The Online News Association has posted the awards finalists selected by a panel of judges (myself included) that met this weekend at USC. The annual Online Journalism Awards, administered by the ONA and the Annenberg School for Communication at USC, "honor excellence in English-language Web journalism." Southern California media on the finalist list include (in the order listed on the web page) PaidContent.org, the San Bernardino Sun and Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, the Palm Springs Desert Sun, the Orange County Register, Slate's Mickey Kaus and SignonSanDiego. Winners will be announced Oct. 28-29 at a convention in New York. This is the second year the ONA has invited me to judge, and while participation by bloggers was up a bit this year, it's surprisingly light even in the online commentary categories. I know of many leading blogs that could be contenders, but as they say on TV, you must enter to win.