The New York Times and Facebook Collaborate on Interactive Oscar Ballot Online Application

The New York Times (www.nytimes.com) and Facebook (www.facebook.com) are joining forces on a social media project that will allow users to cast and share their interactive ballots for this year’s Academy Awards with their Facebook friends.

Users can access the Oscar Ballot App on NYTimes.com to view the official nominations and select a winner for each category. From there they can share their Oscar "picks” and view and comment on their friends’ votes, using Facebook’s new Timeline app features, which are designed to make it easier for people to share activities and discover new content.

Facebook’s celebs page (www.facebook.com/celebs) will also feature a New York Times Oscars ballot module, where users will be able to cast their initial votes on Facebook and immediately share them with friends, as well as gain access to the latest Times coverage of all the nominees. Times reporters and critics are expected to submit their own predictions, in addition to other notable public figures.

"The Academy Awards is a truly social event, and teaming up with Facebook is a natural fit for The Times ballot,” said Jim Schachter, associate managing editor for The New York Times. "Our technology lets you see which films and actors your friends think will win. And on Oscar night, you’ll be able to see in real time how your choices stack up against your friends’ and various celebrities’ picks.”

"The Academy Awards has always been a social experience for film aficionados all over the world,” said Justin Osofsky, director of platform partnerships at Facebook. "This collaboration makes it easy and fun to share your favorite films, actors and actresses with friends and to discover their movie picks.”

The Times’s live Oscar interactive coverage on Sunday, February 26, will also feature a dashboard (Oscars.NYTimes.com/Dashboard) with live coverage including a red carpet fashion slide show, play-by-play commentary from The Carpetbagger blog, dynamically updated ballot results and live video featuring A.O. Scott, Times film critic, and David Carr, Times media reporter, broadcasting live from The Paley Center for Media in New York City (paleycenter.org).

About The New York Times Company

The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT), a leading global, multimedia news and information company with 2010 revenues of $2.4 billion, includes The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, The Boston Globe, NYTimes.com, BostonGlobe.com, Boston.com, About.com and related properties. The Company’s core purpose is to enhance society by creating, collecting and distributing high-quality news, information and entertainment.

About Facebook

Founded in February 2004, Facebook's mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected. Anyone can sign up for Facebook and interact with the people they know in a trusted environment. Facebook is a privately held company and is headquartered in Menlo Park, Calif.

This press release can be downloaded from www.nytco.com.