Minnesota Independent wins three Society of Professional Journalists awards

At Tuesday night’s annual Society of Professional Journalists awards banquet, the Minnesota Independent was honored with three Page One Awards, including first place prize for “Best Independent News Blog.”

In that category, judges wrote that the Minnesota Independent is “easy to navigate” and offers “lots of supplemental information and good participation from readers.”

Also taking home a first was photographer Kathy Easthagen for her photo essay about President Barack Obama’s 2010 rally at the University of Minnesota with then-candidate and current governor Mark Dayton (who gave the keynote speech at last night’s banquet). As there’s no category for photographers working in online-only news settings, Easthagen competed with newspapers having circulations of 50,000 or more, a category that includes the Star Tribune and major state papers. Judges praised her shots as “good you-are-there photography.” It’s Easthagen’s second first place Page One prize for the Minnesota Independent: Last year she won the top news photo slot (also competing against large newspapers) for photos of Obama’s September 2009 health care rally.

MnIndy also took a third place Page One Award for “Best Website.”

Since its founding, the Minnesota Independent has won 18 Page One Awards, including three last year, eight at the 2009 ceremony, three in 2008 and one in 2007. The prize series “recognizes the best in Minnesota journalism each year.” View all 2011 Page One winners here.