The Baltimore Banner (thebaltimorebanner.com) wins Best of Show for MDDC’s Website of General Excellence category.  This award honors a news organization’s ability to connect with readers through social media and engagement, and local news coverage.  Further, the sites were evaluated on the merits of navigation and design, multi-media/data visualization and mobile responsive design.  

The entries were judged by journalism professors at Loyola University of Maryland. 

Nominees focus on their communities of interest, providing strong local coverage while using technology to help tell their stories.  More and more, news websites are integrating various platforms to present a full picture of a topic or issue.  The nominees generally are reaching out to viewers with podcasts, reader-submitted content, with some highlighting the individuality and personal interests of reporters. 

The judges commented that the site overall was excellently organized with clear and easy-to-use navigation and repeated opportunities to access content.  Ads are visible but not dominant and it is easy to tell the difference between ads and journalism. The mobile version is also highly user-friendly. The social media mostly utilizes original, locally-focused reporting. 

This is the second time The Baltimore Banner has won this award. 

Here’s what the judges said about the first place winners

Division A winner – Baltimore Banner

Sections like “How to MD”  are deeply community oriented and help build audience engagement. 

Also Overall Winner

Division B winner – Frederick News Post

Good local coverage with a solid design and clean, open layout. Sections like the one highlighting local social media trend were attention-grabbing and build community engagement. The mobile version is even easier to read and sort through, and the social media highlights locally-focused journalism with simple, attractive posts. 

Division C winner – Baltimore Fishbowl

Good local coverage with a nice balance of news and cultural reporting, and editorials by voices that are known and trusted in the community. The organization is logical and the categorizations help the user. The headlines and sub-headlines are nicely done. 

Division F winner – Capital News Service

The clean and modern is easy to navigate with an alternating vertical and horizontal presentation that breaks up the page well. There is a nice mix of categories and coverage. Each article has 1-2 category headings that help the reader use the material well.