BY CRAIG CROSBY

Staff Writer

The Web sites of the Kennebec Journal in Augusta and the Morning Sentinel in Waterville were presented with a Reader First Award Thursday during the New England Newspaper Association's fall convention in Connecticut.

The sister papers, both part of Central Maine Newspapers, joined The Boston Globe as the only news organizations presented with the award this year.

"This is one of the most prestigious awards in New England and to win it with the Boston Globe this year makes it more special," said Eric Conrad, executive editor of the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel. "This recognition shows that our peers in the industry see the hard work, and risk-taking, we are doing with our Web sites."

The Journal and the Sentinel won the award for their small-town Web sites: china sentinel.com, farmingtonsen tinel.com and waynejournal. com.

Launching and promoting the sites has taken support from departments throughout the company, Conrad said.

"It's really true that most of the 50 employees in our newsrooms contributed to this award, as did many employees in our Advertising, Circulation and Information Technology departments, and our colleagues at MaineToday in Portland," Conrad said.

The New England Newspaper Association established the Reader First Award four years ago to push newspapers to take on new endeavors.

The award "encourages member newspapers to improve newspapers and/or relationships with their readers and to grow readership," according to the New England Newspaper Association Web site. "The contest is designed to increase readership and innovation in the industry."

The award-screening process focuses on content, service, culture and branding.

"They liked our approach and the way we are building our online readership and better serving some important communities," Conrad said. "It is imperative that newspapers innovate, experiment and build audience during these challenging financial times. This is a sign that we are doing it."

Craig Crosby -- 623-3811 Ext. 433

ccrosby@centralmaine.com