Washington Post wins 6 Pulitzers

For some odd reason, I'm always hoping that one of the winning papers has to admit it laid off or bought out a Pulitzer winner prior to the award being announced. Is it just me?

 

Please, please, please don't let this be true. It requires an entirely new meaning of "ultimate" based on most of our wages.

I happen to think that the ultimate prize is having a stranger tell you he enjoys your work, or actually seeing a story you worked on have an impact somehow on people's lives.

That, of course, is why the people who own and run newspapers can play us for suckers, pocketing the dough themselves while we work for the intangibles. But we get a satisfaction they'll never know.

That said, the business still sucks. Worse than ever.

 

This actually happened not too long ago. Can't remember who off-hand, but he was noted in a post here.

 

The talented J.R. Moehringer, who won a Pulitzer in 2000 (I believe) for feature writing, took one of the recent LA Times buyouts.

 

Except for its enterprise, its erudition and its elegance, there wasn't much to recommend Gene Weingarten's social experiment with Joshua Bell. If this was elitist crap, pray, give me more.

 

Mark me down as another one who like the violin piece. So much, in fact, that I recently took in my first symphony orchestra performance when Joshua Bell was the guest soloist.
But I can see where the criticism of the "experiment" is coming from. It seems to me like it was an attempt to belittle those poor rubes who can't stand classical music.

Of course, I also enjoy belittling rubes, so maybe that's why I didn't mind so much. ;D

 

I think "failing to notice a guy playing a violin because you're trying to make a train so as not to be late to your job at, say, the NIH" is a pretty expansive definition of "rube."

 

The piece was about recognizing beauty, and that in our daily struggle through life, we can forget that. The whole stop and smell the roses.
Anyone who thinks it was a shot at uncultured rubes is too g-damn sensitive.
And anyone who doesn't recognize the genius of Bach - whether its one's preferred music of choice - is just g-damn stupid.
I dont' have Jimi Hendrix in my CD player, but I know he could play guitar

 

We can substitute "soulless bureaucrat" for "rube" if you prefer.

 

The

The violinist story was phenomenal.

Interesting take though on these awards. If I wrote that story at a weekly, same prose, does it win the Pulitzer? I am not so sure.

Would this story work at a ho-hum 15k daily? Or, if someone with less credibility b laughed out of the building.

 

And again.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/michaelcalderone/0408/WashPosts_Ricks_expects_to_take_buyout.html

 

Man. Ricks and Balz.

Jg, I don't know if you've already expressed your thoughts on the Weingarten piece in any length, but I remember you writing, way back when it came out, "Bravo, Gene Weingarten." If you're willing to explain what you thought it did well, I'd be appreciative.