MediaReinvent fave Mark Glaser has an excellent report on The Smoking Gun, the longtime site that has done some of the best online journalism all along - simply by posting unfiltered legal and police documents. TSG recognized early on (11 years ago, to be precise) that the Web audience didn't need finished news - it craved raw data and information. By posting mugshots, police reports and other basic information, the site is compelling and often has "why didn't I think to do that?" journalism. Writes Glaser:

In a world of social network widgets, videoblogs and Web 2.0 gewgaws, sometimes it’s the simple things that work best. That’s the lesson of Web 1.0 startup The Smoking Gun, a simply designed site that relies on public documents and criminal mugshots to bring in boatloads of traffic.

If a prominent politician or celebrity has run afoul of the law, chances are good that The Smoking Gun will have a mugshot, lawsuit brief or other document to provide the gory details. New York governor Elliot Spitzer caught with a prostitute? They have her photos. NBA star Carmelo Anthony busted for drunk driving? They have the mugshot. Google Street View cameras going up someone’s driveway? Photos here.

Most recently, TSG showed up the Los Angeles Times by looking into a source who was the basis for an "exclusive" on the 1994 shooting of Tupac Shakur. TSG looked into the source's background and found he was a fraud of the first degree. For those who think the LA Times, with its hundreds of editorial staffers, can no longer "do" journalism - TSG has three people.

Glaser interviews TSG founder William Bastone, who started the site while he was a crime reporter at The Village Voice. Check it out. Part of our reinvention is sharing our newsgathering online. TSG has 11 years of success - and 58 million pageviews a month - that say the strategy works.