Clark Hoyt's latest post as New York Times public editor is a bit of a do-over for last week's admittedly hasty rebuke about the problems with speedy journalism online.
This week he explores what the Times' Jonathan Landman notes is the "value" of speed --- that it gets information to people when they need it. The Internet offers a new kind of landscape of advantages and disadvantages, he said.
Landman, the deputy managing editor in charge of online operations, notes that speed is factor across all media, and that if people wanted to wait for ultimate verification of information, they'd publish refereed journals.
This is a nice description from Landman about what's out there: “Journalistic quality has always involved a combination of speed, thoroughness, authority, discovery, seriousness, humor and many other things that sometimes conflict with each other. The trick is to find the right balance.”
Speed and quality are often false choices. I've seen organizations make terrible decisions on tight deadlines and brilliant ones with time to spare, but I've certainly seen the opposite, particularly when journalists are invested in stories that aren't bearing the expected fruit.
