PressEthic

Wow. . The Pulitzer Prize is changing its rules to keep up with the changing world of journalism. An AP Story from the New York Times Online titled “Pulitzer Rules to Allow More Online Entries,” says:

The new rules come as newspapers increasingly rely on their Web sites to disseminate, support and enhance their work, even as print circulation declines. The new guidelines will apply to the 2006 awards, which cover work in 2005.

''It's a very significant change,'' said Sig Gissler, administrator of the Pulitzers. ''This reflects the growing importance of online content, but, at the same time, print remains very important, and I think the Pulitzer competition now reflects a blend of print and online, which is what most newspapers are seeking to achieve these days.''

For this year, online submissions have to be affiliated with a newspaper or other print publication, but what about the future? It’s impossible not to speculate about what’s to come, to wonder who will win the first Pulitzer for blogging. . .

Gissler declined to speculate on whether the Pulitzers would ever include a category specifically for online journalism. But he said a Pulitzer committee has monitored the growth of news outlets' Internet use since the late 1990s and would ''continue to monitor the medium.''

What does that mean? Could online journalism be growing any faster? What are they waiting for?

In any case, this is just another sign of change, an indication of where journalism is heading. Online.