Pulitzer, Elisabeth Sladen Lead the Blogs

Last week, the Golden State was the focal point of much of the blogosphere's interest. Three separate stories about some form of wrongdoing or impropriety in that state were among the most popular.

Two involved actions by California politicians, while one featured a modern method of mourning that appeared morally questionable to some bloggers. For the week of April 18-22, 14% of the news links on blogs were about the awarding of a Pulitzer Prize to the Los Angeles Times for its coverage of corrupt officials in Bell, California, tying it for the No. 1 subject ranking, according to the New Media Index from the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. The prize-winning series, which appeared in the spring of 2010, exposed the exorbitant salaries of city officials in the small, working class town. As a result of the investigation, eight former city officials were charged with multiple felonies and many California counties instituted tough new disclosure laws. Last week, the Pulitzer Prize committee awarded the Times a gold medal for public service, which triggered a conversation about the improper activities of public officials. In addition, many bloggers saw the award as a sign that quality newspaper journalism is not dead, as social media users discussed one of traditional journalism's most prestigious awards. And in another sign of the interactivity that social media can facilitate, several individuals at the Los Angeles Times shared information on how the series was created and the joyous reaction of those in the newsroom when they learned of the Pulitzer award.