PressEthic

Evidence of the shifting media landscape has become increasingly apparent recently, and the Pulitzer Prize has taken notice. An article on Editor and Publisher online reported that the Pulitzer Prize will now accept entries from newspapers that contain video and/or interactive graphics. The article states:

Allowing more online material "was the next logical step," said Sig Gissler, administrator of the Pulitzers. "It emphasizes blended journalism and that's where newspapers are today."

What is interesting about this is that historically, the Pulitzer Prize has been awarded to outstanding pieces of American print journalism. It seems we may be reaching an age in which the terms defining mediums will become extinct.

This may be just another step in the convergence of media vehicles, as the internet continues to become perhaps the most important outlet for news. During election night of the mid-term elections earlier this month, television websites came out on top as leading election night coverage, according to a report by the Project for Excellence in Journalism. An article in The New York Times reported:

There were winners on Election Day other than the Democrats. In the race for best media coverage, the winners were television Web sites, according to a report by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, which followed 32 different outlets, including newspaper Web sites, television programs, blogs, magazine Web sites and aggregators like Google and Yahoo.

The Web sites of both network and cable television delivered results quickly, allowing users to dig as deeply as they wanted into exit poll information and interactive maps with reports on hundreds of races.

“Most news organizations are still finding their way in this new multimedia environment,” said the report, compiled by Tom Rosenstiel, director of the project, which is affiliated with the Pew Research Center.

The BBC reported Monday that the proliferation of online videos not only affects the way consumers get information, but may also decrease the time spent viewing television. According to the article, "Some 43% of Britons who watch video from the internet or on a mobile device at least once a week said they watched less normal TV as a result." The article goes on to explain that Britain is behind the U.S. in terms of television programs being made available online, but seems it is only a matter of time before the shifting media landscape goes global.