2006.04.18: April 18, 2006: Headlines: COS - Togo: Hurricane Relief: Awards: Journalism: Eye of the Storm: Togo RPCV Joshua Norman shares 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service Journalism for Katrina coverage at the Biloxi Sun Herald
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2006.04.18: April 18, 2006: Headlines: COS - Togo: Hurricane Relief: Awards: Journalism: Eye of the Storm: Togo RPCV Joshua Norman shares 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service Journalism for Katrina coverage at the Biloxi Sun Herald
Togo RPCV Joshua Norman shares 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service Journalism for Katrina coverage at the Biloxi Sun Herald
"We stayed in the newsroom through the storm, were out in the shit every day for weeks, cried more times than I'd care to recount (although Keller’d never admit it), and had our hands in as much as half of the articles that went out from our paper in the weeks afterwards. I feel more than confident in saying that we contributed mightily to the win."
Togo RPCV Joshua Norman shares 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service Journalism for Katrina coverage at the Biloxi Sun Herald
Ladies and Gentlemen, our dance is over.
I can't frickin’ believe that I can tell you all this, but Keller and I are Pulitzer Prize winners as of today. I hate tooting my own horn, but fuck me, it wasn't easy.
And this, we believe, is the most fitting end to this blog.
Technically, the Sun Herald, where we have been working since last June, won for its post-Hurricane Katrina reporting. We won the Public Service Award, which is also called the Gold Medal Award. Some of our stories will be cited on the Pulitzer website as contributing to the win.
http://www.pulitzer.org/.
We stayed in the newsroom through the storm, were out in the shit every day for weeks, cried more times than I'd care to recount (although Keller’d never admit it), and had our hands in as much as half of the articles that went out from our paper in the weeks afterwards. I feel more than confident in saying that we contributed mightily to the win.
No, this blog’s content had nothing to do with the win, technically. Our editors have long since distanced themselves from it, and we never do it during work or allow our work here to trump what we do for the paper.
However, we did bring great notoriety to the paper. We did provide insight into the region that was unavailable elsewhere, and for that I feel like we contributed to the win and for that I am proudest.
This blog was great to do. While there will forever be a dispute over who’s idea it was (it was mine Keller, although I must credit you with the coming up with the name), it was a great idea.
I enjoyed it thoroughly. In fact, I enjoyed it so much, I will continue blogging on my other blogspace blog, Biloxi Banter (http://www.biloxibanter.blogspot.com/). There will continue to be Katrina-related news and post-Award hangover updates. I will post a lot more photos. And comment on news coverage of both my own stuff and others, providing as many insights as I can into the process down here without getting myself in too much trouble. The subjects I write about in general will expand. My first post on it will actually probably come either during or immediately after a weeklong immigration reform conference for journalists in Tucson, Arizona, that I am off to Tuesday, complete with photos from a day touring border towns and interviews with the Minutemen.
My point is, I encourage you to look it up.
I’d like to do a lessons learned bit here, but truthfully, those lessons are peppered throughout this blog and I’d largely be repeating myself.
I was surprised at how good and enjoyable the whole blogging process was, despite the moments of grief and sorrow. I sincerely hoped we helped you all understand what it was like down here in the last ten months, and provided comfort and insight mostly to those who suffered the most.
Thank you again to the readers. You made it the most rewarding experience possible.
And, as soon as my colleague is done with his coda, the money shot, as promised.
When this story was posted in April 2006, this was on the front page of PCOL:
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Story Source: Eye of the Storm
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Togo; Hurricane Relief; Awards; Journalism
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