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| Criteria |
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Each submission to the Best of the Blogs contest and to the Blogopedia will be checked by a BOBs editor before it is made available to the public. We ask for your understanding and patience should a few days be required for an editor to look over your suggestion. It is up to the editors to make sure each submission is suitable for the contest.
This is what we'll be looking for.
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| Requirements for the BOBs and the Blogopedia |
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Weblogs, podcasts and videocasts from around the world can take part in the Deutsche Welle's Best of the Blogs Awards and be listed in the Blogopedia as long as they are produced in one of the contest's 10 official languages (Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Persian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish). Though any and all blogs and 'casts are invited to join the competition, the BOBs will put a special emphasis on Weblogs, podcasts and videocasts that use a journalist's tools of reporting and analysis.
Anyone can submit suggestions
Whether you blog, pod or videocast yourself or just like to read, hear and see what others are doing, absolutely everyone is invited to suggest blogs to the contest. There is, of course, one exception to what can be entered into the contest: Jury members own blogs, podcasts and videocasts are prohibited from entry in the contest, though they can be listed in the Blogopedia. You can suggest as many blogs / podcasts / videocasts to the contest and Blogopedia as you would like. Simply send us an e-mail if you would like to have your work removed from the BOBs, or Blogopedia.
What do we consider a Weblog?
In the context of this competition, a blog is a Web site that is updated regularly by its creator. Generally, entries should be in chronological order, with the newest entry at the top.
Additionally, the Weblog or podcast should provide its users with the possibility of adding their own feedback to site or even posting their own submissions. Ideally, blog entries will also include considerable links.
Blogs that are password protected are not eligible for participation. In other words: They must be made freely available over the World Wide Web. Invalid URLs will not be published on the list of suggested sites and will also be excluded from the competition.
What do we consider a podcast / videocast?
A podcast is a series of media reports (audio / video) that are usually distributed by an RSS newsfeed via the Internet. The requirement that the reports be available free of charge also applies to pod and videocasts. The "Best Podcast" category is open to pod and videocasters -- not blogs that have occasional audio or video content.
The BOBs are not a platform for discriminatory content
Weblogs, podcasts and videocasts that contain or link to any form of insulting, racist, sexist or in any other way discriminatory or obscene content are not permitted to be a part of the BOBs or the Blogopedia. The also applies to Weblogs and podcasts and videocasts that post or include such content after they have been accepted in the contest and / or catalog.
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| What the Jury Wants to See |
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Participation in the BOBs -- The Best of the Blogs Awards -- is not connected to any particular topic. Weblogs, podcasts and videocasts that engage themselves with world happenings by reporting on and analyzing current events or trends will be given special attention in each of the 10 "Best Weblog / Language" categories. This also includes blogs that make a point of dealing with media issues. The Best of the Blogs Awards also aim to put a spotlight on freedom of expression. We're doing this in cooperation with Reporters Without Borders in the category named after the organization.
It's up to the jury
The winners of the Deutsche Welle's 2006 International Weblog Awards will be decided by a jury of bloggers, journalists and media experts. The jury will meet in Berlin in November to decide on the contest's winners in each category.
Depending on the category, the jurors' decision will be based on a number form and function criteria. Here are a the bullet points the jury will use in making their evaluations:
Prose
Linguistic expertise, intelligibility, timeliness, transparency, authenticity.
Creativity
Originality of topic, humor, use of new style elements.
Design
Appropriate design, use of multimedia elements (animations, graphics, audio, video).
User Friendlieness
Interactivity, usability, linking, commentary functions, other useful properties.
The aspects listed above are not a comprehensive list and should be used as general guidelines for the jury's decision.
Nearly all the categories in the Best of the Blogs are multilingual. Weblogs and 'casts in the contest's 10 languages will all battle it out to be the overall winner. Each category's winner will have to show that it possesses qualities above and beyond what is available in other languages. The Deutsche Welle's Best of the Blogs Awards are about presenting the international Weblog community a series of outstanding blogs, podcasts and videocasts.
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