Poynter Lists 200 Moments That Transformed Journalism

The Poynter Institute has assembled what it claims are the 200 moments that transformed journalism, from 2000 to 2009. It appears to offer no individual rating for these moments and provides 20 per year to give it an easily balanced approach.

The first, in January 2000, is AOL's takeover of TimeWarner, described as: “one of the greatest failed mergers in U.S. corporate history. According to The New York Times, by the time of the 2009 AOL spin-off, 'more than $100 billion in shareholder value was wiped out.'”

The final moment, dated October 2009, is listed as the increase in people using Twitter and social media to share personal updates. List creators state this is significant because: “Nineteen percent of Internet users now say they use Twitter or another service to share updates about themselves, or to see updates about others.” That is likely up by now and growing.

In between, the list offers moments ranging from the Internet being available in two-thirds of homes in mid-2004 to Rupert Murdoch buying Dow Jones in 2007.

“If your experience of the moments is anything like mine, you'll find yourself marveling at milestones missed when they occurred,” writes Poynter's Bill Mitchell about the list. “Did you know, for example, that at some point in 2004, content surpassed communications as the leading online activity?”

Who knew?