dennews.com, Eastern Illinois Univ., Charleston, Ill.
http://www.dennews.com
Nicole Weskerna, editor
Lola McElwee/Bryan Murley, advisers

Judge’s comments: Nice header. Icons caught my eye and made the site navigable. The video icon didn’t click through. I like how it shows how many comments are with a story on the homepage. Podcasts are good. Tell important stories. Site has many online exclusives including Soundslides. The blogs page has great coverage too.

iowastatedaily.com, Iowa State Univ., Ames, Iowa
http://www.iowastatedaily.com
Rob Wormley, editor
Annette Forbes/Mark Witherspoon, advisers

Judge’s comments: The strength of the homepage design made this site a strong model for other news sites to get ideas from. Good integration of multimedia and user-generated content on homepage. The Community news on the homepage with timestamps helps guide users to latest news. This site’s design is clean throughout. Ames Eats.com is a complete dining guide.

Kansan.com, Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence, Kan.
http://www.kansan.com
Kelsey Hayes, editor
Malcolm Gibson, adviser

Judge’s comments: This site has a strong design throughout. The skyline header adds visual context to the site. It is easy to navigate and has unique features because of its custom CMS. Stories are interesting and well written. I like the coupons feature. It’s a smart way to build an online ad network and make it accessible to students.

KentNewsNet.com, Kent State Univ., Kent, Ohio
http://www.kentnewsnet.com
Kristine Gill, editor
Carl Schierhorn, adviser

Judge’s comments: Important storytelling with strong reporting as lead stories, best news judgment I have seen in comparison to the rest. Podcast has a professional sound to it. Great integration of other campus media gives this site a converged feel.

OUDaily.com, Univ. of Oklahoma, Norman, Okla.
http://oudaily.com
Dane Beavers, editor
Judy Gibbs Robinson, adviser

Judge’s comments: The multimedia page makes this site stand out. I’d like to see the staff take their multimedia a little deeper and collaborate to enterprise more in-depth multimedia stories. The design is clean and easy to navigate. The stories represent a good mix of campus, local, and other topics of interest to college-aged readers.

The Signal, Ouachita Baptist Univ., Arkadelphia, Ark.
http://www.obusignal.com
Holland Powell & Emma Smith, editor
Jeffrey Root, adviser

Judge’s comments: The multimedia on the homepage is easy to find. The Tiger iTunes Store is good. The design could be improved by exercising more editorial judgment by organizing the content in the middle column of the page by importance.

The Orion, California State Univ., Chico, Chico, Calif.
http://www.theorion.com
Elizabeth Varin, editor
Dave Waddell, adviser

Judge’s comments: The quality of video editing is more sophisticated than other sites. I would suggest experimenting with other interactive applications and packaging stories with multimedia. Also using videos for long-form storytelling about deeper issues would be good.

The State Hornet, Sacramento State Univ., Sacramento, Calif.
http://www.statehornet.com
Mikhail Chernyavsky and Paul Rios, editors
Holly Heyser, adviser

Judge’s comments: The custom interactive crime map, food forums, and breaking news video are a few of the highlights of this site. The clean header and navigation make it easy to use and find conversations and information.

Golden Gate [X]press, San Francisco State Univ., San Francisco, Calif.
http://xpress.sfsu.edu
Ali Thanawalla, editor
Rachele Kanigel/Austin Lang-Scott, advisers

Judge’s comments: The home page layout and multimedia are very strong on this site. Video player as dominant visual is slick. The homepage displayed a lot above the fold. A clearer navigation could improve how readers find content.

The Circuit, Wartburg College, Waverly, Iowa
http://info.wartburg.edu/thecircuit/
Spencer Albers, editor
Cliff Brockman, adviser

Judge’s comments: Videos use virtual sets, are fairly entertaining and well produced. The graphics are pretty good too. I like the “On the Issue” because it highlights the most discussed stories on the site. I’d like to see the site try to take advantage of other interactive storytelling devices available online. A great way to expand storytelling and many are free.

Tulane Hullabaloo, Tulane Univ., New Orleans, La.
http://thehullabaloo.com
Will Van Wazer, editor
Tel Francois-Bailliet, adviser

Judge’s comments: I like how the dominant piece of the home page combines editorial judgment, immediacy, multimedia, interaction with users and external sites. The tags are also a great visual yet useful element on the home page.

The Maneater, Univ. of Missouri, Columbia, Mo.
http://www.themaneater.com/
Justin Myers and Esten Hurtle, editors
Becky Diehl, adviser

Judge’s comments: Good interactive features like the Bracket Challenge. Incorporates multimedia into text stories. Facebook and Twitter easy to find, but doesn’t impede design. Regular podcasts are good. I would like to see the staff work to improve the video fundamentals.

