SUNLIGHT FOUNDATION SITE NAMED ‘BEST BLOG’

International jury places Sunlight at tops for ‘prose, creativity, design, and user friendliness’

November 13, 2006

Contact: Gabriela Schneider 202-742-1520 ext 236

WASHINGTON, DC – The 2006 International Weblog Awards are out, and the Sunlight Foundation’s website ( www.sunlightfoundation.com ) has been named the “Best Blog” in the world, by an international panel of thirteen bloggers. The competition, nicknamed Best of the Blogs (BOB) is organized by German broadcasting company Deutche-Welle. The panel judged thousands of blogs on the basis of their “prose, creativity, design, and user friendliness.” According to the contest organizers, “During a day-long conference, the BOBs jury members said they admired the Sunlight Foundation's work to increase transparency in government and called the project a positive example of how blogs can shape political discourse. The watchblog was also praised for its potential to be adapted for use in other countries.” “Of course, we’re very excited to be bestowed with this honor and receive recognition for our work. But, this award belongs, equally, to the number of citizen journalists who visit our blog, take part in the conversation, and collaborate with our staff to shine sunlight on the inner-workings of our government,” said Ellen Miller, executive director of the Sunlight Foundation. “Without our online community of Sunlighters, our blog wouldn’t be as robust as it is.” Last year's Best of the Blogs competition received over 2,500 Weblog submissions and over 130,000 people took part in an online voting process to choose the contest's audience favorites. Deutche-Welle’s partners for the award are: Reporters Without Borders, Radio Netherlands, Global Voices Online (USA), Handelsblatt.com (Germany), Zeit Online (Germany) LeMonde.fr (France), Categorynet (Belgium), Clarín.com (Argentina), NRC Handelsblad (Netherlands), Folha Online (Brazil), UOL (Brazil), Lenta.ru (Russia), Rambler.ru (Russia), Maktoob (Jordan), Iran-Emrooz.net (Iran), Gooya (Iran), and Sina (China). Founded in January, 2006, the mission of the Sunlight Foundation is to strengthen the relationship between lawmakers and their constituents. Sunlight puts information and tools in citizens’ hands so they can learn more about what Congress and their elected representatives are doing. Our ultimate goal of full transparency by Congress, its Members and staff will help reduce corruption, ensure greater accountability, and foster public trust in this vital institution of democracy. ###