Roy Harris

New Journalism?

Rebecca’s post and its ideas about how the ways we read and think may be changing led me to want to share a recent article about how journalism is changing in these ways too.  It focuses specifically on the figure of media blogger Jim Romensko, and it’s written by Howell Raines. One quote really stuck out to me:
Newspaper publishers assumed that even if the printing press disappeared, the internet would still have an insatiable need for their basic product-verified facts, hierarchically arranged by importance. But Romenesko’s rapid growth showed that even newsrooms are part of the emerging market for an unprocessed sprawl of information, delivered immediately and with as few filters as possible between the fingertips of one laptop user and the eyeballs of another. In short, it’s not technology per se that’s killing newspapers; it’s plummeting demand for quality information.
What do you think? Sometimes I worry that I too, have developed a taste for new, unverified and immediate information-I feel panicked by the thought that something hugely significant could be happening that I have no idea of, but I must find out about it right away.  Or do you think that Raines has a biased (and possibly bitter) view? Roy Harris, author of Pulitzer’s Gold spoke about the history of public service journalism this spring, as part of the Library’s Meet the Author Series.  He specifically talks about Howell Raines, Gerald Boyd and the Jason Blair scandal.     

Meet author Roy Harris

This Thursday, Journalist Roy Harris will discuss his book Pulitzer’s Gold as part of NU Library’s Meet the Author series at 3:30 pm in 90 Snell Library.  Harris tackles the ninety-year history of the coveted Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.  The Joseph Pulitzer Gold medal is awarded annually to newspapers instead of individual reporters.  Behind each award-winning public story, there’s usually an exciting private drama in the newsroom.  Some are well-known, such as the work of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein for The Washington Post uncovering the Watergate scandal.  Others, less well-known but often equally compelling, are skillfully recounted by Harris.  Each demonstrates the importance and consequence of public service reporting at papers, both large and small, across the United States.  “This is the story of reporters who started out raking the muck and ended up mining for gold.”-Anthony Marro, former editor of Newsday Please join us! Below, watch a promotional video for the talk, directed by Kristin Richardson, our graphic design co-op student: