THE BLACK WEBLOG AWARDS ANNOUNCE THE 2008 FINALISTS

By BWA Staff

First Round for the Highly-Coveted Blog Competition Draws Over 9,000 Votes with The People’s News, Afrobella and Young, Black and Fabulous Leading with 3 Nods Each

Atlanta, GA, August 19, 2008 – Today, The Black Weblog Awards (BWAs) released their list of finalists for the 2008 Awards. By close of the preliminary nomination round on August 16th, campaigning for 2008 consideration received an unprecedented 9,423 votes from devoted blog readers and supporters.

On August 1st, the Black Weblog Awards opened the first round of nominations for this year’s awards, allowing blogs to launch individual campaigns for their avid readers to nominate their favorite blogs. The Black Weblog Awards founded in 2005, has grown to become the Super Bowl for black blogs with previous winners showcasing their 2005, 2006 and 2007 finalist and winner banners on their blogs. Savvy bloggers, in their pursuit for top prize, employed all mediums to launch their personal “Get Out to Vote” nomination and voting strategy. From email blasts, banners with links to Black Weblog Awards’ voting page, Blogtalk radio commercials to routine messages on Twitter, bloggers employed online guerilla tactics to solicit their readers’ votes. “This year’s installment of the Black Weblog Awards has shown immense growth, support, and participation from the blogosphere, particularly through the use of current social media tools”, states Founder, Maurice Cherry.

Categories range from Best Business, Best Sports, Best Faith-based, Best Community, Best New Blog, Best LGBT, Best Fashion, Best Teen, Best Video to Best Celebrity Blogs and more. Front-runner, The People’s News (http://thepeoplesnews.wordpress.com) snags 3 nominations for Best Humor, Best New Blog and 2008 Blog to Watch. Afrobella (www.afrobella.com), the 2007 Popular vote winner for Best Niche and 2007 Judges’ pick for Best Culture Blog, receives nods for Best Style and Fashion, Best Writing and returns again this year as a Best Culture Blog finalist. Young, Black and Fabulous, also called YBF, (www.theybf.com), the 2006 Best Pop Culture winner, dominated in 2007 taking home 7 awards including Best Blog Community, Best Culture Blog, and Best Writing in a Blog. The popular entertainment and gossip blog, also a 2008 BET Awards nominee, attempts to repeat for a third time Blog of the Year and hopes to continue their 2-year reign as the Best Gossip Blog and Best Blog Design.

Initially created to celebrate black blogs and bloggers, the awards platform has evolved from 11 categories (in 2005) to 30 for this year, with each genre awarding both a popular vote, chosen by the general public, and a judges’ pick. Thus, the anticipation for this highly sought-after accolade has reached an all-time high within the black blogosphere and now beyond, garnering the attention of major corporations all vying for cross-promotion and collaborations with the Black Weblog Awards.

The final round of voting ends on August 31st and the 2008 Black Weblog Award winners will be announced on Thursday, September 4, 2008. To read the full list of 2008 finalists visit the Black Weblog Awards’ official site, www.blackweblogawards.com.

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About the Black Weblog Awards
In 2005, the Black Weblog Awards were created to recognize the best black bloggers in the industry and to serve as a platform for supporting and uplifting those shaping the minds of the black community through the use of online technology and communication.

The Black Weblog Awards’ mission is to empower and encourage black bloggers to continue creating more original content, open dialogue, unique story telling and diverse views. “Our lives, our stories and our voices matter.”

Published by BWA Staff in finalists, press release, voting