The BOBs 2012
February 13, 2012
Millions of blogs and nothing to read. That's the problem the BOBs have been working to solve for the last seven years.
Deutsche Welle's international weblog contest started its eighth installment on Monday and this time is paying special attention to blogs, websites and initiatives that give culture, education and freedom of expression the attention they deserve.
The BOBs rely on the public to submit the best sites in any of the contest's 11 languages and 17 categories, including a special category dedicated to innovative education and culture projects.
Supporting freedom of expression
But culture and education, also the focus of this year's annual Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum in June, will have to share the limelight with projects that support freedom of expression.
Blogs offering an alternative view of conditions in countries with a heavily censored media landscape as well as tools and campaigns designed to promote civil society will also get their due in 2012.
The prize in the Reporters Without Borders category is again being presented in conjunction with the Paris-based rights organization and will highlight websites that take a strong stand for freedom of expression.
An international award, the BOBs honors sites in 11 languages (Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, English, French, German, Indonesian, Persian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish), with the winners decided by an international panel of bloggers and media experts. Steve Vosloo is this year's jury representative for the English-speaking blogosphere.
In addition to the awards presented by the BOBs jury, Internet users can choose their favorite in a month-long online voting process.
Winners of the 2012 BOBs Jury Awards will be invitied to a ceremony as part of the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum taking place in June in Bonn, Germany.
Author: Petra Füchsel / sms
Editor: Neil King