reporters at a meeting in Hamburg in 2019. (Photos provided)

E&P announced the winners of the 26th annual EPPY Awards on Nov. 1 at EditorandPublisher.com.

This year’s EPPY Awards received more than 400 entries. Winners were selected from an international list of nominations to honor the best in digital media across more than 40 diverse categories. Entries came from media companies large and small worldwide, including local news publishing, broadcast networks, cable news and sports networks, pure-play international websites and niche content publishers. There were additional categories celebrating excellence in college and university journalism. The categories were separated into websites with more than 1 million monthly unique visitors and those that receive fewer than 1 million. Winners must receive a score in the top one-third of the average score across all categories within their division. As a result, there may be no winner in categories not reaching this threshold.

A big thank you goes out to our EPPY judges this year. Our panel of 43 judges consists of media leaders in website design, marketing and advertising, editorial, technology, education, media management and consulting.

To read judges' comments, visit EPPYAwards.com.

WEBSITE CATEGORY WINNERS AND FINALISTS

 Best Daily Newspaper Website (1 million or more unique visitors)
The Boston Globe for BostonGlobe.com

The Las Vegas Weekly won the EPPY for the Best Weekly or Non-daily Newspaper Website with fewer than 1 million unique visitors and the Best Overall Website Design in the same class. The Las Vegas Weekly staff is pictured (left to right): Photographer Wade Vandervort, Photographer Christopher DeVargas, Editor at Large Brock Radke, Senior Editor Geoff Carter, Staff Writer Amber Sampson, Editor Spencer Patterson, Staff Writer C. Moon Reed, Multimedia Manager Yasmina Chavez, Deputy Editor Evelyn Mateos, Designer Ian Racoma. (Photo provided)

Best Weekly or Non-daily Newspaper Website (fewer than 1 million unique visitors)
Las Vegas Weekly for LasVegasWeekly.com

Best Magazine Website (fewer than 1 million unique visitors)
Authorlink.com

Best Sports News Website (1 million or more unique visitors)
ESPN Digital Media for ESPN.com
Finalists: CNN for CNNSports.com and ESPN for ESPNCricinfo.com

Best Online-only News (1 million or more unique visitors)
Block Club Chicago for BlockClubChicago.org

Best Online-only News (fewer than 1 million unique visitors)
CalMatters for CalMatters.org
Finalist: The City for TheCity.org

Best Local TV News Website (1 million or more unique visitors)
KSAT for KSAT.com
Finalist: ClickOrlando.com

Best Local TV News Website (1 million or more unique visitors)
WSLS for WSLS.com

Best Local Radio News Website (1 million or more unique visitors)
Minnesota Public Radio for MPRnews.org

Best Business/Finance Website (1 million or more unique visitors)
CNBC for CNBC.com
Finalist: CNN for CNN Business

GrowthSpotter Reporter Amanda Rabines and Editor Laura Kinsler won for Best Business/Finance Website with fewer than 1 million unique visitors, representing its fourth EPPY award since its 2015 inception. Kinsler said, “GrowthSpotter has set a standard for excellence covering one of the nation’s hottest real estate markets thanks to the dedication of our staff and team of contributing writers. We’re so honored to be recognized by our peers for the fourth time.” (Photo provided)

Best Business/Finance Website (fewer than 1 million unique visitors)
GrowthSpotter for GrowthSpotter.com

Best Entertainment/Cultural News Website (fewer than 1 million unique visitors)
Religion Unplugged for ReligionUnplugged.com
Finalist: OnMilwaukee for OnMilwaukee.com

Best Mobile News App (1 million or more unique visitors)
CNN Digital for CNN: Breaking US & World News

Best Mobile News App (fewer than 1 million unique visitors)
STAT for The Stat APP
Finalist: Shaw Local News Network for The Shaw Local App

CONTENT CATEGORY WINNERS AND FINALISTS

Best Investigative/Enterprise Feature (1 million or more unique visitors)
ESPN Investigative Unit/ESPN Features Unit for “Death at the U: Who killed Bryan Pata?”
Finalists: BostonGlobe.com for “Behind the Shield” and The Kansas City Star for “The Promised Land”

