Great Online Commentary Archives - CyberJournalist.net

Jan292003 by CyberJournalist EditorNo Comments

State of the Union: Instant Analysis

Great Online Commentary, Great Use of Community, Great Work Gallery

As soon as President Bush finished his State of the Union, anchors and media pundits immediately began analyzing it. But readers of WashingtonPost.com got to do more than just hear talking heads talk -- they got to discuss the speech and the Democrats' response with Washington Post Associate Editor Robert G. Kaiser. "I thought the strength of print journalism was it could be reasoned and deliberate compared to television news," asked one reader from Alexandria, Va. "Are you comfortable popping off with 'instant analysis?' Or is this just for fun?" Kaiser replied, "A painfully good question. Watch how I do this to see an essentially uncomfortable instant analyst trying to avoid the pitfalls of the art form. Will he fall off the high wire? Probably. I like the repartee with readers the best....

Nov202002 by CyberJournalist EditorNo Comments

Behind the Scenes: Fiore's Animated Cartoons

Award-Winning Work, Behind the Scenes, Great Interactive Storytelling, Great Online Commentary, Great Work Gallery, Special Features

When one thinks of online journalists who are doing innovative, enlightening work that truly takes advantage of the medium, Mark Fiore is one of the first names that comes to mind. Fiore recently won the 2002 Online Journalism Award for commentary and was a finalist in the Creative Use of the Medium category. In this Q&A with CyberJournalist.net's Jonathan Dube, Fiore explains why "technology doesn't make the cartoon" and that the key to making an animated cartoon effective is "having something to say." You can see dozens of Fiore's wonderful cartoons at http://www.markfiore.com. (more…)

Apr232002 by CyberJournalist Editor1 Comment

ABCNews.com's The Note

Great Online Commentary, Great Weblog Journalism, Great Work Gallery, The Weblog Blog

This daily political news Weblog, first published on Jan. 14, 2002, quickly became a must-read daily compendium of political news and analysis. The Note, which began as an internal staff e-mail, is written by Mark Halperin, Elizabeth Wilner and Marc Ambinder of ABC's political unit. Washington Post White House correspondent Dana Milbank told The Washingtonian, "It's the arbiter of who is on the cutting edge." The New York Times Adam Nagourney told the New York Sun The Note has a ?certain intelligence to it,? noting that ?it?s often ahead of the news? and ?sets out concepts for stories and ways to look at the world.?

Jan232002 by CyberJournalist EditorNo Comments

Fat-Guy.com: 'A Week in the Gramercy Tavern Kitchen'

Award-Winning Work, Great Online Commentary, Great Work Gallery

"A Week in the Gramercy Tavern Kitchen," Fat-Guy.com. Winner, 2002 James Beard Foundation Journalism Award for Internet Writing. Steven Shaw, publisher of www.fat-guy.com, won this look at life behind the stoves at the Gramercy Tavern Kitchen. It's the first time an independent culinary site like this one has received a Beard Award, which recognize excellence in food and beverage journalism.

Nov232001 by CyberJournalist Editor1 Comment

Emily Prager: "The Read," Oxygen.com

Award-Winning Work, Great Online Commentary, Great Work Gallery

Winner, Online Commentary, Online Journalism Awards 2000. Commentary on topics ranging from the presidential election to getting accepted to private school. The judges said: "Whether she is writing about the NRA opening a superstore in New York City or offering an interactive quiz on Elian Gonzalez, Prager's columns bring a wry and witty twist on the news. Nothing is too trivial or too sacrosanct to have escaped her eye."

Oct232001 by CyberJournalist EditorNo Comments

Dahlia Lithwick, Slate

Award-Winning Work, Great Online Commentary, Great Work Gallery

Winner, Online Commentary, Online Journalism Awards 2001. The judges said Lithwick really brings Supreme Court reporting alive, making coverage of a usually staid and serious beat vivid and enlightening, giving the reader a sense of the scene and tone inside the courthouse. Every column makes use of Slate's reader response board, The Fray, to launch a debate about the column topic.

Aug282001 by CyberJournalist Editor1 Comment

Barbie: Action News Reporter

Great Multimedia Work, Great Online Commentary, Great Work Gallery

For nearly a year now Dr. Ink has been humoring, inspiring and puzzling readers of Poynter.org with his online media column. The breezy writing style, combined with persistent interaction with readers, is a great example of writing on the Web that works. Now he's gone multimedia with an entertaining piece on "Barbie: Action News Reporter." Once you're done cackling, you'll realize Dr. Ink has done it again, melding text, visuals, audio and interactivity seamlessly together in a Web piece that not only entertains, but makes an insightful point. We hereby declare Dr. Ink a model CyberJournalist and suggest he upgrade his name to Dr. Byte.

May232001 by CyberJournalist EditorNo Comments

Elections Upgrade, CourierPost Online

Convergence, Great Interactive Storytelling, Great Online Commentary, Great Work Gallery

CourierPost Online partnered with the editorial department of its print brethren, The Courier-Post of New Jersey, in its push for statewide online voting. They commissioned a private company to create a sample, secure, online ballot, which walks users through an interactive vote of presidential, congressional and local candidates. A clever, original use of the Web -- and one of the few original online projects by a newspaper's editorial section.