See Kadir van Lohuizen’s project about the global diamond trade at http://www.diamonds.msnbc.com

This project is a good example of the collaboration required to get a great picture project published. MSNBC.com’s part of this began more than a year ago when our Senior Multimedia Producer Meredith Birkett saw Kadir’s work at Perpignan. She smartly just hung onto the idea while Hurricane Katrina and it’s continuing aftermath played out in the media.

She approached me this summer and pitched the project. It seemed like a great idea, but we wanted to push our story-telling. So, we got our interactive producers and designers involved. We also reached out to our business and world news editors for help with the text. The end product is something we feel good about.

For several years we’ve talked about a “cinematic opening” for a great documentary photojournalism project. I don’t know if we’re quite there yet, but I think we’re approaching that goal. The problem we face is that we can sniff for the user’s Internet connection speed and screen resolution, but not the horsepower of their machine’s video card. So, the opening might not play well on some older computers. Click the “Skip Intro” button if you notice a problem on the launch page. Otherwise sit back and enjoy.

The message we’d like to send is that the content (B&W documentary photojournalism) is alive and well, and our readers have responded VERY positively to this project. We’re honored to publish this body of work, and I hope it inspires the photojournalism community to soldier on. Continue to be passionate about issues, and do work you believe in.

http://www.diamonds.msnbc.com