Toronto-based IT World Canada Inc.’s ITWorldCanada.com and ITBusiness.ca were among 18 Web sites recognized as the best in online publishing this week.
ITWorldCanada.com won for Best News, and ITBusiness.ca for Best Overall Online-Only Web site, both in the business-to-business category.
The wins were announced at the first-ever Canadian Online Publishing Awards on Monday night. The awards program was produced by Masthead to recognize excellence in online editorial and innovation by Canadian magazine and Web site publishers.
IT World Canada’s winning sites are run by editors Dave Webb, Joaquim Menezes and Greg Meckbach. The writers are Howard Solomon, Nestor Arellano, Kathleen Lau, Rafael Ruffolo, Brian Jackson and Jennifer Kavur.
More than 250 entries were received overall, of which 57 were finalists. IT World Canada was also a finalist for Best Video in the business-to-business category but did not win.
Shane Schick, editor-in-chief of IT World Canada, said to be named Best News Site reflects everything IT World Canada wants to be online – timely, relevant and useful.
“We have writers creating in-depth stories, videos and working in social media in a way that rivals anything I’ve seen at a daily newspaper,” said Schick.
“At a time when news is considered a commodity by some so-called Internet experts, IT World Canada is demonstrating that the audience for well-reported information on the latest developments in enterprise technology is a rare and important asset,” said Schick.
Dave Webb, editor of ComputerWorld Canada, said the company has worked hard over the past few years to transition to an online-first philosophy rather than the print-oriented mindset it had in the past.
“This win validates that hard work,” said Webb.
Never in doubt that IT World Canada would take home the awards, Webb said, “You would have to work with these people to understand.”