Minnesota Independent picked up three prizes at Thursday night’s Society of Professional Journalists Page One Awards banquet, and two of its writers received honors for work written prior to coming to the Independent.

Managing editor Paul Schmelzer won a first place for best independent online news story for his analysis on news coverage of the death of Anna Nicole Smith. "What appears at first to be a light read is in reality a frightening commentary on the state of journalism today," the judges wrote. Former MNIndy reporter Eric Black, now with MinnPost, won a first for best independent newsroom blog, and MNIndy also placed third in the best independent website category. Reporter Anna Pratt picked up a third for best online news story for a piece on the Great Lakes penned for Twin Cities Daily Planet, and political reporter Paul Demko picked up two third place prizes for coverage of the Star Tribune for City Pages.

Here’s a list of all 2008 Page One winners.