PHILADELPHIA – FactCheck.org, a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, has been awarded a “Personal Voice” award for the best Web site in the “politics” category. This is the third year in a row that FactCheck.org has been honored in the Webby awards competition.

FactCheck.org is a web site that monitors the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews, and news releases. This year, over 500,000 votes were cast by people around the world for their favorite sites, videos, and ads in The Webby People’s Voice Awards. FactCheck.org was one of five sites nominated in the “politics” category, and won in the voting for the “People’s Voice” award over a field that included the popular Huffington Post

“We are deeply grateful for the continued support of our subscribers, whose votes made this possible,” said Brooks Jackson, director of Annenberg Political Fact Check. “I think the most important effect we've had is to move other news organizations to take on more fact-checking of political claims. We saw more of that in 2008 than I can recall in any previous election. That's a good thing for voters.”

FactCheck.org had heavy traffic during the 2008 Presidential Campaign, and remains one of the top go-to web sites for getting “just the facts” on political issues.

“We also take some ‘parental’ pride in the success of Politifact.com, which just won the Pulitzer Prize for national reporting,” Jackson said. “The founder, St. Petersburg Times Washington Bureau Chief Bill Adair, has always credited us with inspiring him to set that site up. I think the Pulitzer committee’s action reinforces the message that this kind of reporting is valued, both by the public and by news professionals.”

Hailed as “the only award show for Internet sites that matter” by the Los Angeles Times, the Webby Awards is a leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet. "The Webby Awards honors the very best of the Internet," said David-Michel Davies, executive director of The Webby Awards. "Factcheck.org’s win is a testament to the skill, ingenuity, and vision of its creators."

Annenberg Political Fact Check of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania is funded mainly by the Annenberg Foundation. The APPC was established by publisher and philanthropist Walter Annenberg in 1994 to create a community of scholars within the University of Pennsylvania that would address public policy issues at the local, state and federal levels.

FactCheck.org is funded primarily from the APPC endowment, and grants from the Annenberg Foundation and the Flora Family Foundation. More information on Annenberg Political Fact Check can be found at http://www.factcheck.org/.