Breaking News vs. Traditional Newswriting

The New York Times Digital News Editor responds to questions about their efforts online. Some great questions and responses, but his answer regarding the increasing pressure to focus on breaking news was particularly interesting:

“I think most news reporters at The New York Times, and at most other newspapers as well, would tell you that the needs of online journalism have vastly changed their jobs in the past decade. In the old days, reporters would spend the bulk of their days gathering information, doing research, interviewing sources and then in the mid-to-late-afternoon sit down and hammer out 900 words for the next day’s paper.”

“That is so 1996.”

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