Website worthy of a visit

Hailed as the "online Oscars" by Time magazine, the Webby Awards are determined by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a global organisation with a membership that includes musician David Bowie; Virgin Group founder, Richard Branson; The Body Shop president, Anita Roddick; Simpsons creator, Matt Groening; Real Networks CEO, Rob Glaser; and fashion designer Max Azria.

"The Webby Awards honours outstanding websites that are setting the standards for the internet," says Tiffany Shlain, creative director and founder of the Webby Awards.

"The M&G Online's Webby Worthy selection is a testament to the skill, ingenuity and vision of its creators."

Loren Naish, who produced the M&G Online's South African elections interactive guide for which the site was recognised, says: "Our elections guide was enormously popular and unique, using the latest Flash technology, which added interactivity and excitement to our election coverage.

"We hope to do more of this kind of work in the future and continue pushing the envelope as far as interactivity is concerned."

The ninth annual Webby Awards received a record number of entries from more than 40 countries. Out of the more than 4000 entries submitted, less than 20% were deemed Webby Worthy.

Other Webby Worthy sites chosen this year are: CNN.com, CBS.com, Shockwave.com, The History Channel, Disney Online and National Geographic News.