The Blogging Journalist

Blogging Journalist Issues Warning to Australian Media, Politicians

Australian blogging journalist Andrew Bolt notes in an August 1, 2008, post at Australia's heraldsun.com.au:

The blog culture has been slow to take off here" in Australia. "I can tell, because too few politicians and journalists are jumping like they've been bitten

"But having last month had a record one million visits to my own blog, pardon me if I issue a threat: that's changing.

To read more of Bolt's post, see "One million blogging warnings to a lazy media."

Technorati Tags: Andrew Bolt,heraldsun.com.au,Austrlaian Media

Columnist: '...My Editors Have Been Trying to Persuade Me to Blog'

San Jose [California] Mercury News Columnist Patty Fisher describes her visit to "the fourth annual BlogHer convention, a three-day gathering of 1,000 women bloggers from across the country." The convention was held July 18 through 20 in San Francisco, California, USA. Writes Fisher in a July 21, 2008, column:

I arrived at the BlogHer convention in San Francisco feeling like a Pony Express rider at the auto show.

In a ballroom full of women bloggers armed with laptops and business cards, I was easy to spot with my notepad and pen.

"I'm a columnist for a newspaper," I told one young woman during the icebreaker session.

"Oh, they still have those?" she said without even a hint of a smile.

Hmm. Maybe it's time I surrendered to the blogosphere.

Fisher adds:"Since I began writing this column three years ago, my editors have been trying to persuade me to blog."

What's holding you back, Ms. Fisher?

If you want to read her entire column, see "Fisher: A columnist visits world of bloggers."

Technorati Tags: BlogHer,Patty Fisher,San Jose Mercury News

Minnesota Journalists, Bloggers Discuss Their Work

On July 18, 2008, Eric Black at MinnPost.com reported that, "WCCO-TV, for evil purposes that only it knows, invited a few dozen independent bloggers to a Dunn Bros. in downtown Minneapolis [Minnesota, USA] to listen last night to likeable 'CCO reporter/blogger Jason DeRusha and your humble ink-stained wretch talk about our fabulous careers,  especially the contrast between working for mainstream traditional news media and blogging." See "Blogging and talking about mainstream media."

I'd love to see more such interactions. I love the conversations I have with journalists I know here in Chicago. And I definitely don't want to see my hometown newspapers shutdown or journalists lose their jobs. Especially the feisty Chicago Sun-Times. The Sun-Times leads the way when it comes to serious, public service investigative reporting in Chicago. 

Technorati Tags: Eric Black,MinnPost.computer Security,Dunn Brothers,Jason DeRusha

Blogger David Oatney Joins MBA, Newsweek Team

Blogger David Oatney of White Pine, Tennessee, USA, who blogs at The World According to Oatney, told his readers in a February 4, 2008, post:

I've received a couple of e-mails asking why I'm not part of the team covering Super Tuesday [February 5, 2008] for the Knoxville News-Sentinel. I think the KNS has put together an outstanding group of bloggers to cover the election on the ground tomorrow, and because of the unique local issues involved in the vote in Knox County, the News-Sentinel needs folks who can be on the ground there in some of the key precincts covering those races in a way that I just can't do. As for me, I have a different assignment...

I'm very pleased to announce that The World will be joining the team of bloggers at the Media Bloggers Association who will be giving our unique perspectives and lending our voices to Newsweek's online coverage of Campaign 2008 at Newsweek's online blog aggregator The Ruckus.

Congratulations to Oatney. If you care to read his entire post, see "Joining the team at MBA and Newsweek."

Technorati Tags: David Oatney,The World According to Oatney,Media Bloggers Association,Newsweek,The Ruckus,The Blogging Journalist

For Some, Blogs Are a Bridge to 'Known Publications'

On February 3, 2008, Fast Company expert blogger Valeria Maltoni published  "The Future of We Media," in which she notes, among other things:

Many of us are joining the ranks of main stream media with regular frequency. What began as a blog started to share information, learn, publicize our business and skills, has provided a bridge to the pages of known publications.

