San Francisco - The internet might not be the death of traditional media after all. Three of the most hallowed old media enterprises dominated the Webby awards announced Tuesday, with the online wing of National Public Radio winning seven awards, and the New York Times and NBC each nabbing six apiece for their online offerings.

Britain's BBC and Guardian newspaper also swept up some awards. The New York Times had led the pack of nominees with 13 nods.

Presentation of the 13th annual Webby Awards, which are sometimes called the Oscars of the internet, will take place on June 8 in New York.

Unlike the Oscars, winners are traditionally limited to an acceptance speech of five words. That should suit microblogging site Twitter, which was named breakout of the year.

Comedian Jimmy Fallon was named person of the year for testing his new talk show with internet webisodes before debuting it on NBC. Trent Resnor of the Nine Inch Nails was named artist of the year for making his 2008 album, The Slip, available for free on the band's website.

NPR.org was named the best radio site while the New York Times was honoured for best practices and best writing.

"All of this year's winners embrace the internet as the medium where they can take risks, experiment, and share new ideas," said the Webby Awards' David-Michel Davies. "Their vision and creativity, like those of all our winners, have helped make the internet a richer, more exciting, and more vibrant experience."

TheOnion.com won for best humour site, while the BBC won for best news site and best lifestyle for its climate action site at http://www.bbc.co.uk/bloom/.

The Guardian picked up three awards including best newspaper, while The Atlantic.com was named the best online magazine. Sundance Channel (http://www.sundancechannel.com) was named best movie site. The Huffington Post won for best political site, and Yahoo's OMG site at http://omg.yahoo.com/ was named best celebrity site.

Nike's customizable shoe site Nikeid was named best retail site but Adidas won for best home page. Kayak.com won for best travel site, while NASA's Cassini Mission Website, (http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov), was named best science site.