Inman News wins blog award

Best Newspaper Real Estate or Home Section Less Than 250,000 Circulation

Winner: Patrick Twohy, Ryan Pate, J. K. Dineen, Steve Ginsberg, Melanie Stevens, Amanda Bishop, Blanca Torres, Sarah Duxbury and Jessica Saunders, San Francisco Business Times
Judges said: "This section offers a rich mixture of developed articles on real estate properties, developers, and trends for the entire Bay Area. This is a section about informing and showing rather than telling. The writing is consistently interesting, and the editorial mix keeps a reader turning the pages. This is a section with substance."

Second Place: Kristy Eppley Rupon, The State Newspaper
Judges said: "This section has a reader-grabbing front page, solid editing and good design. It contains a mix of locally produced feature stories and how-to standing columns along with selected universal features borrowed from other newspapers. Success is based more on editors than on an extensive staff of writers, which makes it a useful section for readers."

Best Shelter Magazine

Winner: Gail Ravgiala, Jill Connors, Estelle Bond Guralnick and Bruce Irving, Design New England
Judges said: "This oversized magazine elegantly presents its exquisite photography, and choice, quality dull paper provides for the soft display of advertising and editorial content. The magazines roams the entire New England region as it builds content that emphasizes the most interesting architecture, interior design, and personal fetishes of residents committed to original living environments. This is a magazine for people who love one-of-a-kind houses."

Second Place: Mary James, SD Home
Judges said: "Somewhat traditional, this magazine covers a mix of people to know, unique businesses, and unusual living environments. Well-photographed layouts with serviceable feature writing result in a readable magazine for a wide swath of upscale people in San Diego. The magazine feels like it belongs to the city."

Best Residential Trade Magazine

Winner: Denise Dersin, Evan Potler, Deborah Leopold, Ethan Butterfield, John Caulfield, Pat Curry, Nigel F. Maynard, Jenny Sullivan, Claire Koltko, Melissa Goldweitz and Sola Ayeni-Biu, Builder
Judges said: "Despite being stuffed with advertising, this trade magazine offers variety and solid research, and could pass for the homebuilder's equivalent of Business Week in the consumer category. Articles are written for broad readership in the industry, are nearly always interesting, and usually are valuable to the readership."

Second Place: Jean Dimeo, Katy Tomosulo, EcoHome
Judges said: "Beautifully designed and well written and edited, this magazine has the look and feel that high-end green builders seek to provide clients willing to pay the freight. It offers a good blend of new product news as well as features."

Best Commercial Trade Magazine

Winner: Matt Valley, National Real Estate Investor
Judges said: "There is a wide range of industry topics presented in this magazine with a readable design. Among the pluses are: the use of standing columns, clear writing, and a well-written, timely main feature."

Second Place: Lisa Nardone, Lauren Pinch, Joanna Masterson, Construction Executive
Judges said: From front to back cover, this magazine maintains consistent and effective design that promotes the publication's excellent editorial mix of information and service journalism. Quality editing, good writing and design, quality paper, and good printing make for a model trade magazine."

Best Web Site Solely Devoted to Residential or Commercial Real Estate and/or Home Design

Winner: Janine Sieja, Neil Pinchin, Sarah Weissman, Kris Goodfellow, Cyberhomes.com
Judges said: This site has excellent consumer coverage for buyers and sellers about every aspect of the home-sale process. Moreover, it is well written and well designed. It is easy to navigate."

Second Place: Denise Dersin, Alison Rice, John Caulfield, Pat Curry, Nigel F. Maynard, Jenny Sullivan, Kyle Gustafson, Deborah Leopold and Claire Koltko, Builder
Judges said: "This site's pluses include video and interactive blogs along with easy-to-navigate heads. It is focused on the needs of builders and has extensive coverage of new products and new techniques."

Best Newsletter

Winner: Daren Blomquist, Joel Coen, Octavio Nuiry, Foreclosure News Report
Judges said: "This newsletter zeroes in on its readers' need to know insider information and statistics from around the country. The articles are written as if meant for a newsletter."

Best Team Report

Winner: Mary Shanklin and Vicki McClure, Orlando Sentinel
Judges said: "This outstanding report provides localized coverage of the housing collapse in Orlando based on a massive investigation of records and on solid interviewing of the players. The headline, 'Did Appraisers Juice the Market?' sets the tone for this lively, context-rich team effort."

Second Place: Amy Hoak, Jeffrey Bartash, Rachel Koning Beals and David Wilkerson, MarketWatch/Wall Street Journal Digital Network
Judges said: "This multimedia look at the house of the future was comprehensive, highly interesting and informative. It leads readers through the maze of choices in devices for tomorrow's digital home."

Best Investigative Report or Series

Winner: Peter Coy and Mara Der Hovanesian, Business Week
Judges said: "Not only do these articles captivate the reader with a portrait of escalating disaster in the housing market, but, in explaining the process of the meltdown, they extract great material about just how sleazy this industry became -- even to the point of trading sex for mortgage approvals. It features in-depth reporting and analysis."

Second Place: Eleanor Yang Su, Agustin Armendariz, Emmet Pierce and Lori Weisberg, San Diego Union-Tribune
Judges said: "This report on rampant speculation in San Diego neighborhoods is a well-sourced, well-crafted, and well-organized feature on the process and effects of the real estate bust on a community, its people, and its institutions. The analysis of city, county, federal and private data is a model for computer-assisted reporting."

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