PCIJ blog adjudged best in podcasting

THE PCIJ blog was declared the best in the Podcast category at the 2008 Digital Filipino Web Awards held last November 5 at the Mall of Asia.

The PCIJ’s three-year-old blog received the recognition from DigitalFilipino.com, a community of electronic commerce professionals and enthusiasts.

This is the second time that DigitalFilipino is giving out the awards, which are aimed to advocate the use of the Internet and e-commerce for business development, through the identification, promotion, and highlighting of the best e-commerce practices from various websites in the Philippines.

Having acquired skills to do radio features, the PCIJ editorial staff began uploading podcasts via The PCIJ Channel in late 2005, the same year that the Center launched its blog. At the time, the Center was the only news organization in the Philippines that had podcasting capability. Today, PCIJ podcasts also include excerpts from PCIJ reports, as well as interviews and recordings of events that the PCIJ writers cover.

Among the most downloaded audio materials on the PCIJ blog are the podcast interviews from “Edsa 20/20,” the Center’s multimedia presentation on the 20th anniversary of the First People Power revolt in 2006, and the “Hello, Garci” tapes which the PCIJ first made public in July 2005. The three-hour recordings had a female voice resembling that of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo talking to an election official (Virgilio Garcillano) about the 2004 poll fraud.

Last year, the PCIJ blog also bagged the Best News and Media Blog award at the first Philippine Blog Awards.

DigitalFilipino also awarded winners in 33 other categories chosen by a panel of judges using the following criteria: search engine readiness, content/organization, structure and navigation, design and functionality, technical performance, and interactivity.

Below is the complete list of winners in their respective categories:

• Apparel/Fashion Category — Tesoro’s Philippine Handicrafts and Barongs
• Art Category — Hiraya
• Association/Organization Category — Information Technology Association of the Philippines
• Auction/Shopping Portal Category — KabayanCentral
• Automotive Category — AutoIndustriya
• Beauty Category — Godiva
• Blog (Corporate Category) — The Belo Medical Group Blog
• Blog (Personal Category) — The D Spot
• Blog (Professional Category) — Tech at Hand
• Books Category — OMF Literature
• Community Category — TipidPC
• Computer/Consumer Electronics Category — Villman Computers Philippines
• Consumer Banking/Bills Payment Category — Philippine National Bank
• Corporate/Professional Category — Syntactics
• Events/Conferences Category — WordCamp Philippines
• Financial Services Category — Absolute Traders
• Food Category — Filipino Recipes
• Games Category — RF Online Philippines
• Gifts Category — Express Regalo
• Guides/Review Category — ClickTheCity.com
• Home Furnishings/Improvement Category — Philippine Interior Design & Feng Shui Tips
• Jobs/Employment Category — MyNimo
• Magazine Category — Candymag.com
• Music/Movie/Film Category — TitikPilipino
• Newspaper Category — Inquirer.net
• Pharmaceuticals Category — GlaxoSmithKline Philippines
• Podcast Category — The Daily PCIJ
• Politics Category — Filipino Voices
• Real Estate Category — BF Homes Properties
• School/University Category — De La Salle University – Manila
• Services Category — Load.com.ph
• Social Networking Category — GreatPinoy!
• Tourism Category — Cebu CeBoom CeBlog
  
• Travel Category — Philippine Airlines