After a great deal of expectation, the Online News Association revealed the winners of this year’s ONA awards, considered to be the ‘Oscars’ of online journalism. The ceremony was held last Saturday (22/09) during the 2012 Online News Association Awards Banquet, in San Francisco. The event marked the end the ONA2012 Conference.

(image: Online Journalism Association)

The winning entries included projects from journalists around the world and focused on topics including same-sex marriage, immigration and stand your ground laws. 35 journalists and new media professionals selected the works at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, and here’s the list of this year’s winners:

• Homicide Watch D.C.: Knight Award for Public Service
• PBS Frontline: General Excellence in Online Journalism, Small Site
• ProPublica: General Excellence in Online Journalism, Medium Site
• NYTimes.com: General Excellence in Online Journalism, Large Site
• Rue89: General Excellence, Non-Englsh, Small/Medium Site
• Storify: Ganett Foundation Award for Technical Innovation in the Service of Digital Journalism Site
• WNYC: Hurricane Irene Threatens New York City, Breaking News, Medium Site
• LATimes.com: Occupy L.A., Breaking News, Large Site
• Northwestern University: Planned News / Events, Small Site
• Stuff.com.nz: Planned News / Events, Medium Site
• NYTimes.com: The Reckoning – America and the World a Decade After 9/11, Planned News / Events, Large
• Earth Fix: Explanatory Reporting, Small Site
• College Competition: “Who Graduates from College, Who Doesn’t, and Why It Matters, The Chronicle of Higher Education”, Explanatory Reporting, Medium Site
• NYTimes.com (Tied): “Connecting Music and Gesture“, Explanatory Reporting, Large Site
• The Guardian (Tied): “Gay Rights, State by State (and Beyond)”, Explanatory Reporting, Large Site
• EarthFix: Topical Reporting, Small Site
• WNYC: “Continuing Coverage: NYPD Stop and Frisk, WNYC“, Topical Reporting, Medium Site
• Middle East Voices, Voice of America: Topical Reporting, Large Site
• Bear 71, National Film Board of Canada: Online Commentary, Small Site
• Slate Magazine: “Mad Men Coverage”: Online Commentary, Medium Site
• Grantland.com –Bill Simmons, ESPN: Online Commentary, Large Site
• Coal: A Love Story, Powering a Nation: Feature, Small Site
• Globeandmail.com, Breaking Caste: Feature, Medium Site
• CNN, Mauritania: Feature, Large Site
• UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, Slab City Stories: Feature, Student Winner
• No Choice: Florida Charter Schools Failing to Serve Students with Disabilities, StateImpact Florida (WUSF and WLRN- News Public Radio) and the Miami Herald: Gannett Foundation Award for Innovative Investigative Journalism, Small Site
• California Watch, Broken Shield: Gannett Foundation Award for Innovative Investigative Journalism, Medium Site
• Tampa Bay Times, Stand Your Ground: Gannett Foundation Award for Innovative Investigative Journalism, Large Site
• Borderzine.com (Mexico / U.S.), Mexodus: Non-English Projects, Small/Medium Site
• Gazeta do Povo (Brazil), Portraits of Paraná: Non-English Projects, Large Site
• DePaul University, The Red Line Project — NATO Coverage, The Red Line Project: News and Online Commentary, Student Winner

Congratulations to all the winners and also to the finalists, which you can see here.

During the ONA12, we also found out who were the Knight Data Challenge winners, that received a total of $2.22 million in prizes. The six projects were elected for making it easier to access and use information on local communities, air quality, elections, demographics and more.

(image: Online Journalism Awards)

The Online News Association is a nonprofit membership organization for digital journalists, connecting journalism, technology and innovation.In 2000, they launched  the Online Journalism Awards  in partnership with the University of Miami, quickly becoming a reference in the news industry for acknowledging outstanding digital journalism websites.

Links: Clases de Periodismo – Estos son los ganadores de los Oscar del periodismo online | Online News Association – An Evening for Celebrating Innovation; Knight Data Challenge Winners Announced; 2012 Online Journalism Awards finalists announced