The Bobs: Online voting starts

An international jury decided on the 364 finalists that are now in the running for the Users' Choice prizes. Votes for finalists in The Bobs - Best of Online Activism can be cast at www.thebobs.com. More than 4,200 websites and online projects from around the world were submitted to The Bobs - Best of Online Activism awards in 2013, that is 1,000 more than last year. "It shows the wide range of ways people in the international blogosphere engage in promoting freedom of expression and political transparency," said Ute Schaeffer, DW Editor-in-Chief for Regionalized Content. Projects dealing with economic and social change, the right to water, women's rights and fighting censorship are just a few of the key topics addressed by finalists in this year's awards, said The Bobs project manager Gabriel González. Deutsche Welle started The Bobs - Best of Online Activism Awards in 2004. For the past nine years, the project has honored work that connects cultures, creates transparency and builds online bridges capable of breaking the language barrier. Award ceremony at the Global Media Forum in Bonn This year, The Bobs will hand out honors in 14 languages - with Hindi, Turkish and Ukrainian joining for the first time. The Global Media Forum award is one of the 34 categories in this year's contest. The category puts the focus on the theme of the 2013 Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum: "The future of growth - economy, ethics and the media," which takes place June 17-19 in Bonn, Germany. In addition to the Users' Choice prizes, The Bobs jury panel will also give out Jury Awards in the categories Best Blog, Best Innovation, Best Social Activism, Most Creative & Original and a Reporters Without Borders Award. A ceremony for The Bobs Jury Award winners will take place as part of the international conference on June 18 at the World Conference Center Bonn (WCCB). Reporters Without Borders and re:publica are The Bobs' premium partners. Media partners are Masrawy, Somewhere in…, Bdnews.com, iSun TV, Global Voices Online, Categorynet, Courrier International, Presseeurop, Gooya, Terra, Jetzt.de, Lenta.ru, Korrespondent, ntvmsnbc, MYNET, MEDYATAVA and webdunia. CONTACT AND LINKS: Gabriel González, Tel.+49. 228 - 429 2684, [email protected] facebook.com/dw.thebobs twitter.com/DW_thebobs The Bobs: WWW.THEBOBS.COM Press: www.dw.de/press INSIDER Blog: blogs.dw.de/INSIDER