One of the Seattle neighborhood sites LR Founder Cory Bergman runs though his company, Next Door Media, has won a major award for “deadline reporting”. The Society of Professional Journalists hands out its Sigma Delta Chi awards every year, and they chose coverage of a fire that destroyed businesses in Seattle’s Greenwood neighborhood. PhinneyWood.com is one of a number of neighborhood news sites Cory and his wife Kate run. Writes Cory on the site:
“That story was the combined efforts of Doree Armstrong and Dale Steinke of PhinneyWood, and Cory and Kate Bergman (a.k.a. the Geeky Swedes) of MyBallard. Between the four of us we were on the scene moments after the call came in and posted updates throughout the day. We also received dozens of email tips and photos from PhinneyWood readers. So, this award is also a testament to the power of community journalism.”
This is Next Door Media’s second major award in less than a year. In October 2009, MyBallard.com won a national Online Journalism Award for community collaboration. It’s worth noting that the Next Door Media sites compete with hundreds of other sites, including those from major newspapers.