The 12th Annual Webby Award winners were announced today, and if you’re at all interested in new media, the list is definitely worth checking out.
A web reality series called “Hometown Baghdad” swept the news video awards this year, winning for best news and politics series, best public service and activism, and best reality content. The series follows three young Iraqis through everyday life in Baghdad—showing a side of Iraqi life viewers never see on network news. In the midst of war, how do people work, go to school, fall in love? The series, launched in March 2007, has been applauded by the Los Angeles Times, The Times (London), The Guardian (UK), National Public Radio, and many others.
“Finding the Way Home,” a touching video by photojournalist Brenda Ann Kenneally and MediaStorm about families struggling to pull their lives back together two years after Hurricane Katrina, won for Best News and Politics: Individual Episode.
The People’s Voice winner in the same category is a FRONTLINE/World video by photojournalist Mimi Chakarova and video journalist Sachi Cunningham about prostitution and sex tourism in Dubai called “Dubai: Night Secrets.” The piece is a follow-up to Chakarova’s stunning audio slideshow on sex trafficking in Eastern Europe: “Moldova: The Price of Sex.”
Christof Putzel of Current TV won an award for best individual drama episode with “From Russia with Hate”—a dark story about the anti-immigrant backlash in Russia and neo-Nazi groups that use the Internet to spread their messages.
And, not surprisingly, the online teams at the New York Times and the hilarious fake-news-producing Onion News Network won numerous awards for their continually strong online content.