Next Door Media has teamed with the University of Washington’s The Daily newspaper to create a neighborhood news site for the University District neighborhood. The groundbreaking partnership with the student-run newspaper spans both daily news coverage and advertising — the first of its kind in the country.

“Our partnership with Next Door Media serves the mission of The Daily in multiple ways,” said Kristin Mills, publisher of The Daily. “It allows student journalists from The Daily to develop the new media skills they need to be competitive. It provides a real business model that allows for enterprise in our student advertising and marketing department. Plus, we have an opportunity to serve our community with real-time information.”

The site, UDistrictDaily.com, covers daily news, issues and community events for residents in the greater University District neighborhood. The Daily’s site, DailyUW.com, covers campus news for students and faculty.

“There’s no better team to cover news and provide advertising solutions for the University District neighborhood than The Daily,” said Cory Bergman, co-founder of Next Door Media, a network of neighborhood news sites in Seattle. “We’re excited to work with students on a promising new model of local news.”

“The Daily is more than just a newspaper for the students at the University of Washington,” said Casey Smith, editor-in-chief of The Daily. “We also strive to serve readers affected by every action taken by students or the UW. Our new Next Door Media site gives a unique opportunity to reach out to readers and community members who may never get to campus to pick up our paper.”

U District Daily is authored by Christian Caple, an editor for The Daily, and neighborhood ads will be sold by the newspaper’s own advertising staff. Next Door Media provides editorial guidance and technology, along with regional news coverage and network ad sales.

This is the second partnership in recent weeks between Next Door Media and the UW. Through an innovative partnership with The Common Language Project, Next Door Media’s network is publishing a series of multimedia stories produced by students at UW’s entrepreneurial journalism class.

The Daily won the Apple Award in 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010 for the best overall four-year college tabloid-sized newspaper in the nation. The Daily also earned the Mark of Excellence for the Best Overall College Newspaper from the Society of Professional Journalists Region X for 2007, 2008 and 2009.

Next Door Media won a national Online Journalism Award in 2009 for community collaboration. UDistrictDaily.com is Next Door Media’s ninth neighborhood news site in North Seattle.