The Webby Awards just announced their nominees for their 13th annual awards show. No surprise that NYTimes.com got 13 nominations, including the “Newspaper” category (The New York Observer was also nominated, along with the UK’s The Guardian and The Independent). NBC.com and TheOnion.com also received multiple nods, along with The Daily Beast, which received two nominations in the “Best Practices” (maybe it was for the three-part advertorial about handbags?) and “News” categories. There are more than 70 categories of nominees, including “Politics” (nominees include OpenSecrets.org and FactCheck.org) and “Weird” (see: FAILblog.org or CrappyCat.com). Sites like Yearbook Yourself and Whopper Sacrifice were honored, and even YouTube sensations like the “Shiba Inu Live Puppy Cam” and “Bill O’Reilly Flips Out – Dance Remix” were given a shoutout.
The awards are presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a group of more than 500 “Web experts,” celebrities, magazine editors and writers and business folks including Arianna Huffington, whose Huffington Post has three nominations this year, Simpsons creator Matt Groening, Virgin Atlantic chairman Richard Branson and Harvey Weinstein of The Weinstein Co., among others.
Starting today, users can cast their own votes for their favorite sites at The Webby People’s Voice Awards. Polls close on April 30.
Here’s a highlight reel of the nominees, from the Webby Awards’ YouTube channel:
Official winners will be announced on May 5 and the awards ceremony will take place in New York City on June 8, hosted by SNL’s Seth Meyers and featuring “five-word speeches” by Al Gore and Stephen Colbert.
