Winner:
Anne Galloway

Runner-Up:
Shay Totten (Seven Days)

Referring to Anne Galloway as a blogger — and VTDigger as a blog — is a bit misleading. Since launching in the fall of 2009, Galloway’s nonprofit news website has become an ambitious, six-days-a-week newsgathering operation and a must-read for Vermonters who want the inside scoop on statehouse news and politics. While establishment media continue their march toward infotainment, VT Digger has earned a small but devoted following by digging in on complex — and unsexy — topics such as the state budget and health care regulations.

Loyal to its motto, “Led by journalists, powered by the public,” VT Digger recently launched a companion site called Tipster that aims to be a repository for Vermonters to drop anonymous tips for reporters to use in developing stories. After a big year of changes that included renting a bricks-and-mortar office on Main Street in Montpelier, merging with the Vermont Journalism Trust and winning a $104,000 grant from the Knight Foundation, the next year promises even more growth — the site is hiring three new staffers, including a full-time reporter.

SEVEN DAYS: Do you ever sleep?

ANNE GALLOWAY: Oh, God, I’m actually trying to get more sleep this summer. I did go for a while without much sleep. We are pretty crazy about posting, it’s true. It’s easy to burn out, and I don’t want to burn out.

— Andy Bromage