(The Industry Standard)

The rules of the Webby Awards limit acceptance speeches to five words. The way the media is talking, you'd think the speeches should be omitted entirely as a sign of respect for dead Webby nominees of yore. And while you're at it, change the dress code to sackcloth and ashes. We're trying to mourn some lost money here.

The weeping and wailing began well in advance of Wednesday's awards ceremony. "All the dead and decaying Web sites that have stacked up in the past year make it tough to ignore the odor of failure permeating the industry," said AP writer Michael Liedtke on Monday. "With the beating that the dot-com industry has taken, the idea of an awards show has something of a hollow ring to it," agreed Wired News' Katie Dean. And it was so substantive before this? We're not talking about the Nobel Peace Prize.

Not every reporter played funeral dirges. The BBC News Online, with its picture of Google executives grinning in silver capes, accepted the event for what it is: a silly awards show. Then again, the BBC ought to be upbeat; it won the award for best radio Web site. The Contra Costa Times published an upbeat article with lots of quotes from Webby boss Tiffany Shlain. ("We're not dead.") ABCNews.com streamed the event and brought in talking head Sam Donaldson to host the Webcast. "I've never been to a Webby, and I've never seen it," Donaldson told the Contra Costa Times beforehand. Swell.com's acceptance speech: "Sam Donaldson, dude, gnarly toupee."

Wired's Farhad Manjoo had a different take. "The Webby Awards aren't a big deal," Manjoo said. "Everyone in the Web world kinda-sorta knows this." But the Webbys are important, said Manjoo, because they raise the right questions about what makes a good Web site, and because nonprofits such as the Independent Media Center get nominated along with doomed online retailers. It's true, there are Webby categories devoted to activism, community, education, art, personal sites and "weird." Maybe next year, rather than rehashing the we-miss-1999 angle, more reporters will read the entire list.

In Search of the Webby Worthy
Wired.com

The Webby Awards
ABCNews.com

'Net Oscars' handed out
BBC.com

Dot-com bust can't stop the Webby Awards party
San Francisco Chronicle

Webbys go on despite dot-bomb threat
USA Today

At Dot-Com Award Fest, First Prize Is Survival
Washington Post (AP)

Webby's Woll With the Punches
Wired.com

Webby Awards strike a note of defiant optimism
SiliconValley.com (Contra Costa Times)

2001 Winner Speeches
WebbyAwards.com

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