On Oct. 19, the Online News Association announced this year's Online Journalism awards. Represented among the winners were several independent and community-focused digital news outlets dedicated to informing and engaging communities.

The award for general excellence in online journalism (small) went to Axis Philly: a nonprofit news and information organization serving the Philadelphia region, with a goal to "promote transparent and accountable civic leadership and engaged communities." For medium-sized news outlets, this award went to the Texas Tribune.

One of two awards for explanatory reporting (small) went to Honolulu Civil Beat (the new nonprofit public-interest news outlet founded by philanthropist Pierre Omidyar) for their coverage: Ala Wai Canal: Hawaii's biggest mistake? This venue also won the Gannett Foundation award for innovative investigative journalism (small) for their police misconduct feature, In the name of the law.

The award for topical reporting (medium) went to the Center for Investigative reporting for their veterans affairs package, Returning Home to Battle, published in The Bay Citizen.

The award for feature reporting (medium) went to an independent and collaborative project: Black Gold Boom: How Oil Changed North Dakota. This package was produced by independent producer Todd Melby and was published in collaboration with Prairie Public, Zeega, and AIR (the Association of Independents in Radio, Inc.) It's part of Localore, a national programming initiative by AIR which focuses on regional and local (or highly localizable) issues.

Pulse of Oakland -- a collection of stories on the intersection of health, wealth and race in Oakland, Calif., by the Univ. of California-Berkeley School of Journalism, received the award for student journalism (small).

Congratulations to all of the winners and finalists!