From Sarah Feldberg, Deputy Director of Product and Strategy:
The San Francisco Chronicle has been named a finalist in four categories of the Online News Association’s 2021 Online Journalism Awards.
The annual competition honors the best in digital journalism, from investigative reporting to newsletters and digital visual storytelling. Launched in 2000, the awards highlight innovation from major media, independent newsrooms and international publications, with a focus on cutting-edge work that employs new technology in service of digital journalism.
The ONA judges named The Chronicle as a finalist in four categories:
- Breaking News for coverage from across the newsroom of the lightning-sparked Northern California wildfire siege in August 2020.
- Audio Storytelling, Limited Series for “The Doodler” podcast about the unsolved case of a serial killer targeting gay men in 1970s San Francisco narrated by staff writer Kevin Fagan and produced in partnership with Neon Hum Media and Ugly Duckling Films
- Explanatory Reporting for “Delta on the Edge,” a series of interactive stories about the flow of water in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and who controls it by staff writer Kurtis Alexander with photographers Santiago Mejia and Carlos Avila Gonzalez, graphic artist John Blanchard, and design and development by Audrey DeBruine and Danielle Mollette-Parks.
- Feature Story for “The Evidence Burns Away,” about the arsonist behind a devastating 2016 wildfire and the extraordinary efforts to catch him by former staff writer Lizzie Johnson with images by staff photographer Gabrielle Lurie, illustrations by John Blanchard and design and development by Paula Friedrich.
“It’s always a great honor to be recognized by ONA, the premier digital journalism organization in the world,” said Chronicle Editor in Chief Emilio Garcia-Ruiz. “These projects reflect our commitment to doing first-in-class work that resonates with our Bay Area readers.”
The Chronicle’s digital journalism has been honored by ONA in recent years.
In 2020, The Chronicle won the top award for a local newsroom, General Excellence in Online Journalism, as well as in the Breaking News category for coverage of the Kincade Fire and PG&E power shut-offs in the North Bay. The newsroom was also a finalist in the Feature category for “The Fisherman’s Secret” and in the Excellence and Innovation in Visual Storytelling category for “One Day, One City, No Relief,” a part of the annual S.F. Homeless Project. In 2019, The Chronicle won in the Breaking News category for coverage of the Camp Fire in Butte County.
About The San Francisco Chronicle
The San Francisco Chronicle (www.sfchronicle.com) is the largest newspaper in Northern California and the second largest on the West Coast. Acquired by the Hearst Corporation in 2000, The San Francisco Chronicle was founded in 1865 by Charles and Michael de Young and has been awarded six Pulitzer Prizes for journalistic excellence. Follow us on Twitter at @SFChronicle.
