Ukrainian Blogger’s Bobs 2013 Award Revoked · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Ukrainian blogger Olena Bilozerska's User Winner prize in the Bobs 2013 Best Blog Ukrainian nomination has been revoked, writes [ru] Mustafa Nayyem, the Ukrainian member of the Bobs 2013 jury, on his Facebook page, linking [ru] to the official statement [uk] posted on the Bobs 2013 website. The scandal (more on it in this GV text) seems far from being over in Ukraine, however, as many netizens are displeased with the decision. Nayyem's Facebook announcement has generated over 150 comments so far, many of them critical of the contest organizers in general and Nayyem in particular. In one of the few English-language comments in that thread, Andreas Umland, a Kyiv-based German political scientist, writes:
Bilozerska has approved of being described as a racist (an “abstinent” though) and reports accordingly in her blog. That is not exactly an advertisement for Ukraine. The attention she and her blog are now receiving because of her “success” does little good for the international reputation of the Ukrainian nation. To be sure: Bilozerska can and should publish her stuff as she likes. But there is no need to give her a prize from a reputed journalistic outlet for that. Apparently, this was a competition for a blogger's popularity. However, it may have actually measured not the breadth of the blogger's reach into the public, but the mobilizational capacity of the blogger's political support group (a bit like the Eurovision contest). Perhaps, this competition needs to be restructured to produce a valid measurement.