Deutsche Welle [1]‘s annual competition The Best of the Blogs [2] is now open for public voting.
The competition awards recognition to those sites which [3]“champion the open exchange of ideas and freedom of expression. ” There are six main categories [4], and 14 language-specific categories. The winners are determined both by a jury [5] (including many GV'ers or GV-affiliates!) as well as public voting for “People's Choice” awards. You can cast your vote [6] until May 7, 2014.
There are many amazing entires, but here is a smattering of those which have been nominated:
> Visualizing Palestine [7]
The infographics at Visualizing Palestine provide a window into the daily lives of Palestinians and Palestinian refugees. Visualizations rely on UN and NGO data to paint a picture of displacements, Middle East peace talks, employment and administrative detention. (Nominated for best Social Activism [8] and People's Choice for English [9])
> تكنولوجيا مفتوحة [10]
An initiative spreading open source software in Egypt, OpenIT believes the open source philosophy has economic, social and cultural impacts on society. The founder decided to tour Egypt on a bike to teach people in poor and rural areas. (Nominated for best Social Activism) [8]
> Mi Mundo [11]
A photo-journalism blog, Mi Mundo documents human rights in Central America and the Andean Region. It is particularly focused on covering topics affecting marginalized communities. (Nominated for best Social Activism) [8]
> Rio $urreal [12]
With the sun, the beach, the World Cup and Olympics, Rio de Janeiro is turning into one of the world’s most expensive cities. Locals have taken to the Facebook campaign Rio $urreal to protest against the unjustifiable increase in prices. In addition to venting about surreal prices, people can also find tips on places to go where price gouging does not occur. (Nominated for the Global Media Forum Award [13])
> Є люди… [14]
A Facebook community created by former journalist Kristina Berdynskikh, this campaign is devoted to the ordinary people who arrived to support Euro-Maidan and to inspire the revolution in Ukraine. It features small stories about everyday heroes. (Nominated for best Social Activism) [8]
> حكاية ما إنحكت [15]
Syria Untold identifies itself as source of non-breaking news. Rather than reporting the unfolding events, they cover and study the cultural and political movements in Syria now and their effect on the society.(Nominated for the Global Media Forum Award [13])
> Cartazes dos protestos [16]
What started as a protest against an increase in bus ticket prices in Sao Paulo spread across all of Brazil in 2013. A wave of protest flooded the country and the Tumblr Cartazes dos Protestos (Signs from Protests) gave demonstrators the opportunity to make their demands public. The Tumblr eventually developed in to a barometer of the protests’ severity. (Nominated for Most Creative and Original [17])
> BanglaBraille [18]
The BanglaBraille project aims to create braille and audio textbooks for visually impaired school children in Bangladesh. BanglaBraille uses the power of crowdsourcing and social media to assemble a team of dedicated volunteers using Internet-based collaboration to transcribe textbooks into digital form for both print and audio books. (Nominated for Best Innovation [19] award)
> Poderopedia [20]
Poderopedia is a collaborative platform mapping structural corruption by keeping track of and showing the connections among powerful people and their interests. (Nominated for Best Innovation [19] award)
> सीजीनेट स्वर [21]
Citizen journalists send voice news reports via mobile which are then published on this portal, CGNet Swara. The service reaches people who do not have access to other sources of news in some of the most rural areas of India. It also circumvents the problem of the unavailability of radio waves, which are owned and licensed by the state, in India for private use. (Nominated for Best Innovation [19] award)
> Kızlı Erkekli Ev [22]
This blog appeared after Prime Minister Erdogan’s statements against co-ed habitation. This blog collects contributions from citizens who send photos and videos of living and staying together. (Nominated for People's Choice for Turkish [23])
> صداهای ایران [24]
Iran Voices is an Ushahidi-based platform that allows its users to tag news on the map of Iran. Iran Voices is created in order to collect and report news from different parts of Iran, especially from cities and rural areas which are less paid attention to in the mainstream media. (Nominated for a Global Media Forum Award [13])
Rising Voices endorse any of these selections – but rather encourages you to check out the great (and long) list of nominees and to vote! Images taken from the BOBs website.