Daily Herald website named among nation's best for sports
The Daily Herald earned a Top 10 ranking in the Associated Press Sports Editors annual website contest for 2012, APSE officials announced Thursday.
The contest for the best Sports websites began in 2009 with just two divisions — over 1 million unique visitors per month and under 1 million visitors. The 2012 contest featured three judging categories: over 2 million average monthly unique visitors, 500,000-1.9 million monthly visitors and under 500,000 uniques.
The sites were judged over two dates, randomly selected by the contest chair. Judges selected a Top 10 in each category as well as honorable mentions.
The Daily Herald's Sports site, which includes football.dailyherald.com, basketball.dailyherald.com along with dailyherald.com/sports, was honored with a Top 10 designation for sites with up to 1.9 million monthly visitors.
“I'm very proud of the efforts of our sports and online staffs, who've really merged over the past several years to pull off this daily miracle,” Daily Herald Managing Editor Jim Baumann said. “Everyone is focused now on providing a rich sports experience for both our print and digital subscribers, and you're sure to see the breadth of our web presence grow.”
The Chicago Tribune was a Top 10 honoree in the larger category, and the Northwest Herald of Crystal Lake earned that distinction in the under 500,000 uniques category. The Chicago Sun-Times received an honorable mention.
APSE Web winners
Here are the winners (listed alphabetically) in each website category:
500,000-1.9 million monthly visitors
Top 10: Buffalo News, Charlotte Observer, Des Moines Register, The Daily Herald, Globe and Mail (Toronto), Green Bay Press-Gazette, Lincoln (Neb.) Journal Star, Omaha World Herald, Spartanburg (S.C.) Herald-Journal, Wisconsin State Journal. Honorable mention: Columbus Dispatch, Eugene (Ore.) Register Guard, Florida Times-Union, Fort Myers News-Press, Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Newport News Daily Press, Raleigh News & Observer, The Tacoma News Tribune, Tennessean, Tulsa World.
Over 2 million monthly visitors
Top 10: Chicago Tribune, Denver Post, Kansas City Star, Los Angeles Times, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, New York Daily News, New York Times, The Oklahoman, USA Today, Washington Post. Honorable mention: Baltimore Sun, Boston Globe, Chicago Sun-Times, Dallas Morning News, Indianapolis Star, Houston Chronicle, Orlando Sentinel, Newsday, Palm Beach Post, Pittsburgh Tribune Review.
Under 500,000 monthly users
Top 10: DeKalb Daily Chronicle, Gainesville (Fla.) Sun, Glens Falls (N.Y.) Post Star, Lawrence (Kan.) Journal World, Marin (Calif.) Independent Journal, Medford (Ore.) Mail Tribune, Northwest Herald, Opelika-Auburn (Ala.) News, Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News, Yakima (Wash.) Herald-Republic. Honorable mention: Bloomington (Ind.) Herald-Times, Daytona Beach (Fla.) News-Journal, Florida Today (Melbourne, Fla.), The Southern Illinoisan, Wyoming Tribune Eagle, Cheyenne, Wyo.
Five newspapers, according to APSE officials, have earned Top 10 honors every year in the largest classification: New York Daily News, New York Times, The Oklahoman, USA Today and The Washington Post. Among smaller newspapers, the Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News and the Daily Chronicle of DeKalb also captured Top 10 honors for the fourth consecutive year.