The Webby Awards (or "Webbies" for short) have been regarded as the Academy Awards of the internet. The premiere websites in the world vie for the prestigious honor in a host of categories. Interestingly, the Webbies have a category dedicated to Activism. Past nominees include two Independent Media Centers (Indybay and Global IMC), the Human Rights Campaign, and the website of PETA at a time when I thought that website was particularly ugly. Some past winners of the Webby Award for Activism include Adbusters, tolerance.org, and ActforChange.com. But this year, I was rather flummoxed to see that a website created by the World Bank was nominated for Activism. Um, okay. Don’t tell Kevin Danaher or anyone involved with the 50 Years Is Enough campaign. Now, adding insult to insult, I am very flummoxed to see that this same website has won the 2006 Activism Webby. Sigh. An idea: Maybe ZNet should submit a nomination for the Activism category. It’d be far more reflective of actual honest-to-goodness activism, and it’s certainly expansive enough to contend. (Maybe some generous soul out there could donate the $120 admission fee.) Or maybe not. I see that Thomas Friedman was awarded the Webby Person of the Year award for some reason. Or perhaps that’s $120 that could go to some more worthy cause. For example, KILI radio on the impoverished Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota needs funds now to replace their broadcast tower which got damaged by lightning in a recent thunderstorm. (You know, I’ll donate $120 right now to help. There’s a donation form on the KILI radio website. I encourage you to do likewise if you can.)
ZNetwork is funded solely through the generosity of its readers.
Donate