It was just announced we’re nominated for what the New York Times calls “the Oscars of the Internet,” the Webby Awards! We’re nominated for Best Activism Website, but the Webby winners aren’t just the judge’s picks! Click here to vote for Why Tuesday? to win the Webby People’s Voice award.

Here’s the press release we sent out this morning.

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PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jacob Soboroff
@WhyTuesday on Twitter

WHY TUESDAY? NOMINATED FOR BEST ACTIVISM WEBSITE IN THE 13th ANNUAL WEBBY AWARDS

Fans Can Vote Online to Help Why Tuesday? Win Internet’s Top Honor

Why Tuesday? Videos Also Among Official Webby Honorees

LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 14, 2009 - Why Tuesday?, the 501(c)3 dedicated to increasing American voter participation and turnout in elections, announced today that it has been nominated for Best Activism Website in the 13th Annual Webby Awards.

It was also announced today that Why Tuesday? has been chosen as an Official Webby Honoree for two online videos: “A Famous PSA” starring Kirsten Dunst, and “Why Vote Tuesday?” starring U.S. Representative Steve Israel of New York.

Hailed as the “Internet’s highest honor” by the New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet.

Why Tuesday? was founded in 2005 by Ambassador Andrew Young, American Enterprise Institute Resident Scholar Norman J. Ornstein, and New York Civil Rights leader and lawyer William B. Wachtel, to bring attention to America’s broken voting system, which ranks near the bottom of all countries worldwide in voter turnout. In 2007, with the guidance of advisors including political consultant Joe Trippi, Why Tuesday? relaunched online as a Web 2.0 documentary video blog.

“Nominees like Why Tuesday? are setting the standard for innovation and creativity on the Internet,” said David-Michel Davies, executive director of the Webby Awards. “It is an incredible achievement to be selected among the best from the nearly 10,000 entries we received this year.”

“Despite the excitement of the 2008 campaign, all the early predictions of record voter turnout were wrong,” said Jacob Soboroff, Why Tuesday? Executive Director. “Turnout was up, but barely higher than in 2004. As the New York Times editorialized just a few weeks ago, the American voting system is still broken. This Webby nomination and selection as an Official Honoree validates our decision to use and continue using the tools of the internet to be a megaphone for the disenfranchised.”

As a nominee, Why Tuesday? is also eligible to win a Webby People’s Voice Award, which is voted online by the global Web community. From now until April 30th, Why Tuesday? fans can cast their votes in The Webby People’s Voice Awards at http://pv.webbyawards.com Winners will be announced on May 5th, 2009 and honored at a star-studded ceremony in New York City on June 8th hosted by Seth Meyers. Winners will be able to share one of the Webby’s famous five-word speeches with the world. Past Webby Award winners - and their speeches - include Al Gore (”Please don’t recount this vote.”), Beastie Boys (”Can anyone fix my computer?”), and Stephen Colbert (”Me. Me. Me. Me. Me.”).

The Webby Awards is presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a 650-person judging academy whose members include Internet co-inventor Vinton Cerf, R/GA’s Chief Bob Greenberg, “Simpson’s” creator Matt Groening, Arianna Huffington, and Harvey Weinstein.

ABOUT WHY TUESDAY?

Why Tuesday? a non-profit, non-partisan 501(c)3 organization founded in 2005 to raise awareness about the state of America’s voting system and to find solutions to increase voter turnout and participation in elections. Using Web 2.0 technology, Why Tuesday? provides a platform for national dialogue about the current voting system, problems with our current voting system, and solutions that can directly improve the voting process, increase registration and drive turnout. The Why Tuesday? documentary video blog has been seen millions of times across multiple online and traditional media platforms, including national news outlets. Why Tuesday? was the recipient of the Film Your Issue Award as well as being the only non-mainstream news outlet nominated for the 2008 Webby Award for Best Political Blog.

ABOUT THE WEBBY AWARDS

Hailed as the “Internet’s highest honor” by the New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet, including Websites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile web sites. Established in 1996, the 13th Annual Webby Awards received nearly 10,000 entries from all 50 states and over 60 countries worldwide. The Webby Awards is presented by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. Sponsors and Partners of The Webby Awards include: Microsoft Silverlight; The Creative Group; .ORG; Getty Images; The Barbarian Group; Digital Kitchen; Wired; IDG; PricewaterhouseCoopers; 2advanced.Net; KobeMail and Museum of the Moving Image.