Inside PBS Blog

Since 2004 the Best of the Blogs (BOBs) have been recognizing the top blogs, podcasts and vodcasts internationally.  Deutsche Welle, Germany's public broadcaster, organizes the awards.  PBS' own Mark Glaser was on the jury.
The BOBs challenge judges from all over the world to evaluate the abilities of bloggers creating content in 11 different languages.

"I think a common element among the winners is a sense of universality, a blog that can transcend language or cultural barriers," Glaser said. "To win the votes of judges who come from around the world, you need to demonstrate that the blog you nominated is special and stands out."

This map on the BOBs web site shows a sampling of this year's submissions. Voices of Africa, a site that aggregates community-generated journalism from over 30 African countries, won Best Videoblog. Users produce the site's stories using mobile phones and wireless Internet.

Glaser described the great lengths that some bloggers have to go to in order to get their work published. Yoani Sanchez, author of Generacion Y, has to email her writing to someone in another country, who then posts the entries to her blog because of limited Internet access and the lack of freedom of the press in Cuba.

As someone who works in social media here in the U.S., the BOBs are a reminder that we can derive great inspiration from the amazing work being done outside our own borders.

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