We invite you, dear reader, to nominate CJR in the “Best Site for Journalists” category of Mashable’s 3rd Annual Open Web Awards.
After all, in this topsy-turvy, circulation plummeting, layoff-riven, traffic-obsessed, Face-Twitter-verse of a 24-hour news cycle — who is the voice of reason for journalists to turn to? Who is there to say, “Hey. Slow down. Take a breath. Think. You’re better than that.” And for journalists and non-journalists alike, who is there to call out the conflicts of interest, poor sourcing, calcified he said/she said notions of false balance, and generally no-good-reporting that sometimes sullies what should be the sparkling, pristine news stream that is our intellectual drinking water? And journalists – yes you again – when you knock it out of the park, who is there to give you a gold star and post it on the proverbial refrigerator door?
Who watches the watchdogs? Who keeps the accounters accountable? Who makes you better at your job? Who believes that your job – that journalism – matters? CJR. That’s who. And we do it because we care. Sure it’s tough love sometimes. But it’s love.
So return the favor. You can nominate CJR.org once each day in the “Best Site for Journalists” category through Nov. 15. The Web sites with the most nominations make it past the primary to the final voting round beginning Nov. 18, so cast your vote daily, because who doesn’t like exercising their right to vote every day? CJR’s tagline, after all, is “Strong Press, Strong Democracy.”
Though I’m kind of liking “Watcher of Watchdogs” right now . . .