Best Investigative/Enterprise Feature (fewer than 1 million unique visitors)
Calmatters for “Waiting for Justice”
Finalists: IrpiMedia, OCCRP for "The ‘Ndrangheta's Little Kiss’: Inside an Organized Crime Clan” and Greg B. Smith and Yoav Gonen, THE CITY for “How New York Bungled Pandemic Medical Supply Purchase”

Best Collaborative Investigative/Enterprise Reporting (1 million or more unique visitors)
OCCRP, Le Monde, IRPI, McClatchy/Miami Herald/El Nuevo Heraldm IStories, Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism, KRIK, Bivol, Investigace.cz, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Le Soir, Woxx, Piaui, Tempo, Armando.Info, La Nacion, Inkyfada (Tunisia) for “OpenLux”
Finalists: NBC News, Inside Climate News and the Texas Observer for “Super Threats” and The Marshall Project, USA TODAY Network, Arizona Republic for “US Marshals Act Like Local Police with More Violence and Less Accountability”

Best Collaborative Investigative/Enterprise Reporting (fewer than 1 million unique visitors)
THE CITY, Type Investigations and Columbia Journalism Investigations for “NYC Nursing Home Gave Dozens of Veterans Experimental COVID-19 Treatments”
Finalists: Wisconsin Watch, TMJ4 News for “Thousands await jobless aid as Wisconsin leaders blame each other” and ReligionUnplugged.com and Newsreel Asia, Harshita Rathore and Vishal Arora for “Talking Religion at the Dinner Table”

Best News or Event Feature (1 million or more unique visitors)
The Tennessean / USA TODAY Network for “The Christmas Day Bombing”
Finalists: CNN Digital for “Running as Equals: The Elite Athletes Fighting for Acceptance” and CNN Digital for “Assault on Democracy: Paths to Insurrection”

Best News or Event Feature (fewer than 1 million unique visitors)
ReligionUnplugged.com, Julia Duin, Hamil Harris, Kimberly Winston for “The Religious Roots of an Attempted Insurrection”
Finalists: Claudia Irizarry Aponte and Josefa Velasquez for “Deliveristas” and STAT for “STAT Exposes Huge Gaps in Access”

Best Business Reporting (1 million or more unique visitors)
BuzzFeed News, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and more than 100 media partners for “The FinCEN Files."
Finalists: Fortune for “Fortune: Crypto at a Turning Point” and CNET for “Why your iPhone may never be made in America.”

Best Business Reporting (fewer than 1 million unique visitors)
STAT for “Groundbreaking Coverage of Momentous Alzheimer's Drug Approval”
Finalists: THE CITY for “New York in Job Hunt as City Seeks Economic Comeback from COVID” and STAT for “Epic's AI Algorithms, Shielded from Scrutiny”

InvestmentNews won the EPPY for Best Business/Finance Blog (with fewer than 1 million unique visitors) for Mary Beth Franklin's “On Retirement.” Pictured is Mary Beth Franklin, writer of the retirement blog. (Photo provided)

Best Business/Finance Blog (fewer than 1 million unique visitors)
InvestmentNews for “Mary Beth Franklin On Retirement”
Finalist: STAT for “Ed Silverman's enormously popular Pharmalot blog.”

Best News/Political Blog (1 million or more unique visitors)
Inside for “Insider's Washington Bureau”

 Best Use of Data/Infographics (1 million or more unique visitors)
The Straits Times for “Three Million masks every minute: How Covid-19 is choking the planet.”
Finalists: Bloomberg News for “COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker” and CNN Digital for “The Southwest's Most Important River is Drying Up”

Best use of data/infographics (fewer than 1 million unique visitors)
THE CITY for “Meet Your Mayor”
Finalist: ReligionUnplugged.com, Ryan Burge for “Plugging in the Numbers: Data Journalism on Religion and Politics”

