Thursday, January 21, 2010

1604...I Have A Shot At A Pulitzer Prize

Sure I do.

And I may be the next American Idol.

Stranger things have and will happen.

Ravi Somaiya posits in an article on Gawker.com that the National Enquirer should be up for a Pulitzer Prize for breaking the John Edwards infidelity story. Mr. Somaiya points out that "The New York Times won the breaking news category last year for revealing Eliot Spitzer's infidelity. While that was doubtless fantastic reporting, the Enquirer had a much tougher task, and a much bigger fish to land. Their investigation was prompted by just a brief phone tip. Through nothing more than shoe leather and persistence their team exposed a major Presidential candidate as a cheat and a liar."

There is more, and reflect on the lack of local journalism in your town and think of the bloodletting at CITY TV this week when you read below:

Emily Miller, at Politics Daily, explained why they [National Enquirer] beat every outlet to the story — they first reported it in October of 2007. And why the second part of their investigation, into inappropriate use of campaign funds, prompted a grand jury investigation (as robust a vindication of reporting standards as can be imagined):


The TV networks [CITY TV, A Channels come to mind] and many print outlets have dismantled or cut back their investigative teams, while the Enquirer continues to incur the expense of putting reporters on months-long stakeouts and paying them to literally knock on doors in search of sources.

It is painful to read and surreal to type but perhaps the National
Enquirer
is the future of journalism that matters.

WFDS

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