For the first time since it began three years ago, the International Weblog Award for best overall blog was given to an English language site. This Saturday the Sunlight Foundation, a funder of NewAssignmetn.Net, was given that honor for their innovative use of network journalism.

The BOBs jury members said:

“they admired the Sunlight Foundation’s work to increase transparency in government and called the project a positive example of how blogs can shape political discourse.

MediaShift’s Mark Glaser and BlogHer’s Lisa Stone, the two English-language judges, joined 11 other bloggers from around the world in nominating and deciding what sites would win.

“The Weblog champion of the world does everything right. A unique and interesting approach to the topic, super design and excellent writing are what it takes to win in the Best Weblog category.”

Much like PaidContent.org, which received an honorable mention for best English language blog, the Sunlight Foundation does have it all, including a new approach to covering their topic. By using a networked style of reporting, the Sunlight Foundation is making government more accountable — and as they earn more recognition and a larger network of citizen journalists, they are sure to keep our government transparent and liable.

Although the award was given to the Sunlight Foundation’s blog, the organization has several projects that are aimed at shinning light on government and giving citizens tools to learn more about our democracy’s vital institutions. This began with Congresspedia in January of 2006 and has continued with cooperative projects like the Congressional Family Business Project and Watchdog 101: A Do-it-yourself Watchdog Guide.