The National Catholic Register beat out…uhm…some other competition (and by other competition I mean the National Catholic Reporter!) in the About.com Reader’s Choice Awards.

Thanks to all who voted. This is such great news that we interrupt this post for the Emergency Smile Broadcast System.

Yup. That’s how happy we all are. So be sure to continue checking out the New and Improved National Catholic Register. Now with Extra Simcha!!! (Her name kinda’ does sound like an additive, doesn’t it?)

The folks at the Reg (which is what cool people call it) were going to throw a party but they remembered what happened last time with the wrecked hotel rooms, the surprisingly expensive smashed piano; never mind that we couldn’t located Akin for days afterward. So they settled for a press release instead.

The Register folks wrote:

On March 15, 2011, the National Catholic Register was selected as the About.com 2011 Readers’ Choice Award for best Catholic newspaper. Now in its fourth year, the About.com Readers’ Choice Awards honor the best products, features and services across more than a dozen categories, ranging from technology to hobbies to parenting and more, as selected by its readers.

“This year’s Readers’ Choice Awards program had a record number of nominations submitted across more than a dozen categories and featured hundreds of finalists,” said Margot Weiss, Managing Editor, About.com. “We are thankful to all our readers for their participation and congratulate the National Catholic Register on their success.”

“It’s clear from the voting that faithful Catholic journalism is on the rise. We want to thank all the voters who honor the Register and our faithfulness to the Pope and the Magisterium of the Church with About.com’s award for Best Catholic Newspaper. This is a reflection of the hard work of a lot of good people who are dedicated to the mission of the New Evangelization. We acknowledge our responsibility as a faithful Catholic journalism enterprise, and About.com’s award serves as a reminder of that responsibility,” said Tom Wehner, Managing Editor for the Register.

EWTN Global Catholic Network has taken ownership of the National Catholic Register as of February 1, 2011. EWTN News, Inc. was launched as a subsidiary of EWTN Global Catholic Network this past January as the Register became its first division.

As part of this new arrangement Michael P. Warsaw, who continues to serve as the Network’s president and chief executive officer, has been named publisher of the National Catholic Register.

“As the Register’s new publisher, I can’t tell you how excited I am to be able to continue EWTN’s mission of presenting the news of the world through the lens of the Church. I may be an unfamiliar face to most readers of the paper, but the Register certainly isn’t new to me. I’ve been a longtime reader, so when we were looking into the possibility of acquiring the newspaper and website, I knew exactly what the Register’s gifts were. Now that the acquisition is a reality, I’m pleased to welcome the Register and all its employees to the EWTN family,” said Warsaw.