The JIB (Jewish and Israeli Blog) Awards – Introduction
Aussie Dave | Dec 27, 2004 | 11 comments
From the Oh-not-another-weblog-awards department, I am proud to present the inaugural JIB Awards.
The word JIB, besides being an acronym for Jewish and Israeli blog, also represents the small triangular sail of a sailboat, as compared to the main sails. The jib’s role is to direct the wind into the main sail, just like a role of Jewish, Israeli, and pro-Israel bloggers is to direct world opinion in favor of Israel. And to really stretch the metaphor, the object of these awards is to direct new readers towards Jewish, Israeli, and pro-Israel blogs.
While weblog awards of this kind mean little in the grand scheme of things, they are a fun way to increase blog readership, and, in the case of the JIB Awards, promote Jewish, Israeli, and pro-Israel blogs.
Which leads to the next question: what are Jewish, Israeli, and pro-Israel blogs?
Jewish and Israeli blogs are simply those blogs written by Jewish and Israeli bloggers. Pro-Israel blogs are blogs that present Israel’s side of the conflict to the world, and can (and thankfully often do) include blogs written by non-Jewish bloggers.
Given the aim of these awards, blogs written by Jewish and Israeli bloggers, but which take an anti-Israel stand, are inelegible. For instance, it would be a travesty for Noam Chomsky to be nominated for these awards.
(A more extensive description of all of the rules will be posted at a later stage)
I want to keep these awards relatively simple. As a first step, I have come up with the following categories.
* Added per feedback received
Note that I have not divided the categories up along the lines of political orientation. The idea behind these awards is to promote inclusiveness, rather than fracticiousness. In addition, I have split diaspora and Israeli blogs, so as to include as many blogs as possible (which is consistent with the aim of these awards).
I welcome any suggestions as to any additional categories. Please make your suggestions in the comments.
The categories will be closed in the next day or two, after which I will post the rules, as well as take nominations for each category. Check back at this blog for updates.
(Thank you to David Bogner for his wise counsel as to the name of the awards, categories, and a whole lot more).
From the Oh-not-another-weblog-awards department, I am proud to present the inaugural JIB Awards.
About the Author
An Australian immigrant to Israel, Aussie Dave has been blogging since early 2003.Filed Under: Blog Announcements • JIB Awards 2004
Hello David,
My name is Jose and i’m a sefaradi jewish from Madrid, Spain. I’ve got a blog two years ago, Desde Sefarad (desde-sefarad.blogspot.com). Can I to participe in these awards? My blog is written in spanish.
Shalom & Kisses!
Un abrazo!
I will add the categories
Best Non-English Language Blog (Israel)
Best Non-English Language Blog (Diaspora)
You should have a category for ‘best single post’
Nice idea.
Just a couple comments/suggestions:
1- I don’t understand the difference between the Journalism award and the Israel Advocacy award. It seems to be splicing hairs. What do you mean by differentiating between them?
2- I recommend a category for “best Israel slice-of-life” blog, for which I’d recommend Treppenwitz and On the Face.
3- I do not think that differentiations should be made between blogs that originate in Israel and those that originate in the diaspora.
That’s my three agurot. Best of luck!
Sarah
There should be a separate category for blogs about Israel or life in Israel. I agree that it doesn’t matter where the author(s) is/are located.
There certainly don’t need to be separate Israel and Diaspora versions of each category.
Category suggestions:
Best political blog
Best personal blog (i.e., non-political)
Best anonymous blog
Best non-anonymous blog (is there a word for this?)
Best blog by a public figure (i.e. well-known journalist, rabbi, etc.)
I don’t think “Best non-English language blog” is a realistic category. How will it be judged? Is someone going to compare every Hebrew, Russian, French, Italian, Spanish, etc. blog related to Jews/Israel?
I agree with Zman Biur about the categories.
Also, I think there should be a category of best academic blog. Obviously I’d like to be considered in such a category but there are a number of excellent blogs, such as HeadHeeb, PaleoJudaica, and AJHistory, that deserve recognition.
And there definitely should be a special category for anonymous Chassidic blogs (or should we open it up to all anonymous frum blogs?)….
Registering to comment is a pain. Took too long, and I had to go check an email. Ok, now for my 2 cents on this idea, which I think is great:
1 – Making a distinction between israel, and non-Israel blogs is arbitrary, and not needed
2 – There is no distinction between journalism and advocacy. It’s the same.
3 – There MUST be a distinction made between group blogs and solo blogs.
4- Don’t award best design. We’re writers. Not designers. The guy who hired an artist to spruce up his site doesn’t deserve any acknowledgment for that.
5 – All these categories are going to create defintion dillemas. What’sa photo-blog? Trepenwitz runs photos. Does he qualify?
More on my blog: http://dovbear.blogspot.com/2004/12/my-two-cents-jib-award.html
including my proposed list of categories.
I want to add, that best individual posts should get recognized, too. Best post, funniest post, etc.
I really think all these subcategories (Best Israeli, annymous, hasidic advocate for Israel blog) is just going to confuse things. Keep it simple.
Finally, remember to acknowledge the best commenter.
I do think the Israel / diaspora distinction is a bit off. I mean we have a group blog, you may have heard of it, http://www.jewlicious.com, and currently 2 of our bloggers live in Israel, 2 live in the diaspora and one keeps flitting back and forth. Mind you, we totally suck, so I guess it’ll never really come up.
DovBear is right about registration here. Annoying!
I’m with Shawn on Best academic blog.
If you’re going for more specific categories, why not get down to brass tacks:
Best singles/dating blog
Best family blog
Best ba’al teshuva blog
Best heresy blog
Best current affairs blog
Best music blog
Best shechita blog
and, of course:
Best blog name
BTW: Will there be a nomination process?
What is with all the whining about registration? With the amount of effort you guys have put into complaining, you could have registered ten times over! Just get over it.
As for your other suggested categories, see my new post on the Awards. I want to stay away from too many categories. I think my new list is closer to the mark; I will seriously consider the Best Blog Name category, though.
There will certainly be a nomination process, which I will post about after the categories are finalized. I will say this though: unlike on other Blog Awards, the process will be transparent, meaning that all blogs nominated will be in the voting. The only thing left to my discretion will be whether a nominated blog truly belongs to the category for which it was nominated.