SmartMoney magazine and its web site, SmartMoney.com, recently received several industry honors, including the renowned National Headliner Award.

Anne Kadet, one of the magazine's senior writers, was recognized with two awards in this year's National Headliner competition, one of the oldest and most prestigious honors in journalism. Her monthly consumer column, "Tough Customer," received second place among national columnists on the strength of stories like the one that spotlighted a California grandmother's crusade to test the effects of aspartame by feeding NutraSweet to rats for two years. She also received recognition for her feature-writing, including a story that showed how banks are quietly tiptoeing into the controversial area of price optimization, treating loan rates the way airlines price their seats.

Angie Marek, a SmartMoney staff writer, earned a third-place nod for beat reporting in the annual Excellence in Health Care Journalism competition, administered by the University of Missouri's School of Journalism. The only magazine reporter to win in that category, Marek was recognized for, among other stories, "Peddling Pills," an investigative piece in which she went on the road with a drug company salesperson to spotlight the undue influence drug reps still have in convincing doctors to prescribe their medications.

Recently min, the Magazine Industry Newletter, honored SmartMoney.com as a finalist in its Best of the Web awards. The site was recognized for its use of interactivity in its Financial Crisis Center, which was one of the first media outlets to offer a toll-free hotline to answer reader questions during the market crash last fall. Responses were given on the site or in a weekly podcast. Questions, which have spanned everything from avoiding foreclosure to investment decisions about inverse exchange-traded funds, are printed (with answers) on SmartMoney.com's Financial HelpLine page.