Behind the Chron's Pulitzer finalist finish

You may have noticed the other day that the Houston daily was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize.

It didn't win but came close, but the interesting thing about the newspaper's entry and strong finish was that everything it submitted to the Pulitzer judges was from the newspaper's digital product, Chron.com.

The Neiman Journalism Lab offered some details on what the Chron did in covering Hurricane Ike to merit its Pulitzer finalist recognition.

Chron management rightly noted to the Neiman people that "SciGuy" Eric Berger was a big part of the newspaper's Ike coverage.

“During a storm, he really acts like a weatherman for the paper,” said Scott Clark, vice president in charge of Chron.com. “We present him to readers as a trusted voice you can pay attention to.” Berger blogged around the clock, posting new storm models as they were available and predicting the path of Ike.

Berger held several live chats leading up to the storm that attracted an audience that, at any given moment, reached up to 14,000 people. “The idea that a science writer could be speaking live to an audience that would fill a basketball arena” was remarkable, Clark said.

Even if you the Chron does something to irritate or disgust or enrage you, you've gotta love the SciGuy.

Chron.com generated 18 million page views before, during and after Ike.