Maltoni said, "Conversely, there are many journalists who have been open to new media and started personal blogs."

Her views on this convergence are published over at Conversation Agent. As I read them, I wondered would I go to a  known publication, if asked. I think it would depend on the publication, the price and whether I'd have to leave Chicago. I'd probably turn it down if it meant leaving the city. My wife's elderly mother is here and we wouldn't want to be away from her.

By the way, I've had overtures from a couple of fairly well-known blogs but declined the offer. At the time, I didn't want the pressure of producing for other publications and my own.

Technorati Tags: Valeria Maltoni,Fast Company,Future of Web Media,The Blogging Journalist

Another Newspaper's 'Bloggers Branch Out'

"Reporters and editors at the Tribune Chronicle (in Warren, Ohio) are branching out beyond the printed page and reporting using online Web logs, or ‘‘blogs.’’ the paper told its readers on January 28, 2008. Better late than never.

If you care to read more, see "Tribune bloggers branch out."

Technorati Tags: Tribune Chronicle

'Should Columnists Feel Threatened By Bloggers'?

Meshary Alruwaih, staff columnist at the Kuwaiti Times, which says it's "the first daily in the Arabian Gulf," asks in a January 19, 2008, post:

Should columnists feel threatened by bloggers? Can bloggers overtake our reader base? Should we as newspaper columnists feel jealous? For the time being I think we are safe. It's still prestigious, respectful, and most importantly satisfying to be a newspaper columnist. Anyone can be a blogger, but not everyone can make it to the finger-staining papers, the messy 40 or so pages that one battles with, every time one  turns each and every one of them."Alruwaih said the newspaper "is still the most popular - and I dare say, the classiest way of following up on daily events and trends.

And if you do decide to go the modern way, and follow the news and ideas from your computer or laptop, you will still find us there. Almost all newspapers have their websites with opinion pages where you can find all the columnists' sections along with their email addresses. So we have it all - a spot on the hard copy as well as space in the virtual world!

Now, dear sir, unless these newspaper Web sites are truly interactive you are missing a valuable opportunity to interact with readers in real time. Getting commentary by email is so old school and is easy to dismiss. Allowing readers to comment directly on a blog encourages everyone to join the conversation on a column topic. If a publication doesn't open up, readers will use their own blogs to comment on your output anyway. In other words, you can be part of the conversation or the subject of the conversation or both.

Just publishing a Web site is not enough these days.

Actually, I think some columnists and reporters are afraid to have their opinions challenged or to engage their readers. I suspect that's partly why some seek to futilely protect their status as arbiters and dictators of popular opinion.  

If you want to read Alruwaih's entire column, see "Columnists and bloggers."

Technorati Tags: Meshary Alruwaih,Kuwait Times,Bloggers Union,Columnists

Washington Post: 'Obama's Rise Sidelines Bloggers'

The Washington Post's Jose Antonio Vargas, writing in a January 7, 2008, post at The Trail. "a daily diary of Campaign 2008," contends that:

As Sen. Barack Obama continues a strategy of appealing to Republicans and independents, an influential and vocal group within his own party -- the liberal blogosphere -- faces an identity crisis of sorts. At the heart of the tension lies an important challenge for a growing community that has helped redefine and re-energize the left wing of the Democratic Party. What happens to the brawling, highly partisan netroots movement when the party's leading candidate campaigns on bipartisanship -- and wins on it?

For answers from political operatives and bloggers Vargas reviewed, see "Obama's Rise Sidelines Bloggers," a post with a misleading headline, which suggests that all bloggers of any political persuasion are upset with the presidential candidate. Vargas most likely didn't write the headline.

