
Thanks to technology, we may be entering a golden age of journalism - robg
http://www.slate.com/id/2221856/
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indiejade
The _Eureka!_ transcendence of web media from traditional print media will
never get old to certain people of a certain generation. Yet another
generation will never know what it was like any other way. Makes for
interesting fodder for those of us on the "in between".

 _If Sullivan were alive today, I'll bet he'd be encouraging journalists to
study PHP and Javascript, to hone their video-cutting skills, and to learn how
to manipulate databases. The cheap tools and affordable devices the average
Joe has at his disposal to produce precision journalism and distribute it
around the world are enough to make the reporters of yesterday sob in envy.
It's the difference between digging ditches with a spade and excavating a
canal with dynamite._

Maybe it's that in the past, workers of journalism in journalistic
publications were always held somewhat hostage by editors. Editors of
mainstream publications usually sought certain slants on certain topics that
would ultimately increase their bottom line: something awful happens? Divert
attention to something less awful, but more do-good-feely; don't want to lose
readers. Causes for families, or causes for certain political issues? Those
are always good, since people are always seeking allegiance.

In the past, small-town newspapers had only one front page, featuring what was
usually one main topic of local interest; something non-global.

The only really certain thing that web media does is narrow the gap between
what small-town editors and writers seek to expose in an environment of
expanding global-reach.

Maybe it's that great editors seek to expose great writers; great writers seek
to expose the truth sought out by great journalists.

This article really brings to the front of the line the predicament of Laura
Ling, Euna Lee, and others like them.

