I Wish I'd Written That: Part 3

For this week's "I Wish I'd Written That" I decided to focus on the universal portal for journalism: Poynter Online.
1. Will iPad Journalism be 'Good Enough' or Better?
Budding technology in journalism has always been an interest of mine. I've closely followed how technology has changed the industry, so I am very interested in how the iPad will either help or hinder journalists in the near future. The one section of this article that peaked my interest was this:
"The iPad, with its vibrant screen, fast processor and sleek design, doesn't look like a "good enough" device to me (though there are plenty of things it can't do-- yet). So the journalism that prospers on the device probably won't be, either."
With all the conveniences of the iPad, I have high hopes it will help journalists do their job better.
2. How ProPublica Investigated Nurses & You Can Too
I have many friends in the heath care industry, as registered nurses, nurses in training, and doctors to be, so this article caught my eye immediately when I saw it. The article has a few good points for investigative journalists, but there was one that I thought was the most interesting:
"This story was designed so that readers and users could interact with it in the way they saw fit. We put our database online so that users could search for sanctioned nurses and review all of the examples we cited (i.e., when we said we found 80 nurses, our site offered links to all of them). Dan Nguyen of ProPublica did stunning work making the database user-friendly."
The ability for readers to actually interact with this article is groundbreaking, in my opinion. The journalism industry is changing drastically, both in good and bad ways, but this aspect is a very good thing. I mean, how can a journalist report on what is happening in his or her beat without the feedback of the public itself?
3. Boyd Memoir Tells of Race, Politics, Plagiarism at the New York Times
I only know of the Jayson Blair's plagiarism through a few different news stories focused on plagiarism. I never knew of the gossip and racism that followed in the wake of his resignation. The one section of this article that got me thinking was about the morale of the newsroom after the fiasco went down:
"Days after the new appointments, terrorists struck the World Trade Center, giving the Times newsroom an opportunity to focus on a major news story. It had major journalistic success, winning seven Pulitzer prizes in 2002. That raised morale, of course, but then Blair's plagiarism came to light in the spring of 2003. Blair soon resigned and the Times wrote a massive investigative piece on his deception."
What made this the most interesting for me was the fact that the tragedy of the World Trade Center massacre rose morale for the newsroom. What I instantly wondered was, "Do those journalists who won the awards feel bad for prospering after such a huge, sad event?"