The Pulitzer Prize Board said Wednesday it is opening its doors wider to entries from text-based online-only newspapers and news sites.

A year ago, the Board broadened the competition to include many news outlets in the United States that publish on the Internet at least weekly, but it required that all entered material had to come from outlets "primarily dedicated to original news reporting and coverage of ongoing events."

The requirement sometimes excluded promising entries by online columnists, critics and bloggers because of their Web affiliation, according to Sig Gissler, administrator of the Prizes.

"The revised rule will provide more flexibility as we focus on the merit of an entry rather than the mission of the Web site where it appeared," Gissler said.

The Board said it will continue to exclude entries from magazines and broadcast media as well as their websites.

The revised eligibility rule now reads:

"Entries for journalism awards must be based on material coming from a text-based United States newspaper or news site that publishes at least weekly during the calendar year and that adheres to the highest journalistic principles. Magazines and broadcast media, and their respective Web sites, are not eligible."

In 2009, online-only sites that publish at least weekly were eligible for the competition, if the met the original- reporting requirement. The Board also allowed entries made up entirely of online content to be submitted in all 14 Pulitzer journalism categories.

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