Paul Wellman

2008 EPpy Award

The word just came in today, May 15, from publisher Randy Campbell in Las Vegas: Independent.com won the EPpy for the best weekly newspaper-run website in the country.

The award comes from Editor & Publisher and Mediaweek magazines, whose EPpys are considered one of the publishing industry’s most prestigious honors for websites run by newspapers, magazines, radio stations, and television broadcasters. This was the 13th year of the awards, which coincide with the annual Editor & Publisher/Mediaweek Interactive Media Conference and Trade Show.

Independent.com — which re-launched in April 2007 and publishes numerous daily stories that aren’t ever printed in the weekly, ink-stained version of The Santa Barbara Independent — beat out two other finalists: The Brooklyn Paper, from New York City; and Wicked Local Somerville, which serves the Boston neighborhood of Somerville.

Campbell, who traveled alone to Las Vegas to pick up the award, called the office excited on Thursday around 1:30 p.m. He was presented the award on-stage, and thanked his staff for their hard work in taking the website from a skeleton to a fully operational daily source of news for the Santa Barbara community.

“There are no secrets to publishing, either online or in print, so I’m thrilled the hard work and commitment of our web team has been recognized on a national level,” said Campbell back in April, when he caught word that the website was nominated. “It’s an exciting time for newspapers. I believe the structure of our site and our company’s vision and talent are well-suited to take advantage of emerging opportunities and challenges.”

Tune into Independent.com for more of Campbell’s thoughts later this week.

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