reporting on facebook

The 2012 Pulitzer Prizes were announced today, with no awards for editorial writing or fiction this year.

Among the prize-winners, the most innovative was The Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News Staff, for its enterprising coverage of a deadly tornado, using social media as well as traditional reporting to provide real-time updates, help locate missing people and produce in-depth print accounts even after power disruption forced the paper to publish at another plant 50 miles away.

That kind of dedication will still get you a Pulitzer sometimes, and all shows that we still are capable of genuine reporting and real journalism -- sometimes. When people take advantage of every possible tool at their disposal, including Facebook, to report the story and help the community, it's magic happening.