Editor & Publisher magazine named LititzDailyNews.com, an independent hyperlocal news site, a finalist in its 2015 EPPY Awards in October 2015.
Published by Lititz Media Group, the site was a finalist for Best Photojournalism on a website with fewer than 1 million unique monthly visitors. Editor & Publisher’s EPPY Awards annually recognize outstanding achievement in digital news publishing.
In national company
“It is a tremendous honor for LititzDailyNews.com to be a finalist in this prestigious competition,” said Lynn Rebuck, editor and publisher of the site. “To see our year-old publication featured on a list of finalists alongside CNN, MSNBC and ESPN is truly amazing.”
More than 400 entries competed in 31 categories in the 20th annual international competition, which honors the best media-affiliated websites around the world. A panel of media industry reviewers judged each entry, and finalists had to score in the top third of the average score across all categories in their division.
An image-rich newspaper
Rebuck, who published the site by herself, set out to produce a digital newspaper that met readers’ demand for more immediate news in an image-rich format.
In its first year, she took and published more than 2,000 photos and wrote more than 250 original stories while managing all of the site’s social media accounts. Her use of social media and her work as a solo publisher earned her an invitation to the White House in October 2015.
A platform for local photographers
Along with her own photos, Rebuck relied on local photographers and readers who contributed images.
“Part of the joy as publisher is to have the opportunity to provide a platform for these skilled and creative photographers, so that more people can be exposed to the great work that they are doing,” she said.
Contributors over the site’s first year included photographers who covered sports, community events and breaking news across Lititz and the Warwick School District.
A winning first year
The EPPY nomination followed four awards in the 2015 America East Digital Media Contest, in which LititzDailyNews.com won Best Overall Digital Experience, Best Use of Multimedia, Best Use of Social Media and Best Use of Technology in two divisions, competing against publishers with multiple titles, large staffs and significant budgets. The site was also accepted into the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association.
About the EPPYs
Editor & Publisher, founded in 1884, is one of the oldest trade publications covering the newspaper industry in the United States. Its EPPY Awards, launched in the 1990s, were among the first to honor excellence in online journalism, with categories covering news, sports, photography, video, design and more. Winners were announced the following week.
Why it mattered
For a site run by one person, a finalist spot in an international competition was a striking validation of the hyperlocal model: a news outlet focused entirely on one community, delivered quickly and visually to readers’ phones and social feeds.
About the EPPY Awards
Editor & Publisher’s EPPY Awards recognize excellence in digital media and journalism, with categories for websites, mobile apps, photography, video and investigative reporting. Entries come from outlets of every size, from major national publications to small community sites, and categories are often divided by audience size.
Why photojournalism matters locally
In community news, photographs often tell the story as powerfully as words. Images of parades, games, fires and festivals become part of a town’s shared memory, and readers frequently say the photos are what bring them back to a local site.
For a small independent site, simply reaching the finalist list was a notable achievement.
This article was originally published in October 2015.