NOW Lebanon has received five web awards, including an award for most awarded website, at the 2008 Lebanon Web Awards last Thursday.

NOW Lebanon received the Strategic Media News Portal Award, the Gold Award for Media & Press, the Microsoft Award, selected by Microsoft upon use of their technologies, the Web of the Year Award, for the website that received the highest rating from the Jury, and the Diamond Award, for the most awarded website.

“It is a great honor to have received this recognition from Lebanon Web Awards," said Walid Abboud, Executive Director of NOW Lebanon.  “This past year has been a formative one for NOW Lebanon, and it is very gratifying for us to be acknowledged both for our strategic direction in the media and our innovative use of technology."

The Lebanon Web Awards is a competition for web and business developers in Lebanon with the objectives of promoting the spirit of innovation and creativity, raising the standards of web design and websites, advocating the growth and development of local talents, promoting intellectual property awareness and encouraging all sectors to become involved in the digital economy. 

The Lebanon Web Awards began in 2003, and after a two-year pause from 2006-2007, the competition was revived this year under the newly established Pan Arab Web Awards Academy.  120 media outlets entered this year’s competition.

Born out of the massive display of popular support for Lebanese democracy and sovereignty that was the 2005 Cedar Revolution, NOW Lebanon is a website that provides comprehensive coverage and analysis of key issues and news, allowing readers to learn about and participate in the country's social and political landscape. 

NOW Lebanon’s breakthrough moment came in May 2008, when, during the four days of civil unrest sparked by Hezbollah's takeover of West Beirut, NOW Lebanon became an invaluable source of news for the world's media and Lebanese living abroad. It received widespread praise for its timely, accurate and balanced coverage of the events at a time fraught with religious, social and political tension. NOW Lebanon is also regularly quoted in Lebanese media, a testament to the high quality of its reporting.

Non-sectarian and staffed by Lebanese of all religions, NOW Lebanon’s foundations rest on the vital pursuit of an independent, democratic, liberal and prosperous Lebanon, with equal rights and opportunities for all its citizens.

NOW Lebanon is funded entirely by the private sector and individual donations, freeing it from the demands of advertisers and enabling it to better represent and cater to its readers at home and abroad, who have made it one of the most popular news websites in Lebanon.

-NOW Staff