Technorati Tags: Barack Obama, Liberal Blogosphere, Jose Antonio Vargas, The Trail

Blogger: 'Forget Good Will For The Online 'Kook-A-Boos'

Danny at the National Journal's often interesting Beltway Blogroll takes exception in a December 23, 2007, post with Freeport, Illinois (United States) newspaper publisher Stephen Trosley's December 22, 2007, article complaining about "name-calling, axe-grinding and misinformation" some bloggers allegedly engage in in "the Journal-Standard blogosphere." Write's Danny:

Nothing gets the curmudgeons of old media stirring like the holiday spirit. Without fail at this time every year, someone in the green-eyeshade gang decides to attack the blogs -- and expose himself as a hypocrite in the process. Add Stephen Trosley, the publisher of The Journal-Standard in Freeport, Ill., to Santa's naughty list this year. He just penned a diatribe about the lack of "peace on earth, good will to mankind and all of that" in the newspaper's piece of the blogosphere, and in the next showed his lack of good will toward the online world by talking about the "lunatic fringe," verbal "snipers" and "kook-a-boos.

I think Danny should have linked to Trosley's post, which is headlined "Publisher's Column: Bloggers lack goodwill towards mankind," so his readers could draw their own conclusions. 

By the way, I didn't take Trosley's post, which I read before I learned of Danny's post, as a blanket condemnation of all bloggers, just those he says are misbehaving in "the Journal-Standard blogosphere."

To read more of Danny's post, see "Forget Good Will For The Online 'Kook-A-Boos'.

Technorati Tags: Beltway Blogroll, Stephen Trosley, The Journal-Standard

Publisher: 'Bloggers Lack Goodwill Toward Mankind'

Stephen Trosley, publisher of  The Journal-Standard, a daily, morning  newspaper in Freeport, Illinois, in the United States," told the publication;s readers in a December 21, 2007, article:

Well, this is the weekend people like me are supposed to write about the magic and wonder that is Christmas: Peace on earth, good will to mankind and all of that. Except in the Journal-Standard blogosphere, that is. The Web site feature that was supposed to allow citizens an opportunity to voice opinions and share new information has turned into a place for name-calling, axe-grinding and misinformation.

"What's worse," Trosley adds, "is that many of the bloggers using our site, contradicting the premise that open and honest discussion on the Web would engender an honorable and helpful democratic exchange of ideas, betray the very freedom granted by this technological wonder."

If this is the case, shame on them.

To read more of Trosley's commentary, see "Publisher's Column: Bloggers lack goodwill toward mankind."

Technorati Tags: Stephen Trosley, The Journal Standard, Bloggers

The Ruckus: The Newsweek, Media Bloggers Association Political Blog

I've finally gotten around to taking a look at "The Ruckus, "a new group blog about politics for Newsweek.com launched by Newsweek and the Media Bloggers Association (MBA). Conclusion: It's a great concept and is a strong indicator of how so-called mainstream media outlets and skilled bloggers can work together.

I  congratulate Robert Cox, the MBA's president and founder, for the progressive leadership he's displayed in making the organization a force that is taken seriously in reputable media circles.

As The Ruckus notes, "The blog will feature posts from nine MBA-member bloggers about the presidential campaign on a single page, giving Newsweek.com..." In fact, it is already doing it.

Technorati Tags: The Ruckus, The Media Bloggers Association, Newsweek

Economist Group Uses Bloggers to Create Buzz About its Articles

CHICAGO, USA -- "The Economist Group is using the power of the blogosphere to build 'buzz' for its political stories before they are published," Laura Oliver  at Journalism.co.uk reported September 21, 2007.

 Oliver said, "Having identified a group of influential US political bloggers, the media company gives content to these individuals in order to begin circulation, Mike Seery, chief information officer of The Economist Group, told delegates at an AOP forum, in London yesterday [September 20, 2007].

To read more about this practice, see "Economist 'builds buzz' by tipping off bloggers about unpublished content.

