Scooping the News announces honor roll: Most innovative daily paper Web sites for '09

Earlier this summer, we began evaluating five U.S. daily newspapers' Web sites per week, and we ended up issuing innovation report cards for 45 publications. Only daily newspapers with a minimum print circulation of 100,000 were evaluated. What appears below is our 2009 honor roll of the most innovative U.S. metro daily newspapers' Web sites. These are the best of the big newspapers when it comes to Web innovation.

To access the complete series with all 45 evaluations, click here. Also, if you're not doing so already, make sure you follow Scooping the News on Twitter.

The Indianapolis Star: design/navigation = 4; reader presence = 4; and evidence of continuous updates = 4. Innovation composite score = 12.

The Arizona Republic: design/navigation = 4; reader presence = 3; and evidence of continuous updates = 4. Innovation composite score = 11.

Star Tribune in Minneapolis: design/navigation = 3; reader presence = 4; and evidence of continuous updates = 4. Innovation composite score = 11.

San Francisco Chronicle: design/navigation = 3; reader presence = 4; and evidence of continuous updates = 4. Innovation composite score = 11.

The Orange County Register: design/navigation = 3; reader presence = 4; and evidence of continuous updates = 4. Innovation composite score = 11.

The Denver Post: design/navigation = 3; reader presence = 4; and evidence of continuous updates = 4. Innovation composite score = 11.

The Baltimore Sun: design/navigation = 4; reader presence = 4; and evidence of continuous updates = 4. Innovation composite score = 12.

Houston Chronicle: design/navigation = 3; reader presence = 4; and evidence of continuous updates = 4. Innovation composite score = 11.

Knoxville News Sentinel: design/navigation = 3; reader presence = 4; and evidence of continuous updates = 4. Innovation composite score = 11.

The Miami Herald: design/navigation = 4; reader presence = 3; and evidence of continuous updates = 4. Innovation composite score = 11.