NSA Files: Decoded takes best practice award, with two prizes for online video in the news and drama categories

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

The Guardian has picked up three Webby awards for work including interactive coverage of the NSA files and a video report on the exploitation of migrant workers in Qatar.

Guardian News & Media, the publisher of the Guardian and Observer and theguardian.com network, collected three of 22 Webbys awarded to UK companies.

The Guardian's NSA Files: Decoded, which gave web users a chance to learn what Edward Snowden's revelations about mass government surveillance might mean for them, won the Webby in the best practices category.

GNM also won two Webbys for online video in the news and drama categories.

An investigative report – Qatar: the migrant workers forced to work for no pay in World Cup host country –won the Webby for news and politics, series, in the online film and video category.

The nine-minute 30 second report uncovered the exploitation of workers being used to deliver Qatar's rapid expansion ahead of hosting the football World Cup in 2022.

GNM's third Webby went to Columbite Tantalite, a short film by actor Chiwetel Ejiofor co-produced and submitted in conjunction with the Young Vic theatre, for best drama, individual short or episode.

The 13-minute film, written and directed by Ejiofor, is a post-colonial parable about the west's hunger for African mineral wealth and the Democratic Republic of the Congo's struggle to come to terms with its past.

Other UK Webby winners included the BBC – which won two Webby awards for best news on mobile devices and best practices for its foreign language news sites – in categories determined by public vote.

Jamie Oliver's production company, Fresh One TV, picked up two Webbys for the chef's YouTube channel, best how-to/DIY and best web personality or host.

The New York Times won two Webbys, picking up awards for best news and best practices for its iPhone app. Best business blog went to Mashable and best political blog to The Atlantic.

The winner of the Webby for best community went to Tumblr, which also won the people's vote for best social. However, the official judging panel awarded best social media to six-second video site Vine, which also won best use of mobile video.

The New Yorker picked up best writing (editorial) and best podcasts.

The Webby awards, which are often described as "the Oscars of the internet", are presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a 550-member body of leading web experts, business figures, luminaries, visionaries and creative celebrities. • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email media@theguardian.com or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".

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