Minnesota Independent wins three SPJ awards

The Minnesota Independent will take home three Page One Awards from the Minnesota Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists at this year’s awards banquet. Whether the site won first-, second- or third-place prizes won’t be revealed until the May 21 dinner, which will include a keynote by David Simon, a former Baltimore Sun reporter and creator of HBO series The Wire and Treme.

MnIndy placed in the categories of:

• Best Web Site.

• Best Continuing Coverage by an online news site, for Andy Birkey’s ongoing series on the controversial Christian band/public school ministry You Can Run But You Cannot Hide.

• Best Spot News Photo for Kathy Easthagen’s commissioned series on President Obama’s September healthcare rally in Minneapolis.

In 2007, its first year of award eligibility, MnIndy became the first online-only news operation in Minnesota history to win a Page One award. In 2008, the site won three honors and in 2009 upped that number to eight, including four first places.