Best Use of Social Media/Crowd Sourcing (1 million or more unique visitors)
USA Today Graphics for “USA Today Visual Investigations”
Finalists: CNN Digital for “Lekki Toll Gate Shooting Investigation” and USA Today for “Trump Outbreak Coverage”

Best Use of Social Media/Crowd Sourcing (fewer than 1 million unique visitors)
THE CITY, Columbia Journalism School & Newmark Journalism School at CUNY for “Missing Them Memorial Events”
Finalists: Documented for “Use of WhatsApp to help drive reporting” and ReligionUnplugged.com, Meagan Clark for “King James Resurrects the Gold Bless the USA Bible”

Best Innovation Project on a Website (1 million or more unique visitors)
Fortune for “Gamified NFT Auction for a Fortune Magazine Cover”
Finalists: USA Today Graphics for “USA Today Visual Investigations” and BostonGlobe.com for “Behind the Shield”

Best Innovation Project on a Website (fewer than 1 million unique visitors)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for “Abuse of Trust”
Finalists: The Marshall Project for “The Language Project” and THE CITY for “Meet Your Mayor”

Best Community Service Project/Reporting (1 million or more unique visitors)
The San Diego Union-Tribune for “Social Justice Reporting Project”
Finalists: USA TODAY Network South for “Hallowed Sound” and The Marshall Project and NPR for “Foster Care Agencies Take Millions of Dollars Owed to Kids”

Best Community Service Project/Reporting (fewer than 1 million unique visitors)
The Marshall Project for “Serving Incarcerated Audiences”
Finalists: CoastalReview.org for “Paths to Resilience” and Epicenter — NYC for “Epicenter — NYC”

Best News or Event Feature video (1 million or more unique visitors)
CNN Business for “Qanon”
Finalists: CNN for “Clarissa Ward: Taliban told me to stand to the side ‘because I'm a woman’” and Jeremy Allen, Graham Media Group for “What Lies Beneath: Frontline workers battle Covid-19.”

Best News or Event Feature video (fewer than 1 million unique visitors)
The Brazilian Report for “The Brazilian City Being Swallowed Up from Underneath”
Finalists:  Bloomberg Industry Group for “When your boss is notorious: Checking for R.B.G” and ReligionUnplugged.com and Newsreel Asia, Harshita Rathore and Vishal Arora for “Talking Religion at the Dinner Table”

 Best Investigative/Enterprise Video (1 million or more unique visitors)
The Straits Times for “Invisible Asia Video Series”
Finalists: CNN for “How a massacre in Tigray was captured on video” and The Boston Globe for “A Beautiful Resistance”

 Best Investigative/Enterprise Video (fewer than 1 million unique visitors)
STAT for “Why I Got a Colonoscopy So Young” 

Best Sports Video (1 million or more unique visitors)
CNN Sports & As Equals for “Running as equals: The elite athletes fighting for acceptance.”

 Best Podcast (1 million or more unique visitors)
Orlando Sentinel for “Joel Greenberg: The Man, The Scandal, The Players”
Finalists: NBCU News Group Podcast Unit for “Southlake” and The Arizona Republic for “Rediscovering Don Bolles”

Best Podcast (fewer than 1 million unique visitors)
Bloomberg Industry Group for “Black Lawyers Speak: Stories of the Past”
Finalists: The Heist Podcast Team, Center for Public Integrity for “The Heist” and The (Rock Hill) Herald for “Return Man”

Best Photojournalism on a Website (1 million or more unique visitors)
Lianhe Zaobao, SPH Media Limited for “Remembering 2020: The Year in Pictures”
Finalists: Lianhe Zaobao, SPH Media Limited for “184 Lightning Days A Year: Experience Lightning Every Other Day” and CNN Digital for “The Southwest's Most Important River is Drying Up”

Best Editorial/Political Cartoon (1 million or more unique visitors)
Mike Smith, Las Vegas Sun for “Smith’s World”

 Best Editorial/Political Cartoon (fewer than 1 million unique visitors)
Dennis Draughon, Capitol Broadcasting Company for Dennis Draughon
Finalist: The Brazilian Report

