ATLANTA (AFP) - Britain's The Guardian scooped up two awards for online journalism for its coverage of the National Security Agency (NSA) leaks from former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden.

The Guardian's exposure of the electronic surveillance by the US spy agency was honoured in the categories of innovative investigative journalism and watchdog journalism at the annual awards banquet here of the Online News Association (ONA).

Other online journalism award winners on Saturday included The New York Times and The Boston Globe, which both picked up multiple awards.

NYTimes.com was singled out for general excellence in online journalism, and the newspaper also picked up an award for feature reporting for a stunning multi-media presentation called Snow Fall about a deadly avalanche.

BostonGlobe.com and its sister site Boston.com were honoured in the breaking news category for their coverage of the Boston marathon bombings.

The Boston Globe also won a public service award for its coverage of a troubled neighbourhood of the city, a project called 68 Blocks.

Ezra Klein of The Washington Post won the award for online commentary at a large media organisation, while New Zealand's Stuff Nation picked up the award for online commentary at a medium-sized organisation.

In the feature category, Radio Canada picked up an award for its interactive report #Banlieuelanuit.

The Online News Association was founded in 1999 and has more than 2,000 members around the world.