Colbert, Will.I.Am Are Among Recipients

NEW YORK – Stephen Colbert’s use of the Internet to connect with fans earned the Comedy Central host special recognition as the recipients of the annual Webby awards for Web sites and online achievements were announced Tuesday.

A special achievement award also went to will.i.am, the Black Eyed Peas frontman behind the popular Yes We Can video supporting presidential candidate Barack Obama. Movie director Michel Gondry won a special mention for encouraging filmmakers around the world to re-create their favorite movies – the concept behind his film Be Kind Rewind – and share them online.

The New York Times’ online unit won eight regular Webby Awards. The Onion satire site won seven, and Web sites for Apple Inc. and National Geographic magazine, along with a user-confession site, PostSecret, won four awards each.

The awards will be presented during ceremonies June 9 and 10 in New York. Webby ceremonies are known for their zany tone, with winners limited to five-word acceptance speeches, including Al Gore’s “Please don’t recount this vote.”

As the host of cable television’s The Colbert Report, Mr. Colbert has persuaded fans to inject his version of reality into the user- edited encyclopedia Wikipedia while getting Web sites to add enough references to him that a Google search for “greatest living American” at one point brought his Colbert Nation Web site to the top.

In naming him Webby Person of the Year, judges recognized his online fan base and credited him with raising more than $250,000 online for an education charity.

Originally published by Associated Press.

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