This is our first partnership with an existing neighborhood blog. Earlier this year, we launched UDistrictDaily.com in collaboration with the University of Washington’s The Daily newspaper.

With the addition of My Green Lake, Next Door Media’s network now includes ten neighborhood blogs spanning the majority of North Seattle, from the Space Needle to Northgate Mall and Elliott Bay to Lake Washington.

Absolutely, and Next Door Media is proud to be working with the UW, both with the entrepreneurial journalism class and The Daily newspaper.

If you’d like to donate to the family, an account has been set up at Bank of America called the Seattle Children’s Fire Fund.

In August 2009, the Times began partnering with select independent publishers with the goal to collaborate on news coverage. The partnerships are an extension of the Networked Journalism Project funded by J-Lab. All but our most recent site, U District Daily, are now editorial partners with the Times.

Doug worked at KING 5 News as executive producer, winning three Emmy Awards during his 8 years at the station. Later, in his role as the communications manager for the city of Newcastle, he created a community news blog that was one of the first city-run blogs in the nation. His social media efforts earned him the Municipal Excellence Award from the Association of Washington Cities. Welcome, Doug!

PhinneyWood provided around-the-clock coverage of the series of devastating Greenwood arson fires last October, routinely breaking new developments in one of Seattle’s biggest stories of the year. Coverage included minute-by-minute updates posted on PhinneyWood and Twitter, as well as photos, video and an interactive map of the arsonist’s trail of destruction.

After the fires, PhinneyWood provided dozens of stories on the community outpouring and efforts by burned-out businesses to recover. Last week the suspect in the case admitted to 11 counts of arson.

In many ways, the award belongs to the neighborhood of Greenwood itself. Neighbors helped provide PhinneyWood with a steady stream of tips, comments and tweets. When combined with on-the-scene coverage from Next Door Media’s journalists, PhinneyWood became the community’s leading source for the latest information on a story that riveted the neighborhood.

PhinneyWood is edited by Doree Armstrong and Dale Steinke. The site launched in May 2008, serving both the Phinney Ridge and Greenwood neighborhoods.

This is Next Door Media’s second national journalism award in the last year. MyBallard.com won a national Online Journalism Award last October for community collaboration, beating several large metro newspapers for the honor.

Next Door Media is Seattle’s fastest-growing news organization and the most honored neighborhood news startup in the country. Committed to a community-powered model of news and a sustainable business model, Next Door Media operates 9 sites in North Seattle edited by a team of experienced journalists who live in the neighborhoods they serve.

“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.

“Next Door Media and the Common Language Project are two of the futures of journalism in America,” said David Dokme, chair of the UW Department of Communication. “Bringing them together is a win-win for citizens and for the communities in which they live. I can’t wait to see the innovative things this partnership creates.”

The enterprise stories take an in-depth look at issues impacting North Seattle neighborhoods, including an inside look at Ballard’s homeless population, Facebook activism at the Woodland Park Zoo, and an interactive examination of the controversy surrounding the missing link of the Burke-Gilman trail. Six stories in all will be posted across all of Next Door Media’s eight neighborhood news sites over the next several weeks.

“This partnership provides the perfect opportunity for students to hone their multimedia skills while reporting for one of the country’s most successful new local media outlets, said Jessica Partnow, executive director of The Common Language Project, a nonprofit organization. “We set them loose on North Seattle and are thrilled with the diversity of mediums and stories they came up with.”

For the last few months, Common Language Project’s award-winning team of journalists provided students with multimedia instruction and insight in an entrepreneurial journalism class at the UW’s Department of Communication. The students’ stories feature a wide range of interactive media including video, slideshows, timelines and maps.

“These stories bring a new dimension in neighborhood storytelling to Next Door Media,” said Kate Bergman, co-founder of the network. “They provide an in-depth, regional look at North Seattle issues with an engaging mix of media. We’re excited to provide a platform for the next generation of journalism.”

Next Door Media and the Common Language Project are working together on a new round of stories tied to a journalism class this summer at the University of Washington.

The production company now says the show is back on, and Seattle Mayor Mike McGuinn has proclaimed April 2nd to be “The Day the People Saved the Fireworks.”

Very true, to say the least. It’s amazing to see so much innovation in local news in Seattle compared to any other city in the country, thanks in part to the tech-savvy, entrepreneurial culture here in the Northwest.