Member Awards – January

We're pleased to announce the Member Award winners for January 2010!

Our monthly award program, which we announced last fall, spotlights members of our community who make outstanding contributions to our cause.

Award Winners
Here are our six award winners for January '10:

• Top Rated Reviewer - Jonathan Isaac Mitchell
Jonathan received high ratings from other members for his January reviews of stories from the Washington Post, New York Times and more. A newcomer to NewsTrust, Jonathan has already made great contributions to our community. Looking forward to working with you more, Jonathan!

• Most Thorough Reviewer - Kristin Gorski
Kristin, a NewsTrust stalwart, was our most thorough reviewer last month. As a long-time NewsTrust editor, host and co-author of our Teacher Guides, this recognition is long overdue. Kristin, we're immensely grateful for your outstanding participation and enthusiasm for our site.

• Most Active Reviewer - Randy Morrow
Randy reviewed 63 stories in January, bringing quality journalism from a wide range of publications to our attention. Thanks, Randy, much appreciated!

• Trusted Member of the Month - Emma Asomba
Emma, a policy analyst and researcher, joined NewsTrust last July and hosted our Pakistan News Hunt. He continues to bring fair criticisms and broad-minded perspectives on the day's news. Well done, Emma!

• Editor of the Month - Jim Lang
From time to time, we give special awards to NewsTrust community editors or hosts who make exceptional contributions to our cause. This month, we honor Jim for the fairness and objectivity he's consistently demonstrated in his reviews since he joined NewsTrust more than three years ago. Bravo, Jim!

• Teacher of the Month - Sally Lehrman
This month, we're happy to introduce a new award to honor educators who use NewsTrust in the classroom. Sally Lehrman is a journalism professor at Santa Clara University who, along with her students, has taken part in several NewsTrust projects in the past year, including our Bad Journalism News Hunt last October. This semester, she is asking her students to review more stories on NewsTrust, for her class on Race, Gender and Public Health in the News. We look forward to working with Sally and her students again this year, to help them learn the difference between good and bad journalism. 

As a small token of our appreciation, we're sending all award winners this NewsTrust mug:

Win a Member Award

If you are a regular NewsTrust reviewer, you too could win one of our monthly awards (see our October, November and December winners.

Here are some of the ways you can qualify for a member award and increase your own member level:

• Review often
Our top rated reviewers review and post stories regularly and thoroughly. Try to review at least a couple times per week and answer as many questions as you can. To review stories on our site, click 'Review' next to any story title; a good place to start is our home page.

• Focus on the journalism 
Here at NewsTrust, we try to rate stories based on the quality of the journalism, not whether we agree with the views presented in these stories. For tips on how to review on our site, check our review guide. 

• Fill your profile 
Take a moment to update your member profile, so other members can get to know you. The more you share about yourself, the higher your member level, and the more your ratings count. Be sure to add a picture if you can. 


How Member Awards Work

At the end of each month, NewsTrust staff editors tally the results for each award and announce the winners in a blog post and email newsletter. Winners can only win one award per year. If they qualify for two awards in the same month, they're only awarded one prize. 

NewsTrust staff editors and directors cannot not qualify for these awards. We will announce our February winners the week of March 1st.

We'd love to hear what you think of this community program, which we are extending for three months, through March 2010. Drop a comment here on the blog -- or email us directly at editors-at-newstrust-dot-net.

Support our Work
If you find our service useful, consider making a personal donation to NewsTrust. Your contribution will fund site improvements, new tools, community outreach, news literacy programs and much more. To see what we've accomplished together in 2009, check our Progress Report.   

 Please donate today, so we can continue to promote good journalism and bring you quality news and information. Our continued growth depends on you.  

-- by Derek Hawkins, Kaizar Campwala and Fabrice Florin

Comments

[Srik]

I find newstrust really interesting and it helps me to learn and know things all in the same place..thnx guys