The Whit Online, Rowan Univ., Glassboro, N.J.
http://www.thewhitonline.com
Emily Kostic, editor
George Clark, adviser

Judge’s comments: This site makes it easy to navigate to news, social media outlets and multimedia. Using the Facebook connect tool is a great way to encourage commentary with the help of a popular outside platform. One feature I really like is the RSS feed for comments. I wish more sites did that.

The Temple News, Temple Univ., Philadelphia, Pa.
http://temple-news.com
Dave Isaac, editor
John Di Carlo, adviser

Judge’s comments: The site highlights use of social media and multimedia. Overall design is clean. Home page is very visually dominant. I would suggest exploring ways to get more news and content above the scroll.

Whitworthian, Whitworth Univ., Spokane, Wash.
http://www.whitworthian.com
Jasmine Linabary, editor
Jim McPherson, adviser

Judge’s comments: The slideshows told really good stories. I especially liked the story about the catcher who became the baseball coach because the quality of the audio and the photos. The design is sound and makes the site easy to navigate. I liked the special features: those kind of features are a great venue for more multimedia storytelling.

TheChannelsOnline, Santa Barbara City College, Santa Barbara, Calif.
http://www.TheChannelsOnline.com
Rhys Alvarado, editor
Patricia Stark, adviser

Judge’s comments: The homepage reflects a variety of stories. The examples of long-form storytelling through the Soundslides presentations were executed well and good quality. I’d suggest trying to invite more comments and start a dialogue with your readers on news stories in addition to the columns—which seem to have some readers talking already.

The Jibsheet, Bellevue CC, Bellevue, Wash.
http://www.thejibsheet.com
Luke Eden , editor
Janelle Gardner, adviser

Judge’s comments: Including all of the content in the blogs, podcasts and regular site content, the variety of content was very strong. The site was easy to navigate. This staff is prolific in publishing podcasts, which really anchored its interactivity.

The Communicator Online, Spokane Falls CC, Spokane, Wash.
http://www.spokanefalls.edu/communicator
Madison McCord, editor
Jason Nix, adviser

Judge’s comments: The clean and original design is the main strength of this site. While interactive elements like the poll question are great way to let your reader “do” something on your site, I’d encourage the staff to really think beyond only using text and photos to tell stories.

Razorback, Univ. of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Ark.
http://yearbook.uark.edu
Jon Schleuss, editor
Steve Wilkes, adviser

Judge’s comments: The site and Facebook page invite students to be a part of the yearbook creation experience. I like how the yearbook staff really lets it be the “students’ yearbook” by interacting with them through surveys, polls and photo galleries.

the217.com, Univ. of Illinois, Champaign, Ill.
http://www.the217.com
Elle Destree, editor
Mary Cory, adviser

Judge’s comments: This site has a lot of interactive applications that make it very sticky. I like the live streaming, the interactive search boxes. But along with the bells and whistles are many stories and strong content.

Flux, Univ. of Oregon, Eugene, Ore.
http://flux.uoregon.edu
Desiree Afllege, editor
Mark Blaine, adviser

Judge’s comments: The content on this site makes it stand out. Stories are told well in both print and video.

mustangdaily.net, California Polytechnic State Univ., San Luis Obispo, Calif.
http://www.mustangdaily.net
Lauren Rabaino, editor
Paul Bittick, adviser

DailyIllini.com, Univ. of Illinois, Champaign, Ill.
http://www.dailyillini.com
Katie O’Connell, editor
Melinda Miller/Mary Cory, advisers

dennews.com, Eastern Illinois Univ., Charleston, Ill.
http://www.dennews.com
Nicole Weskerna, editor
Joe Gisondi, adviser

iowastatedaily.com, Iowa State Univ., Ames, Iowa
http://www.iowastatedaily.com
Rob Wormley, editor
Annette Forbes/Mark Witherspoon, advisers

Kansan.com, Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence, Kan.
http://www.kansan.com
Kelsey Hayes, editor
Malcolm Gibson, adviser

statenews.com, Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, Mich.
http://statenews.com
Kristen Daum, editor
Omar Sofradzija, adviser

The Daily Tar Heel, Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, N.C.
http://dailytarheel.com
Rachel Will, editor

KentNewsNet.com, Kent State Univ., Kent, Ohio
http://www.kentnewsnet.com
Kristine Gill, editor
Carl Schierhorn, adviser

OUDaily.com, Univ. of Oklahoma, Norman, Okla.
http://oudaily.com
Dane Beavers, editor
Judy Gibbs Robinson, adviser

CollegiateTimes.com, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
http://www.collegiatetimes.com
Christopher Ritter, editor
Kelly Furnas, adviser

The Signal, Ouachita Baptist Univ., Arkadelphia, Ark.
http://www.obusignal.com
Holland Powell & Emma Smith, editor
Jeffrey Root, adviser

The Orion, California State Univ., Chico, Chico, Calif.
http://www.theorion.com
Elizabeth Varin, editor
Dave Waddell, adviser

The Collegian Online, California State Univ., Fresno, Fresno, Calif.
http://www.csufresno.edu/collegian
Heather Billings, editor
Jefferson Beavers, adviser

