An earthquake and tsunami didn't stop the press. In Ishinomaki, Japan, the Ishinomaki Hibi Shimbun, the town's only newspaper, refused to be thwarted. Even though it had no power, staff hand-wrote papers for residents. They were handed out at local relief centers.

Now, those hand-written copies have been attained by Newseum to be displayed in a future exhibit at the Time Warner World News Gallery, according to its site.

The paper was dedicated to giving information to citizens. The first edition let residents know it was the biggest earthquake in the history of Japan. The next day's edition reported the arrival of rescue teams to the area. Three days later, it said, "Let's overcome the hardship with mutual support." One day after that, it reported the lights had come back on.

Carrie Christoffersen, curator of collections said, "Without the benefit of any of the 21st century conveniences or technological advancements, and in the face of significant personal hardships, these journalists were distinctly committed to providing their community with critical information, and they used simple pen and paper to do it."

These news reports contrast with other worldwide reports, many of which focused mostly on the potential dangers of nuclear explosions. Backing away from the more humanitarian-based issues this paper focused on, many papers worldwide having been sensationalizing reports. Journalist Dani Madrid criticized this tendency at the media140 conference in Barcelona, saying, "We have turned a country into an object for our own profession... We have transformed Japan as something distant instead of remembering that there are 25,000 casualties and devastation to a country to be rebuilt."

He added, "I'd say the majority of journalists are not trained with knowledge about nuclear energy and still we were daring enough to make statements about this."

One reporter currently residing in Japan was so exasperated with the sensationalism that he created the "Journalist Wall of Shame." Sensationalized and inaccurate stories from all over the world have been posted on the wall.

The Japanese government asked the media for more objective reporting earlier this month, saying their trade relations had been affected as a result.

Even though some papers are making dire predictions about Japan, Ishinomaki Hibi Shimbun is still up-and-running. Now that it has electricity, staff members depend on computers and printers instead of pens, but their continued efforts to keep their town informed will not be soon forgotten.

Sources: Business & Leadership, Journalism.co.uk, Journalist Wall of Shame, Newseum (photo source), Washington Post