The Society of Professional Journalists’ Northern California chapter has awarded Berkeleyside its Excellence in Journalism award for community journalism. The award was made for Berkeleyside’s coverage of the Berkeley schools’ superintendent search and for stories about the proposed sale of the downtown post office.
“Too often, local issues of significant importance to relatively small audiences go ignored by the media, because the interest isn’t wide enough to merit coverage for a regional audience,” said Jeremy Smith, editor and producer at the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, one of the judges. “Berkeleyside’s laserlike focus on issues important to Berkeley residents and parents should serve as a model for hyperlocal websites nationwide.”
Berkeleyside was founded in October 2009, and is a leading example of a new wave of local news sites produced by independent, entrepreneurial journalists and salespeople. It’s a founding member of LION Publishers — Local Independent Online News Publishers — a grouping of most of the serious independent local sites in the country.
“It’s wonderful to get external recognition for the work we do covering Berkeley’s news,” said Berkeleyside co-founder Lance Knobel. “We’re proud of our work, but our goal is to continue to increase the depth and range of our coverage. There’s no shortage of news in Berkeley and we want to be truly comprehensive.”
In the last month, Google Analytics has recorded 150,000 unique visitors to Berkeleyside and over 500,000 pageviews.
Do you rely on Berkeleyside for your local news? You can support independent local journalism by becoming a Berkeleyside Member. You can choose either a monthly payment or a one-time donation.