Los Angeles Loyolan, Loyola Marymount Univ., Los Angeles, Calif.
http://www.laloyolan.com
Faiza Mokhtar, editor
Tom Nelson, adviser

The State Hornet, Sacramento State Univ., Sacramento, Calif.
http://www.statehornet.com
Mikhail Chernyavsky and Paul Rios, editors
Holly Heyser, adviser

Golden Gate [X]press, San Francisco State Univ., San Francisco, Calif.
http://xpress.sfsu.edu
Ali Thanawalla, editor
Rachele Kanigel/Austin Long-Scott/Jesse Garnier, advisers

TheMiamiHurricane.com, Univ. of Miami, Coral Gables, Fla.
http://www.TheMiamiHurricane.com/
Brian Schlansky, editor
Bob Radziewicz, adviser

Spinnaker, Univ. of North Florida, Jacksonville, Fla.
http://www.unfspinnaker.com
Meghan Dornbrock; James Cannon II, editor
Joshua Stewart, adviser

The Columbia Chronicle online, Columbia College, Chicago, Ill.
http://www.columbiachronicle.com
Patrick Algrim, editor
Chris Richert/Jim Sulski/Billy Montgomery, advisers

The Circuit, Wartburg College, Waverly, Iowa
http://info.wartburg.edu/thecircuit/
Spencer Albers, editor
Cliff Brockman, adviser

Tulane Hullabaloo, Tulane Univ., New Orleans, La.
http://thehullabaloo.com
Will Van Wazer, editor
Tel Bailliet, adviser

The Maneater, Univ. of Missouri, Columbia, Mo.
http://www.themaneater.com/
Justin Myers and Esten Hurtle, editors
Becky Diehl, adviser

The Whit Online, Rowan Univ., Glassboro, N.J.
http://www.thewhitonline.com
Emily Kostic, editor
George Clark, adviser

The Ithacan Online, Ithaca College, Ithaca, N.Y.
http://www.theithacan.org
Andy Swift, editor
Michael Serino, adviser

Bona Venture, St. Bonaventure Univ., St. Bonaventure, N.Y.
http://www.thebv.org
Ruth Harper, editor
Pat Vecchio, adviser

The Temple News, Temple Univ., Philadelphia, Pa.
http://temple-news.com
Dave Isaac, editor
John Di Carlo, adviser

Lee Clarion Online, Lee Univ., Cleveland, Tenn.
http://www.leeclarion.com
Harrison Keely, editor
Kevin Trowbridge, adviser

The Breeze, James Madison Univ., Harrisonburg, Va.
http://www.breezejmu.org
Kim Sease, editor
Brad Jenkins/Mike Grundmann, advisers

The Flat Hat, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Va.
http://flathatnews.com
Brian Mahoney, editor

Whitworthian, Whitworth Univ., Spokane, Wash.
http://www.whitworthian.com
Jasmine Linabary, editor
Jim McPherson, adviser

theweal.com, Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, Calgary, Alberta
http://www.theweal.com
Raeleen Badham, editor
Heather Setka/Suzanne Trudel-Peters, advisers

TheChannelsOnline, Santa Barbara City College, Santa Barbara, Calif.
http://www.TheChannelsOnline.com
Rhys Alvarado, editor
Patricia Stark, adviser

The Collegiate Live, Grand Rapids CC, Grand Rapids, Mich.
http://www.thecollegiatelive.com
Jacqueline Prins, editor
Steve Fox, adviser

The Accent, Austin CC, Austin, Texas
http://www.theaccent.org/
Alma Hernandez, editor
Matthew Connolly, adviser

The Jibsheet, Bellevue CC, Bellevue, Wash.
http://www.thejibsheet.com
Luke Eden , editor
Janelle Gardner, adviser

The Communicator Online, Spokane Falls CC, Spokane, Wash.
http://www.spokanefalls.edu/communicator
Madison McCord, editor
Jason Nix, adviser

Razorback, Univ. of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Ark.
http://yearbook.uark.edu
Jon Schleuss, editor
Steve Wilkes, adviser

Ke Alaka’i, Brigham Young Univ. Hawaii, Laie, Hawaii
http://kealakai.byuh.edu/
Jenna Chidester, editor
LeeAnn Lambert, adviser

the217.com, Univ. of Illinois, Champaign, Ill.
http://www.the217.com
Elle Destree, editor
Melinda Miller, adviser

THINK, Drake Univ., Des Moines, Iowa
http://thinkmagazineonline.com/
Megan Stotmeister, editor
Jill Van Wyke, adviser

Flux, Univ. of Oregon, Eugene, Ore.
http://flux.uoregon.edu
Desiree Afllege, editor
Mark Blaine, adviser

Connect2Mason, George Mason Univ., Fairfax, Va.
http://www.connect2mason.com
Grace Kendall, editor
Kathryn Mangus, adviser