Best Incorporation of Sponsored/Branded Content (1million or more unique visitors)
The Weather Channel for “State Farm: General Safety and Preparedness”
Finalist: WKMG News 6 for “Best of Central Florida”

Best Incorporation of Sponsored/Branded Content (fewer than 1 million unique visitors)
Narcity Media for “Seeking Nature”
Finalist: WSLS for “In a Day’s Drive”

Best Overall Website Design (1 million or more unique visitors)
Block Club Chicago for BlockClubChicago.org
Finalists: ESPN Digital Media for ESPN.com and CNN for CNN.COM/Style

Best Overall Website Design (fewer than 1 million unique visitors)
Las Vegas Weekly for LasVegasWeekly.com
Finalists: STAT for Statnews.com and Religion Unplugged for ReligionUnplugged.com

Best Home Page Design (1 million or more unique visitors)
CNN Digital for CNN Style
Finalists: Block Club Chicago for BlockClubChicago.org and Click on Detroit for ClickonDetroit.com

Best Home Page Design (fewer than 1 million unique visitors)
The Brazilian Report for The Brazilian Report
Finalist: Religion Unplugged for ReligionUnplugged.com

Best Redesign/Relaunch (1 million or more unique visitors)
Block Club Chicago for BlockClubChicago.org
Finalist: The Straits Times for StraitsTimes.com/global

Best Redesign/Relaunch (fewer than 1 million unique visitors)
OnMilwaukee for OnMilwaukee.com
Finalists: Shaw Local News Network for ShawLocal.com and GGRecon for GGRecon.com

Best Website Navigation Design (1 million or more unique visitors)
Click2Houston for Click2Houston.com

Best Cause Marketing/Corporate Social Responsibility Campaign (1 million or more unique visitors)
News4JAX for “Positively Jax impacts Jacksonville”

Best Promotional/Marketing Campaign (1 million or more unique visitors)
The Dallas Morning News for “Do You Know?
Finalists: Newsday Consumer Marketing for “Newsday Investigations” and Las Vegas Review-Journal for “Food & Cocktail Virtual Series”

Best Promotional/Marketing Campaign (fewer than 1 million unique visitors)
Newsday Consumer Marketing for “Faces of Long Island”

COLLEGE/ UNIVERSITY CATEGORY WINNERS AND FINALISTS

Best College/University Campus Website
NCC News: Newhouse Communications Center Syracuse University for NCC News (see photos below)
Finalists: PhiladelphiaNeighborhoods.com, Temple University: Department of Journalism for PhiladelphiaNeighborhoods.com and Baylor University for Baylorlariat.com

Best College/University Produced Community or Niche Website
The Deconstructing the Divide Staff for “Deconstructing the Divide”
Finalists: Staff of The Red Line Project — UIC for The Red Line Project and City Newsroom 2021 for NYCityLens.com

Best Collaborative College/University & Professional Website
CalMatters for CalMatters College Journalism Network
Finalist: Wisconsin Watch and UW-Madison School of Journalism & Mass Communication for “Color of Money”

Best News Story on a College/University Website
The Deconstructing the Divide Staff for “Deconstructing the Divide”
Finalists: City Newsroom 2021 for “The Return: The Pandemic Recedes” and PhiladelphiaNeighborhoods.com, Temple University: Department of Journalism for “Amateur Sports: Country's only black-owned rowing club”

Best Feature Story on a College/University Website
Haillie Parker and Allie Barton/Cronkite News for “Invisible Chapters: Writing the Black community into the stories of libraries”
Finalists: PhiladelphiaNeighborhoods.com, Temple University: Department of Journalism for “Amateur Sports: Country's only black-owned rowing club” and Anthony J. Wallace and Megan Marples/Cronkite News for “It's creating a new normal: A Navajo school district and its students fight”

Best Video on a College/University Website
Allie Barton/Cronkite News for “Lost Chapters”
Finalists: Staff of 219West, NYCity News Service, Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY for “The Reawakening” and The Temple News for “A Day of Action.”

