Photo via the Odyssey Online
After becoming popular for churning out thought provoking and riveting content over the past year, The Odyssey Online was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Journalism on Monday. Many fans enjoy the way the online publication covers important stories in stunning clarity. The famous article, “7 Reasons You Know You____” epitomized the way Odyssey takes complex issues and distills them into easy-to-digest articles.
The popularity of the articles is apparent on social media. “7 Reasons You Know You ____” was shared a staggering 34 times on Facebook and one of the shares received three likes and a comment from a proud aunt. Such traffic is unheard of from less important online news outlets like The Huffington Post or Vice News. One reader indicated that although she usually shares articles out of sympathy to her friend who posted it, she shared “7 Reasons You Know You ____” because it really resonated with her.
“I like how it takes only two minutes to read the article,” said Rofl Copter ‘16. “Such concision in the writing really makes for good journalism. If you can’t take an issue and boil it down to a few bullet points, is it really that important of an issue?” Other articles were also successful. “My all time favorite was 12 ‘Reasons You Know You’re From _____’,” said Ttyl Lol, an avid fan of Odyssey. “Not only were there 12 mind blowing reasons, there was also pictures. One was even a GIF! And aside from the fact I know I’m from ____, I had no idea that I was from ____.”
Proponents of the website laud Odyssey for enabling anyone, yes literally anyone, to become an accomplished writer. “This is a powerful tool,” said Omg Biffle, a local journalism critic. “Now everyone knows what younger generations care about. The real issues are not wars or the economy, but should there be 12 or 13 reasons I know my roommate is ____.”
By allowing any student with a laptop and a rudimentary writing ability to publish stories, Odyssey has paved the way for young people to share what really matters to them. Readers can access whatever content they want through Odyssey, not the shallow and corporate garbage churned out by The New York Times or the BBC.
“Reading stories about some famine in a country I haven’t heard of is very depressing,” said Ttyl Lol. “Now I can always be happy and informed reading ‘The 13 Reasons My High School is Better Than the Rival High School.” Some analysts point out that since the writers for Odyssey have an opportunity to receive money, they are encouraged to produce better con-tent. “Since authors get paid based on the amount of times an article is shared, you know the content will be good,” said Biffle. “This module definitely reduces click-baiting.”
“5 Reasons You Know You Love ____,” and “500 Words on This Trendy Issue,” were also cited as reasons for the Pulitzer. Both of these articles garnered many clicks and shares and illustrated the future of journalism.