NewWest.Net Wins Two National Online Journalism Awards

Missoula, MT –NewWest.Net, the innovative online publication about the Rocky Mountain West, has been named the winner of two prestigious Online Journalism Awards.

NewWest.Net was the winner in the General Excellence category for small publications – a rare honor for an enterprise that has only been in operation for eight months. New West.Net also won the Enterprise Journalism award for small publications for Hal Herring’s gripping six-part series Sex, Money and Meth Addiction: Inside the World of the ‘Dasen Girls.’

“We’re thrilled to be recognized in this way, especially at such an early stage in our development,” said Jonathan Weber, founder and editor in chief of New West. “We’ve got an amazing group of contributors, and it’s their great writing and community engagement – and the tireless efforts of our managing editor, Courtney Lowery – that made this happen.”

The Online Journalism awards are sponsored by the Online News Association and USC’s Annenberg School of Communications, and the winners were announced Saturday night at the ONA’s annual conference on in New York. The General Excellence award had categories for large, medium and small publications, and the Enterprise Journalism award had categories for large and small publications. The New York Times Online took home three awards, including General Excellence in the large category. Slate magazine also won multiple awards at Saturday’s ceremony, and the Spokane Spokesman-Review was recognized for General Excellence among medium-sized sites.

NewWest.Net, which focuses on the culture and economy of the Rocky Mountain West, is pioneering a new form of interactive community publishing that invites a wide range of contributions from journalists and non-journalists alike. Launched in late February, NewWest.Net now has local sites in nine communities, including Missoula, Bozeman, Boulder, Aspen, Durango, Salt Lake City, Boise, Northern Idaho, and Albuquerque/ Santa Fe. It is currently reaching 40,000 readers a month and growing rapidly.

Targeted at the educated, engaged citizens of the Rocky Mountain West, NewWest.Net offers news and information on a range of topics including growth and public policy, the environment, business and the new economy, books, film, and events. Service offerings include free classified advertising and a free interactive community events calendar.

New West recently launched its Bozeman, Mont. node, and has also added an affiliate site in Washington’s Columbia Gorge area. It has developed partnerships with a number of non-profit organizations including Headwaters News and the Colorado College “State of the Rockies” team.

Advertising continues to grow in step with increasing readership. Chico Hot Springs Resort, PrintingforLess.com, Liquid Planet, Barney Jette Jewelry and O’Berry Cavanaugh are among New West.Net’s site sponsors and advertisers.

New West Publishing LLC, the Missoula-based parent company of NewWest.Net, was founded by Jonathan Weber. He was previously the co-founder and editor in chief of The Industry Standard, an award-winning newsweekly that chronicled the emergence of the Internet economy, and before that was a writer and editor at the Los Angeles Times. The company’s node editors and writers have a passion for the West and have published extensively in local and national publications. New West Publishing received seed funding from a prestigious group of angel investors that includes Brad Feld, a Boulder-based venture capitalist; Flywheel Ventures of Santa Fe; and Gary Loveman, the CEO of Harrah’s Entertainment.

Contact: Jonathan Weber

New West Publishing LLC

[email protected]

406-829-1725