Roy Harris Jr. of the Christian Science Monitor, which recently transformed itself into an online-only news organization, writes that the recognition of Web-based journalism could reinvigorate the profession:
It’s time to reinvent the Pulitzers. Yes, daily papers suffer from waves of newsroom cutbacks, budget constriction, and coverage issues. But the business has been down before – at least journalistically. And at that time, the early 1900s, it was the advent of the Pulitzer Prizes that rescued papers from the riptide of sensational “yellow journalism.” With the first Pulitzers in 1917, reporters and editors suddenly found themselves mentioned alongside celebrated novelists and playwrights. Founder Joseph Pulitzer’s idea to elevate the best US newspapers helped usher in an era of excellent journalism.
Today, if the Pulitzers recognized excellence across a wider range of print and electronic content, they could help lift journalism once more.
[Continue reading e-Pulitzers]
The first Pultizer won by an online-only news agency would be a great boon for the so-called “new media.” However, one also wonders what it would do to the morale of the old.
