850,000 Pageviews

Despite the travails at the LA Times, their coverage of the commuter train disaster last week was notable. And one of the reasons it was so, we learned from Poynter today, is because of their ability to collaborate extremely quickly and roll-out an amazing online database for their website. (see sample database entry above.)

This database was made possible because there were news people -- including a database pro with a journalistic background -- who immediately recognized the drama and human interest potential of this tragedy. They quickly collaborated to turn around a powerful -- and elegantly designed -- online program that featured salient details about each dead victim. And in doing so, they provided a noteworthy public service.

Their hardwork in a span of just 24 hours was rewarded. In coming days, their hyperlocal database of crash victims garnered 850,000 pageviews and 1,500 comments as of Wednesday, according to Poynter's Chip on Your Shoulder blog. (Read the interview with the key newsroom players involved in the database's creation -- and as of tonight, it had more than 1,800 comments.)

They were able to do this because reporters, editors, and computer geeks worked together. It was the first time they rolled out such a database on such an intense deadline.

Said Ben Welsh, the database creator:

To me the site started as simply a way to quickly disseminate the fatality list, was sketched in by our staff to become a collection of obituaries, and along the way flowered into a community conversation. We did our part, and then set things up so the readers could do theirs.

What's also notable, according to the blog, is that those involved departed from Tribune's content management system to use a more flexible web database development platform, called Django.

Not only did they work together, they broke the mold in doing so. This, my friends, is the definition of AWESOME.

For years now, the Guild at The Baltimore Sun has pushed for this type of collaboration. But that collaboration starts with bringing the Sun's newsroom and Website teams together, which hasn't happened yet.

For us to attempt a similar undertaking now, it would probably take far longer than 24 hours to build and deploy, as the few people with the knowledge to make it happen are tied up with other Website properties (i.e. bthesite.com, which supports the "b" free tabloid daily launched earlier this year by Sun publisher Tim Ryan, or the community newspaper sites).

The union wants this type of collaboration. We wanted this awhile ago.

850,000 pageviews.

Angry Journalists

A group of former LA Times staffers, including Walter F. Roche (a former Baltimore Sun investigative reporter) filed a class action lawsuit today in federal district court in California against Sam Zell (left), several sources are reporting.

Some of you may remember Wally Roche and the great work he did at the Baltimore Sun. Public information officers all over the state of Maryland probably still remember -- and cringe -- at the thought of dealing with Wally Roche, a tireless, dogged journalist. Now, Wally Roche (and some of his high-powered journo buddies at the LAT) get to be Sam Zell's problem.

Check out LAObserved and Chicago Business for their coverage. The press release journalists put out called the $8.2 billion deal that Sam Zell put together to buy Tribune "a scam." Tribune officials didn't have a comment yet.

Much of this ESOP stuff can get really complicated. To get a sense of where the plaintiffs may be coming from, you may want to read up on some columns written by Allan Sloan, of the Washington Post. Start with this one, about what a deal to sell the Chicago Cubs might look like and how it might be structured.