Ganim / Patriot-News Win Pulitzer for Sandusky / PSU Coverage

One thing's for sure: Joe Paterno is still alive. Sara Ganim killed JoePa!

 

It would have been hard for anyone to ignore that grand jury testimony once it came out, but who knows, if she wasn't there, maybe ESPN would have buried this story with the stories about the NBA fixing games.

It is so rare these days to see a story like this broken at a newspaper, especially one, that, while not small, isn't exactly one of the Philly papers.

 

Name the last sports story either of the Philadelphia newspapers broke, though. Comcast SportsNet owns that city these days.

I think the opportunity to break big stories is probably greatest at a place such as The Patriot-News, which is a big enough and good enough newspaper to get and keep talented people and is in a void that the mainstream media largely ignored until football Saturdays. No one chooses to go to central Pennsylvania.

The Associated Press and both Philadelphia newspapers use(d?) college freelancers for Penn State coverage.

 

From Wikipedia, mizzou. So you can take it for what it's worth.

 

I wasn't taking a shot at the paper. I was just saying it was refreshing to see a paper, a smaller paper, that doesn't have the resources of a big paper, break a story like that.

Wasn't ripping the paper on any level.

 

When I said, "isn't exactly the Philly papers" I meant for resources not quality...

 

It's not too often I see you on the double-consecutive-post backstep. That was worth it. ;D

 

I don't know if I'd call a state capitol paper a small paper. Especially in a state like Pennsylvania.

"Less well-known" might be more accurate but that doesn't automatically mean it's not a good or powerful paper. jr/shotty's note points that out.

 

I admire her work so much, I'm rooting for her to get out of newspapers. If she was in sports, ESPN would be the obvious landing spot.

What does CNN do with its Web platform? Is it mostly broadcasters plus Sanjay Gupta?

 

Let's say, in a vacuum, that Ganim never ends up at the Patriot News. (Forgive me if I fumble over the specifics here, but humor me.) Did her initial reporting put any public pressure on the DA and, possibly, the grand jury to hand down indictments? Sandusky has already ducked charges once when the prosecutor "disappeared" and someone found his laptop in a river. Ganim breached that internal circle in a way that made it impossible for anyone to "make this go away."

I think, most likely, the story still comes out. But you never know. She dragged it kicking and screaming into the light, then continued to make it impossible for people to ignore.

 

The first paper to mention the U.S. was considering swapping Hawk anti-aircraft missiles for hostages in Iran was a weekly paper in Lebanon.

 

It doesn't change your point, but her first reports on the issue came while she was at the Centre Daily Times.

It's tough to say exactly what would have happened. She was the only one to write a word on the case for about a year. I think things would have unfolded a bit smoother for Penn State, even if the final results would have been the same.