CONGRATULATIONS TO JOSH MARSHALL!!!

[CatWoman]

And If I were you, I'd be on the look out for O'Loofah O'Reilly :evilgrin:




A landmark day for bloggers -- and the future of journalism


Since 2002 Marshall has moved to New York and -- thanks to increasing ad revenue -- made Talking Points Memo into a new kind of journalistic enterprise for the 21st Century, hiring a staff of a half dozen talented young journalists and rewriting the rules with a mix of commentary and original muckraking while highlighting the work of other to focus like a laser on the big political questions.

Here's how and why Marshall and Talking Points Memo won a Polk Award today:

"His site, www.talkingpointsmemo.com, led the news media coverage of the politically motivated dismissals of United States attorneys across the country. Noting a similarity between firings in Arkansas and California, Marshall (with staff reporter-bloggers Paul Kiel and Justin Rood) connected the dots and found a pattern of federal prosecutors being forced from office for failing to do the Bush Administration's bidding."

Hopefully, this acknowledgment of what one savvy blogger and his team have accomplished is a milestone that will speed the day when mainstream journalists realize that the best kind of blogger like Marshall is truly one of our own kind, using new tools and a new way of thinking to break a news story that otherwise might have not been discovered.

How did Josh and his cohorts do it? Here's something I wrote last year during my media-reform period (kind of like Picasso's "Blue period," except much less impressive) that tells some of the story of how Talking Points Memo exposed the scandal -- the journalism they were honored for this morning. It's very long and is a little targeted toward the news geeks among us, so it comes after the jump:

http://www.attytood.com/2008/02/a_landmark_day_for_bloggers_an_1.html

[Bolo Boffin]

1. Maybe now he can get back onto the Justice Department press release list.

Kudos, Mr. Marshall!

[Jeffersons Ghost]

2. K&R

[rurallib]

3. well deserved!

:toast: :toast: :toast:

[blm]

4. Was reading about the Polk Awards just this morning. This is a great honor for Josh.

Kind of you to post in support, CW.

[byronius]

5. My Cronkite. My Murrow.

Put this guy in charge.

[stellanoir]

6. What a cool honor and what an adorable pic !!!

[terip64]

7. k&r

[NNN0LHI]

8. Josh does a darn good job

He deserves the accolades. People like him are the future of our media.

Don

[MissWaverly]

9. Gonzales is Gone-zales due to him

when the MSM media was chirping nothing to see here, he was digging and digging and digging.

:-)

[CatWoman]

10. I wish I could nominate your post

:)

:rofl:

[Disturbed]

11. He is one of those "evil" bloggers that Perino was whining

about.

[MissWaverly]

22. yes, one of those who insist on honesty and other quaint

ideas like accountability in goverment and adherence to the code of ethics.

:-)

[MissWaverly]

21. yes, me too, just thinking of him as Hasta LaVista

makes me smile

[nam78_two]

12. K&R for Josh Marshall

He is a good guy and great blogger :toast:

[creeksneakers2]

13. Congratulations Josh

Not only are there big stories on TPM that can't be found anywhere else, there is also the best analysis that can be found anywhere in the media. Back when everybody else in the media was talking about how February 5 had to decide everything Josh looked at the actual delegate selection process and wrote that February 5 wouldn't settle the race. Josh deserves great recognition and a Polk award is a great start. Its well earned.

[Oilwellian]

14. I've been an avid TPM fan for years now

Congrats Josh...may there be many more awards in your future. :toast:

[Canuckistanian]

15. Good on JM

He's one of the "original" bloggers, as I like to call them.

The ones who were out there doing the REAL investigative work while the lazy, incompetent and bought-and-paid-for MSM covered Brittany and Natalee.

And he's a real American success story!

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

16. A major honor well deserved

especially since he tackled a HUGE, GIGANTIC story with amazing implications that the old, reliable, "company store" MSM wouldn't go near in any meaningful way. He practically dragged that story kcicking and screaming into a Senate hearing and onto the front pages of a recalcitrant, accomplice press.

A brave man and a great great journalist. He has bestowed dignity on the former rapscallion nomenclature "blogger".

[no name no slogan]

17. Why does Josh Marshall hate America?

Nice work, Mr. Marshall! The current Justice Dept fiasco could go even deeper than Watergate, IMHO. Thanks to Josh and crew for putting in the hard work to bring this thing to light.

:toast:

[populistdriven]

18. Obama's 1st Press Secretary? nt

[Vext]

19. Congrats to Josh and his crew

And to having a crew.

I've been a reader of TPM for years now.

I first heard about TPM from my late mother. I have no idea how she heard about it because she was not online at all.

[Capn Sunshine]

20. AWESOME news

so swept up in the campaign, I missed this. I don't think he mentioned it at all!
One of the best and most even handed news sites available if you're politically inclined.

[On the Road]

23. Josh Marshall is Resurrecting Investigative Journalism

It's really good he's getting this kind of recoginition. Muckrakers often end up toiling in obscurity.

[pacalo]

24. The article was a nice, well-deserved tribute to Josh's hard work. :)

[Shakespeare]

25. That's a HUGE award for a net-based news site, and well deserved. AND he's going to be a dad again!

He posted yesterday that his wife will have their second son in a few months. Love me some TPM, and so happy for Josh!