Who wants to own distribution?
The Times-Picayune and Nola.com — former colleagues, all — have been doing a spectacular job using the web to get their news out because they no longer had presses and trucks and newsstands… and a city. This morning on On the Media, I listened to a good interview with T-P Editor Jim Amos, who said that blogging was absolutely essential to delivering the news. Rex Hammock says they deserve a Pulitzer for their breaking news blog.
I agree. The Pulitzer committee would do journalism well to separate the content from the container, the medium from the message, and recognize good journalism wherever and however it happens.
It’s a helluva hard way to discover the full value of the web (and not a little ironic for me), but the Times-Picayune has done it. And it’s not about PDFs and fancy formatting. The stories are fed into a simple weblog. Get that RSS feed and you will find great reporting from the biggest story there is.
Tags: Media, owningcontent, Weblogs
September 5th, 2005 at 11:01 am
You’re absolutely right. I bookmarked the T-P the day before the storm hit. They’ve done fantastic work under extraordinary circumstances. And, yes, they’re using the right tools, but, as in all journalism, it is what they’re writing that counts.
September 5th, 2005 at 11:42 am
I think they should get more than a Pulitzer - they’ve gone beyond journalism awards, straight into major public service land. I’ve been amazed and very impressed with that organization, and they remind me every day of what a news organization can and should be.
September 5th, 2005 at 11:51 am
Jeff, I think they should get the public service medal. But I do think they shoudl get a REAL pulitzer and not some made up award for blogging. If they get the real award, then the container is absolute separate from the content.
The Pulitzer committee to give newspapers a real push toward the future. But do they have the foresight to do it?
I mean, how will all the crusty newspaper editors be able to take the NOLA blog back to their hotels at night?
Consider the judges….
September 5th, 2005 at 11:53 am
Don’t think any present this morning want to know what I think.
September 5th, 2005 at 12:56 pm
Jeff: Refering to your comment on the vertues of weblog concerning lists of missing, or maintening the information dispite supports had disapered, what would you think about initiating a network of bloglists of constructive long term social propositions in regard to compil them and then make them nationaly public over the Internet and till send them to the Congress?
September 5th, 2005 at 2:56 pm
[...] Two interesting bits from Jeff Jarvis on how The Times-Picayune and nola.com became all-web media in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. In the first he makes the case for a rethinking of the way Pulitzer Prizes are awarded to honour the content, not the container. In the second, he points to a NY Times article on the extraordinary efforts by the Times-Picayune and nola.com and to a link to a relief fund for some of the New Orleans journalists (as many as half of them) who have lost their homes to the disaster. [...]
September 5th, 2005 at 9:08 pm
They should get every journalistic award out there for what they have been through. That is true dedication and true love for their work, city, and the people living there.
September 5th, 2005 at 9:16 pm
[...] The Times-Picayune and Nola.com have been reporting from day one about Katrina, even after having to abandon their offices and printed paper to work exclusively online. These reporters and their staff have been absolutely stellar and deserve every journalistic award out there for what they have gone through to report the news coming out of New Orleans. [...]