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At Times, Web Geeks Grab at Future, Keep Grip on Past
Team aims to keep it the organization 'of record' even as print product sees its obits
By Sarah Quinn
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Posted Jan 12, 09 11:17 AM CST
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(Newser)
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There’s a quiet revolution going on at the New York Times, hiding behind all the print-journalism doom and gloom, New York reports. Since 2007, a team of “developers-slash-journalists” has been collaborating with reporters and editors to create interactive web features—like the trippy Election Day Word Train, which lets users pick a word to describe their mood, and the database-driven Casualties of War project.
“We were ready,” Times columnist David Carr said. “And it also validated what we had all been thinking, which was, These guys are Timesmen. They have a different skill set, but they share objectives, standards.” Times higher-ups were quick to OK the new group, but there’s a still a generation gap, an older breed that likes “the way paper feels,” one techie scoffs. “This isn’t a storm. This isn’t something that’s going to pass.”