BBC sweeps European online awards

It is the second year running the BBC has dominated the awards.

BBC News Online has won eight of the 21 prizes on offer at the annual European Online Journalism (EOJ) awards.

At a ceremony in Barcelona, the Outstanding Contribution to Online Journalism award went to Mike Smartt, editor-in-chief of BBC News Interactive.

Judges said the award was "for an individual achievement in protecting and defending online rights and freedoms".

Dr David Whitehouse, BBC News Online's science correspondent, won the best news story broken on the net.

That was for his story "Space Rock on Collision Course", about the 2002 discovery of an asteroid which could hit the Earth in 2019.

Dr Whitehouse has now won awards for four years running.

Online excellence

This year's prizes were handed out after 1,014 entries were discussed by 118 judges from 20 countries across Europe.

The EOJ awards come just weeks after BBC News Online received a "people's voice" award for best news site at the Webby awards, the so-called Oscars of the internet.

The other six EOJ awards won by BBC News Online were:

• Feature story, for business journalist Mike Verdin's article "Marconi chief feels heat of vengeance", about a stormy Marconi shareholders' meeting.

• News design and navigation for the in-depth section on the war in Iraq.

• General news presentation, for the subsequent "After Saddam" in-depth section on the war in Iraq and its aftermath.

• Financial reporting, for the business team's coverage of the Enron affair, led by business journalists Steve Schifferes and Tim Weber.

• Sports reporting, which went to Sport Online's football team for its 2002 World Cup Special.

• Technology reporting, which went to journalists Alfred Hermida, Ivan Noble and Mark Ward for their Digital Destinations special on how technology is changing people's lives in Senegal and Bangladesh.

The EOJ awards were launched in 1999 to reward excellence in online journalism "by journalists for journalists".

Malaria business

Last year BBC News Online picked up seven EOJ awards, while in each of the previous two years it scooped four awards.

Other sites to win awards this year included Lamalla.net, the news and current affairs portal for the Barcelona region, which was honoured for travel reporting and "best overall journalism service".

LINKS TO BBC NEWS ONLINE'S AWARD-WINNING STORIES AND SECTIONS

Space rock on collision course (News story broken on net)

After Saddam in-depth (News navigation and presentation)

World Cup 2002 site (Sports writing)

The Enron Affair (Financial reporting)

Digital Destinations (Technology writing)

Marconi chief feels heat of vengeance (Feature story)

Swiss Radio International's Vincent Landon won one of the most coveted prizes - internet journalist of the year.

This was for his report on "the malaria business", which the judges called "a remarkable investigation of a largely neglected story".

The German broadcasting company Deutsche Welle, the UK's FT.Com, Prague-based Transitions Online, the Danish School of Journalism, the London-based Institute of War and Peace reporting and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation also won awards.

London-based journalist Rafat Ali won best news weblog for his Paidcontent.org, a blog about "the economics of content on the internet" aimed at technology professionals.