#andycarvin

I get uncomfortable when people prefer my twitter feed as a newswire. It’s not a newswire. It’s a newsroom. It’s where I’m trying to separate fact from fiction, interacting with people. That’s a newsroom.

Why is it that in a year that included breaking news stories of the earthquake in Haiti and the Gulf oil spill, that no recipient could be named? Because our breaking news appetites have evolved past traditional coverage of live events. By design, only newspapers and their web sites are eligible for the Pulitzer Prize. The specifications of the award, as noted by the Pulitzer Organization: "For a distinguished example of local reporting of breaking news, with special emphasis on the speed and accuracy of the initial coverage, using any available journalistic tool, including text reporting, videos, databases, multimedia or interactive presentations or any combination of those formats, in print or online or both, Ten thousand dollars ($10,000)." This means even media credentialed reporters like NPR's Andy Carvin, who has been tweeting news and updates relentlessly since the beginning of the Egyptian revolution, are glossed over in favor of traditional newspaper coverage. (Good for the continued spotlight on newspapers, but bad for the fast changing landscape of news.) It's this antiquated rule book that will lessen the value of the award over time. Read more: http://techland.time.com/2011/04/20/why-its-so-hard-to-give-a-pulitzer-for-breaking-news-twitter-clearly-trumps-them-all/#ixzz1KAWxppTn