Chicago Tribune’s Howard Witt Praises Black Blogosphere
The Chicago Tribune’s Howard Witt, in a video interview with Leonard Witt of the Public Journalism Network (PJNet.org), tells of the power of the Black blogosphere in saving the then 14-year-old Shaquanda Cotton from seven years in jail for shoving a hall monitor and then how that same Afro-American blogosphere drove the Jena 6 protest in Louisiana.
He contends the White blogosphere — read HuffingtonPost – is less relevant than the ethnic blogosphere. Finally Howard Witt says mainstream media job cuts might mean the Jena 6 and Shaquanda Cotton type stories, both of which he broke, might not be possible in the future.
It is a 10-minute interview worth watching.
By the way, Leonard and Howard Witt are not related — except that they both care deeply about the fate of great journalism.
August 12th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Howard Witt is my favorite journalist. While never having met him in person or even speaking with him by phone; his body of work speaks to his character and journalistic integrity.
August 12th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
Excellent interview — thank you to both Witts. The point about blogs functioning primarily to amplify and initiate responses to stories is a very good one. If (as) the number of stories diminish, will bloggers reduce their output, duplicate each other even more, fill in the vacuum, or agitate for more journalism?
Also, I’m looking for similar stories in the Latino blogosphere. I’d appreciate hearing about any examples.