JDLand.com Wins 2008 Knight-Batten Citizen Media Award for Innovation in Journalism
JDLand.com Wins 2008 Knight-Batten Citizen Media Award for Innovation in Journalism
Washington, DC - Sept. 10, 2008 - JDLand.com, the web site chronicling the redevelopment of the Washington, D.C., neighborhood near the new Nationals baseball stadium, was named the winner of the $2,000 2008 Citizen Media Award at today's Knight-Batten Awards for Innovations in Journalism.
Calling JDLand "ambitious," the panel of judges described JDLand as "an incredible wealth of information, especially impressive for a one-person effort."
JDLand uses "before-and-now" photos, news aggregation, and original reporting to inform readers about the latest commercial, governmental, and social happenings in "Near Southeast" Washington. Topics covered in detail over the past year include the construction and opening of Nationals Park and 2007 makeover of the Frederick Douglass Bridge. A photo archive containing more than 8,000 images shows the changes that have come in just a few years to this 100-block neighborhood one mile from the U.S. Capitol.
Jacqueline Dupree, JDLand's creator, reporter, photographer, and webmaster, wrote about the award in a post today: "This is about the highest honor a little site like this can ever reasonably expect to receive, and so I'm just beyond thrilled."
Excerpts from JDLand have been published in the Washington Post's District Extra since May 2007. When not keeping an eye on Near Southeast, Dupree works as an application developer in the Post's Newsroom Information Technology department.
The $10,000 grand prize winner, announced at today's symposium and awards ceremony at the National Press Club, was Wired.com's WikiScanner coverage. Winning $2,000 Special Distinction awards were PolitiFact.com and Ushahidi.com. Four other sites received honorable mentions.
The Knight-Batten Awards honor creative uses of new technologies to engage citizens in public issues and showcase compelling models for the future of news.
