On Monday afternoon, I sat with a group of Armenian journalists at Poynter watching the announcement of the Pulitzer Prizes. These professionals are spending two weeks with us and have won their share of big awards, too.
They knew the national newsrooms claiming prizes, including The New York Times and The Washington Post. I doubt they’d heard of some of the local newsrooms that were finalists and winners.
But I have. And since you subscribe to this newsletter, I suspect you have, too.
Those names, and the people behind those newsrooms, are a real bright spot in this year’s awards. They include local digital newsrooms: Lookout Santa Cruz, Honolulu Civil Beat, The Texas Tribune, City Bureau, Mississippi Today and Alabama Reflector. (Here’s the full list of finalists and winners.)
My colleagues at Poynter have covered this year’s prizes thoroughly, and I’m going to share their work in a second. But what struck me was this: In spite of the very real troubles facing local newspapers, local journalism and the people who make it are still doing incredible work, finding new ways to exist and at last, our industry is starting to recognize it.
HUGE congrats to everyone who was recognized.
It’s about damn time.
|
