-By E&P Staff

The 2008 EPpy Awards -- one of the nation's most prized and long-running honors for online content -- were presented today during a gala luncheon sponsored by the Knight Foundation, during the Editor & Publisher/Mediaweek Interactive Media Conference and Trade Show at the Rio in Las Vegas.

The New York Times emerged the biggest winner in this year's competition, scoring three awards: Best Business Blog, for NYTimes.com/DealBook, as well as Best News Web site and Best Overall Newspaper-Affiliated Web Site (both with more than one million unique monthly visitors) for NYTimes.com.

USA Today took home two wins, for Best Entertainment Blog (USAToday.com's "Pop Candy") and Best Sports Web Site (with more than one million unique monthly visitors).

The Denver Post won for Best Community Web Site (with fewer than one million unique monthly visitors), while msnbc.com took home the same award for sites with more than one million uniques. Winning in the Best Overall Newspaper-Affiliated Web Site with less than one million unique monthly visitors was the Las Vegas Sun.

The Associated Press took the award for Best Special Feature in a Web Site -- Enterprise (with more than one million unique monthly visitors), for its coverage of the recovery efforts following Hurricane Katrina.

CNN.com accepted the Knight News Innovation EPpy, which is sponsored by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The site received the award for finding new ways to gather and disseminate news and information, especially with its iReport initiative; iReport.com is the network's first uncensored, unfiltered, unedited, user-generated online community.

The site was also hailed for creating tools for sharing and tagging video, for commenting on the user-generated content, and for viewing and rating videos across multiple categories.

"CNN shows creativity in using new technologies that allow it to combine the best individual contributions with professional reporting," Gary Kebbel, the Knight Foundation’s journalism program director, said in a statement.

"This recognition from Knight Foundation is really for CNN's viewers and users, who share their videos, photos, audio files and comments with us each day," said Mitch Gelman, senior vice president and senior executive producer of CNN.com. "CNN.com's users and the iReport.com community are the real innovators, and we are honored to provide an online destination for them to engage with the news and each other in a meaningful way."

The 2008 winners (and finalists) are:

Best Business Blog
Winner: NYTimes.com/DealBook
MarketBeat (WSJ.com)
USA Today

Best Business Web Site, with fewer than one million unique monthly visitors
Winner: Kiplinger.com: The Business Resource Center
Arkansasbusiness.com
Euromoney Institutional Investor Online Network

Best Business Web Site, with more than one million unique monthly visitors
Winner: BusinessWeek.com
BNET
The Wall Street Journal Online

Best Classified Web Site, with fewer than one million unique monthly visitors
Winner: NWjobs.com
The Boston Globe
NWautos.com
HeraldNet.com

Best Classified Web Site, with more than one million unique monthly visitors
Winner: Cars.com
Newsday.com
NYTimes.com/RealEstate
Post-gazette.com

Best College Newspaper Web Site
Winner: The Daily Reveille, at www.lsureveille.com
ASU Web Devil
Idsnews.com

Best Community Web Site, with fewer than one million unique monthly visitors
Winner: The Denver Post
The Enquirer & Cincinnati.Com
The Press-Enterprise/PE.com
The Enquirer & NKY.com

Best Community Web Site, with more than one million unique monthly visitors
Winner: msnbc.com
Beliefnet Community
TV Guide Online

Best Entertainment Blog
Winner: Pop Candy, USATODAY.com
Copious Notes, a blog of Kentucky.com and LexGo.com
HandStamp, chron.com/Houston Chronicle
Kristin2Go, chron.com/Houston Chronicle
Stuck in the ’80s, tampabay.com

Best Entertainment Web Site, with fewer than one million unique monthly visitors
Winner: Indy.com, Indianapolis Star Media Group
LexGo.com
Metromix.com
OnMilwaukee.com, Milwaukee’s daily magazine
Vita.mn

Best Entertainment Web Site, with more than one million unique monthly visitors
Winner: PEOPLE.com
Azcentral.com and The Arizona Republic
EW.com

Best Local Radio-Affiliated Web Site
Winner: iCat fm, icatfm.cat, Catalunya Radio
SignOnRadio.com
MyNorthwest.Com
Mpr.org

Best National Magazine-Affiliated Web Site
Winner: Thisoldhouse.com
Kiplinger.com
Newsweek.com
The New Yorker -- NewYorker.com
SI.com

Best Network or Syndicated Radio-Affiliated Web Site
Winner: American RadioWorks from American Public Media
CBCNews.ca, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

Best News Web Site, with fewer than one million unique monthly visitors
Winner: LJWorld.com
3cat24.cat
HeraldTribune.com
Las Vegas Sun
Naplesnews.com

