On Tuesday, the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences announced the nominees for the 13th annual the Webby Awards, “the Oscars of the Internet.” The academy selects the nominees and winners of what has been termed “the Internet’s highest honor.” And like in past years, a number of Sunlight’s friends and grantees received nominations. I know that in naming a few I will miss others. Sorry if I didn’t catch all our friends!

The Center for Responsive Politics’ newly redesigned OpenSecrets.org received a nomination in the category of best politics site of 2009. If they were to win, it would be their fifth Webby. The academy nominated Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington’s (CREW) site GovernmentDocs.org, which allows users to easily brouse and search FOIA documents, has been nominated for a Webby in the “Government” category.  (Sunlight has funded both those projects.) In the “Activism” category, Why Tuesday? received a nomination.

In the “Online Film and Video” section’s “News and Politics: Individual Episode” category, American News Project, founded and run by my friend and former colleague Nick Penniman, received a nomination for their investigation titled “Iraq and Drop Weapons.”

The academy decides who the winners will be, but the “People’s Voice” Webby Award is decided by people who go to their site and vote. So, from now till the end of this month, each of us can cast a ballot for the “People’s Voice” award. You can find your own “People’s Voice” ballot here. Lawrence Lessig said OpenSecrets gets his vote.

Congrats to all the nominees!