Best Photojournalism on a College/University Website
Alberto Mariani/Cronkite News for “A community's response: Reflections from the White Mountain Apache.”
Finalists: Alberto Mariani/Cronkite News for “Last Responders and the call to bury the dead.” and Jessica Ruiz, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications for “Our poisoned Kids.”

Best College/University Investigative/Documentary
The Howard Center for Investigative Journalism - Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication for “Little Victims Everywhere”
Finalists: Carnegie-Knight News21 for “Unmasking America” and Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication for “Life Is”

John Glass, professor and executive producer of TheNewsHouse.com, said: “We’re thrilled to have been recognized with these EPPY Awards and know it reflects on the effort our student journalists invested in uncovering and telling the stories of inequality and social justice in Syracuse.”

One photo shows TJ Shaw photographing a gathering of residents celebrating the April 20 verdict in the George Floyd murder case outside the Syracuse Public Safety Building. (Photo by Mike Greelar). A second photo shows Amanda Paule and Sonny Cirasuolo capturing 360-degree images inside the People’s AME Zion Church in downtown Syracuse that opened in 1910. (Photo by Dan Pacheco) The third photo pictures the project coordinators for the Deconstructing the Divide project by student journalists at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School. 

2021 EPPY Judges

• Christian Hendricks, Managing Partner, Extol Digital / President, Local Media Consortium
• Bernie Oravec, Publisher, Barash Media
• Sharon Prill, COO, Pennyhoarder / Taylor Media, Inc.
• Laura McAdoo, Creative Director, The Seattle Times
• Margaret McKenzie, Managing Editor, Conway Daily Sun
• Mark Mahoney, Pre-Press Manager, Gatehouse Media New England
• Linda Corcoran, Metro Editor, Boston Globe
• Christine McKenna, Multimedia Producer and Journalism Educator
• Andrew Green, Senior Director of Corporate Affairs, Thomas Reuter
• Paul Cheung, Director Journalism and Technology Innovation, James L. Knight Foundation
• Matt DeRienzo, Editor-in-Chief, Center for Public Integrity
• Bill Ostendorf, Founder & President, Creative Circle Media
• Matt Caylor, Director, Strategic Services, Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association
• Julia Campbell, General Manager, Branded Content Project
• Greg Watson, Chief Marketing Officer, America’s Newspapers
• Iva Dixit, Staff Editor, The New York Times Magazine
• Kevin Dale, Executive Editor, Colorado Public Radio
• Kristen DelGuzzi, Managing Editor, USATODAY
• Dietmar Schantin, Founder, IFMS
• Meaghan Parker, Executive Director, Society of Environmental Journalists
• Mi-Ai Parrish, Managing Director, Arizona State University
• John Heaston, Publisher/Editor, Reader & El Perico / President AAN
• Fraser Van Asch, Partner Relations, Klangoo / Associate Partner, Extol Digital
• Dustin Barnes, Digital Strategist, The Tennessean
• David Lucas, Photo Editor, Thomas Reuters
• Michael Walker, Global Executive Editor, Bloomberg Media Studios
• Fran Wills, CEO, Local Media Consortium
• Gretchen Peck, Independent Journalist and Publishing Consultant
• Jeff Tennery, Chief Operating Officer, AlefEdge
• Peter Lamb, Owner, Lamb Consulting
• David Fitzpatrick, SVP/CRO, Black News Channel
• Sue Cross, CEO & Executive Editor, Institute for Nonprofit News
• James Green, VP Digital, Lee Enterprises
• Christine Hendricks, VP Marketing, Local Media Consortium
• John Hyland, Group VP, Basis Technologies
• Mike Orren, Chief Product Officer, The Dallas Morning News
• Tobias Bennett, VP Revenue & Partnerships, Local Media Consortium
• Lori Nichols, Partner, Extol Digital
• Ryan Greenberg, Head of Partnerships, Okanjo
• Mike Drescher, Co-Founder, Okanjo
• James Calloway, Associate Partner, Extol Digital
• Robin Davis, VP Strategy Planning & Development, Scripps Networks
• Roberto Angulo, CEO, Recruitology, U.S.