Best News Web Site, with more than one million unique monthly visitors
Winner: NYTimes.com
BBC News website
CBCNews.ca, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
msnbc.com
Slate Magazine

Best News/Politics Blog
Winner: The Swamp, www.chicagotribune.com
Adam Radwanski, globeandmail.com
CNN Political Ticker, cnnpolitics.com
PoliticsWest.com, www.politicswest.com
Stumper, Newsweek.com

Best Overall Design of a Web Site, with fewer than one million unique monthly visitors
Winner: Metromix.com
The Enquirer & Cincinnati.Com
KnoxNews.com
Las Vegas Sun
Observer.com

Best Overall Design of a Web Site, with more than one million unique monthly visitors
Winner: Detnews.com, The Detroit News
PlayhouseDisney.com
Thisoldhouse.com
Washingtonpost.com

Best Overall Local TV/Cable-Affiliated Web Site
Winner: KING5.com
Fox News Chicago
Wibw.com
WRAL.com

Best Overall Network TV/Cable-Affiliated Web Site
Winner: CBSNews.com
CNN.com
Discovery.com
ESPN.com

Best Overall Newspaper-Affiliated Web Site, with fewer than one million unique monthly visitors
Winner: Las Vegas Sun
APP.com, Asbury Park Press
GazetteXtra.com
Knoxnews.com
NWHerald.com

Best Overall Newspaper-Affiliated Web Site, with more than one million unique monthly visitors
Winner: NYTimes.com
Newsday.com
The Wall Street Journal Online
USA TODAY
Washingtonpost.com

Best Regional Magazine-Affiliated Web Site
Winner: VisionMonday.com
7x7SF.com
ExploreSteamboat.com, Steamboat Pilot & Today

Best Spanish-Language Newspaper-Affiliated Web Site
Winner: ELPAÍS.com
Aldiatx.com, El Portal de Noticias del Norte de Texas
Elcomercio.com.pe, El Comercio Perú

Best Special Feature in a Web Site -- Enterprise, with fewer than one million unique monthly visitors
Winner: Diabetes: The Invisible Epidemic, PalmBeachPost.com
Coincidence or Cluster: The McCullom Lake Brain Cancer Lawsuits, The Northwest Herald
HeraldTribune.com Broken Trust, HeraldTribune.com
Indy 911 Calls, Indianapolis Star Media Group
Teachers and Sex, www.eastvalleytribune.com

Best Special Feature in a Web Site -- Enterprise, with more than one million unique monthly visitors
Winner: Katrina Recovery Coverage, The Associated Press
“Exonerated, Freed, and What Happened Then,” NYTimes.com
Discovery Earth Live, Discovery.com
E-Ticket: Ray of Hope, ESPN.com
Voices of the Fallen, Newsweek.com

Best Special Feature in a Web Site -- News or Event, with fewer than one million unique monthly visitors
Winner: Oklahoma Centennial, NewsOK.com
Arizona Daily Star’s iWait
CaptureCincinnati.com, The Enquirer & Cincinnati.Com

Best Special Feature in a Web Site -- News or Event, with more than one million unique monthly visitors
Winner: 13 Seconds in August, StarTribune.com
Prison Suicide Crisis, Boston.com
Virginia Tech Shootings Coverage, The Associated Press

Best Sports Blog
Winner: The FanHouse, AOL Sports
Brewers Blog, JSOnline.com
ChicagoSports, The Rosenblog
The Memphis Edge, Commercialappeal.com

Best Sports Web Site, with fewer than one million unique monthly visitors
Winner: GoVolsXtra
Arkansassports360.com
CommunitySportsDesk,kenoshanews.com
Varsity845.com, Hudson Valley Media Group

Best Sports Web Site, with more than one million unique monthly visitors
Winner: USATODAY.com
BOSTON.COM: SPORTS
CBSSports.com
ESPN.com
Detnews.com

Best Use of Video in a Web Site, with fewer than one million unique monthly visitors
Winner: CBC Digital Archives Web site - Les archives de Radio-Canada
Cape Cod Online/Cape Cod Times
Northwest Herald
Studio 55 – naplesnews.com
TV3minuts

Best Use of Video in a Web Site, with more than one million unique monthly visitors
Winner: TV Guide Online
Newsday.com
Slate V
The Boy in the Moon, globeandmail.com

Best Weekly Newspaper-Affiliated Web Site
Winner: The Santa Barbara (Calif.) Independent, independent.com
The Brooklyn Paper, brooklynpaper.com
Wicked Local Somerville, GateHouse Media New England

Knight News Innovation Award
Winner: CNN.com
Coincidence or Cluster: The McCullom Lake Brain Cancer Lawsuits, The Northwest Herald
The Match, Newsday.com
PolitiFact.com from St. Petersburg Times/CQ