NEW YORK Stephen Colbert's use of the Internet to connect with fans earned the Comedy Central host special recognition as recipients of the annual Webby awards for Web sites and online achievements were announced yesterday.

Richmond artist Noah Scalin's Skull-a-Day site, www.skulladay.com, was named best personal Web site in the people's choice category. He beat four other nominees to win the Webby People's Voice Award.

"The people have spoken," Scalin, 35, said on his site, which presents a new skull image every day.

The graphic-design consultant -- and possibly a Richmond entourage -- will attend the Webbys gala in New York June 10.

"I'm making a business trip out of it," Scalin said yesterday. Networking opportunities should abound, what with a pre-gala party and post-gala events.

When he accepts his trophy, Scalin will be subject to the winners' five-word-acceptance-speech rule.

"I'm working on it," he said, laughing, "but I don't want to give it away.

"That's definitely the most fun part, to condense your thoughts into five words."

The Webby Awards, and Colbert's in particular, continue to advance the blurring of the lines between television and other forms of media.

A special achievement award went to will.i.am, the Black Eyed Peas frontman behind the popular "Yes We Can" video supporting presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Movie director Michel Gondry won a special mention for encouraging filmmakers around the world to re-create their favorite movies -- the concept behind his film "Be Kind Rewind" -- and share them online.

Meanwhile, The New York Times' online unit won eight regular Webby Awards in such categories as news, mobile listings and animation.

The Onion satire site won seven, while Web sites for Apple Inc. and National Geographic magazine along with a user-confession site, PostSecret, won four awards each.

The awards will be presented during ceremonies June 9 and 10 in New York.

Webby ceremonies are known for their zany tone, with winners limited to five-word acceptance speeches, including Al Gore's "Please don't recount this vote."

As host of cable television's "The Colbert Report," Colbert has managed to persuade fans to inject his version of reality into the user-edited encyclopedia Wikipedia.

He also got Web sites to add enough references to him that a Google search for "greatest living American" at one point brought his Colbert Nation Web site to the top.

In naming him Webby Person of the Year, judges recognized his online fan base and credited him with raising more than $250,000 online for an education charity.

The Webby Artist of the Year was will.i.am, whose inspirational video "Yes We Can" was a viral sensation that has garnered millions of hits since February on Google Inc.'s YouTube alone.

Gondry, who also directed "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," won for Webby Film and Video Person of the Year, largely for an "inventive visual style and storytelling."