great-moments-in-journalism

Great Moments in Journalism: The People Decide

abalk2 · 08/11/06 05:40PM

Well, it's been another wonderful week, but now you need to make a choice. Please select your favorite entry from the poll below (Note: each selection will take you back to the original piece, in case you need to refresh your memory.). The poll will remain open until, oh, whenever the hell we wake up Monday morning, at which point we'll announce the winner and the prize. In the meantime, keep reading, and keep sending us your selections. Every bit of bad prose helps. Even sports columns.

Great Moments in Journalism: Christie Brinkley, American Hero

abalk2 · 08/11/06 11:40AM

It's been another fine week for coverage of journalism and the ink-stained wretches who produce it . Please continue to send us your nominees. Later in the day we'll set up a poll where you can vote for this week's winner, but right now we're going to bring you the final candidate. Today's choice is a little over a week old, but a) we're not all that strict (all we ask is that it falls within the last month or so) and b) it's about a topic close to our hearts of late: Christie Brinkley. Plus, it's from The Post. With that kind of pedigree, you know it's got to be good. See ya after the jump.

Great Moments in Journalism: Of Winners and Weed

abalk2 · 08/07/06 11:15AM

Well, the polls have closed in the inaugural Great Moments in Journalism contest, and the award goes to Dan Barry of The New York Times. Dan, whose "time flies, also babies" bit picked up over two hundred of your votes, will receive a copy of Joseph Mitchell's Up in the Old Hotel, a primer on how to write About New York. Congratulations to Mr. Barry and all the other nominees. After the jump, we bring you this week's first entry.

Great Moments in Journalism: The Readers Weigh In

abalk2 · 08/04/06 04:35PM

Well, it's been a wonderful week in journalism, but now it's time for judgment to be rendered and opprobrium bestowed. Please select your favorite entry from the poll below (Note: each selection will take you back to the original piece, in case you need to refresh your memory.). The poll will remain open until, oh, whenever the hell we wake up Monday morning, at which point we'll announce the winner and the prize. In the meantime, keep reading, and keep sending us your selections. Every bit of bad prose helps.

Great Moments in Journalism: "Water, a Liquid Substance Comprised of Hydrogen and Oxygen..."

abalk2 · 08/04/06 10:15AM

It's been a great first week here for bad journalism. Please continue to send us your nominees. Later in the day we'll set up a poll where you can vote for this week's winner, but right now we're going to bring you the final candidate. A reporter's job is not just to inform you of the facts, it's to put those facts in context so you better understand how they relate to things in the real world. After the jump, the Sun's Matthew Chayes does just that.

Great Moments in Journalism: Soul Down The Bowl

abalk2 · 08/03/06 09:00AM

We return to New York, albeit upstate, for today's Great Moments in Journalism, but, of course, we accept nominations for any qualified candidate on the planet. Send us your nominees so that the world may recognize their genius. After the jump, a piece so good that the kicker ("All I can say is: what a sleaze bucket.") doesn't even merit the nomination.

Great Moments in Journalism: Chasing Lance

abalk2 · 08/02/06 09:55AM

Your many submissions to our Great Moments in Journalism project have left us sick at the state of the industry, but we're gluttons for punishment, so keep them coming. Today's nominee attempts to execute one of the more difficult maneuvers in journalism: the writer's insertion of self into story. After the jump, we follow the Iowa Press-Citizen's relentless pursuit of Lance Armstrong.

Great Moments in Journalism: Losing It

abalk2 · 08/01/06 08:52AM

Thanks for your many fine submissions to our Great Moments in Journalism project; please keep them coming. Today's nominee springs from the pen of Laura Sessions Stepp, famed chronicler of the wingman phenomenon. Anyway, the piece in question is a searing investigation into the age old question of why women tend to give it up for the first time during the summer. Hit the jump for some pure journalistic gold.

Great Moments in Journalism: Baby Soars, Prose Not So Much

abalk2 · 07/31/06 10:17AM

Thanks for your many fine submissions to our Great Moments in Journalism project; please keep them coming. (Please note this is a different e-mail address than the tips line: We'd hate to bog down that inbox and miss a sighting of Frankie Muniz at Privilege.) Our inaugural candidate comes from that hometown favorite The New York Times, where Dan "Don't Call Me D. Francis" Barry recounts the story of Bryce McMillan, the Bronx toddler who fell seven stories but miraculously survived.

Great Moments in Journalism: The Adventure Begins

abalk2 · 07/28/06 01:45PM

If you're a regular reader of this site, chances are you're as in love with journalism as we are. You undoubtedly read two or three papers first thing in the morning and then surf 'round the net looking for other material. You know how it feels to read a well-crafted story that transports you to a world outside of your own experience, or helps you see the everyday in a new light. Journalism has the power to instruct, to transform, to connect.