In response to the expansion of different forms of media being utilized by newspapers on their websites, the Pulitzer Prize announced this week that it will now accept video and interactive graphics as part of their submissions. According to an AP article on Editor and Publisher's website,
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."
Only earlier this year did the Pulitzer Board begin to allow online content to be submitted under all entries, but was previously restricted to still images and written stories. These new multi-media submissions will be part of the new Local Reporting category replacing the Beat Reporting category established in 1991.
Creating the Local Reporting category "places particular emphasis on local news coverage, which is really the lifeblood of newspapers both in print and online," Gissler said. Entries can either be a special project or sustained coverage of city, state or regional issues that matter to the paper's core readership, Gissler said.
This new allowance lends credence to new forms of merging media. It seems that online journalism has proven itself. With the move towards interactive and online-based journalism, could we someday see a Pulitzer Prize winning blogger?
Laura Palotie @ December 5, 2006 - 8:23pm
A Pulitzer-winning blogger may not exist in a very distant future at all. It can easily be said by now that it is citizen journalism that shapes public discussion, and is closer to old-fashioned muckraking than publications tied to a large corporation. If awarding fundamentals of journalism is one of the aims of the Pulitzer, then a recognizing a blogger would be a logical development.
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