Msnbc.com won accolades Thursday for a feature that creates community by allowing users to submit content to the Web site.
The New York Times and The Associated Press also were among winners in the 13th annual EPpy Awards for media Web sites from Editor & Publisher and Mediaweek magazines.
Msnbc.com's FirstPerson won an EPpy award for best community Web site with more than 1 million unique monthly visitors. The feature is used to showcase images, video and first-hand reports of news submitted by users.
Since its inception about two years ago, FirstPerson has added depth to msnbc.com's news coverage and featured stories.
FirstPerson was created following the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, during which msnbc.com extensively used content submitted by citizens to tell the story of the storm's devastation.
Msnbc.com also was nominated for best news Web site with more than 1 million unique monthly visitors.
The Times' DealBook won for best business blog, while the general news site NYTimes.com was lauded as the best news Web site and best overall newspaper-affiliated site among those with more than 1 million unique monthly visitors.
The Associated Press won special enterprise feature on a Web site with more than 1 million visitors for its Katrina recovery coverage.
Judges received more than 450 nominees in 36 categories from nearly 100 outlets. The contest was open to news organizations, Internet service providers, colleges and universities.