Technorati tags: The Economist Group, Journalism.co, uk, Laura Oliver

The Blog: A Perfect Tool for Breaking News

CHICAGO, USA -- The Beacon, the student newspaper at Florida International University, notes that, "With the ability to be updated much faster than print and broadcast news, the blog, a site that serves as an online journal, is becoming increasingly popular among writers and news junkies alike."

I agree. If you are interested in reading more, see "Blogging makes late-breaking news available faster.

Technorati tags: The Beacon, Blogging and Breaking News, Florida International University

Newspaper Recruits Bloggers to Help Cover Sunshine Suit

According to Jack D. Lail, managing editor for multimedia at The Knoxville News-Sentinel in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, "the News Sentinel's decision to recruit some bloggers to help cover its Sunshine suit [link added] against the [Knox] County Commissioners is drawing some react."

To read why, see his September 8, 2007, post over at Random Musings headlined "Taking the shades off for a Sunshine suit."

Technorati tags: Knoxville News-Sentinel, Sunshine Suit, Bloggers, Jack D. Lail

Recommended: 'Editors vs. Journalists in Blogging - An Opinion Piece'

Vincent van Wylick over at Tech It Easy has a great post headlined "Editors vs. journalists in blogging - an opinion piece."

Reading the post left me with the following thought: If journalist who are hypercritical of blogging and bloggers read and reviewed as many blogs from various countries as I do they would see that there is a lot great writing out there. For some reason, many critics seem to base their criticism on the work of small subset who do rant and rave about issues.

But that's ok. I welcome the ranting and the raving from this set of bloggers as well as the criticism and debate from threatened journalists. I'd rather have this than censorship any day.

Technorati tags: Vincent van Wylick, Tech It Easy, Editors vs. Journalists in Blogging

The Newark Star-Ledger's NJ Voices: A Local Group Blog

BuzzMachine editor Jeff Jarvis notes in an August 9, 2007, post: "The Star-Ledger’s NJVoices — the first attempt I know of to create a local group blog along the lines of HuffingtonPost or Comment is Free — brings together an impressive series of perspectives this week from outside and inside the newspaper on the brutal shooting of four young people in Newark [New Jersey, USA] last weekend."

I read some of those perspectives and got the impression the August 2, 2007, murder of three college students and wounding of another in a Newark schoolyard, by a 15-year old boy and a 31-year old man, has shaken the city to the core. The posts in read in NJ Voices certainly suggest that. To read Jarvis' perspective on the blog, for which he was a consultant, please see "The local blog forum."

Technorati tags: Star-Ledger, NJ Voices, Jeff Jarvis, BuzzMachine, Huffington Post, Comment is Free

McJoan's Take on Blogger, Journalist Interaction At YearlyKos 2007

Joan McCarter, a DailyKos contributor who writes under the name mcjoan, describes in an August 7, 2007, post  at the NewWest.Net/Politics group blog called “Diary of a Mad Voter,”how the three moderators of the second annual YearyKos Convention handled  the Presidential Leadership Forum staged in Chicago on August 4, 2007. Seven of eight Democratic presidential candidates showed up at the convention, which ran August 3, 2007 to August 5, 2007

The moderators were "New York Times Magazine’s Matt Bai, Kossack, Frameshop proprietor, and author Jeffrey Feldman, and McCarter. She said they "had hoped that the Presidential Leadership Forum would be more interesting, substantive, and interactive than previous [Democratic and Republican presidential] debates." Adds McCarter:

We tried to go for questions that would speak more to leadership and governing philosophy than hot-button issue reactions. Many of the topics covered in previous debates—as important as they may be—had already been talked out, and we were highly unlikely to learn anything new from them. On the issues previously addressed, we tried to come at them from an angle that would hopefully get us something new.

We wanted to try to force candidates out of their stump speech talking points--to set them a little on edge and try to force an informative conversation out of that discomfort. We were only partly successful—they have a hell of a lot more practice at this than us, and can turn a question on a dime into the one they want to answer. Even so, up there on stage, it felt like we had the most lively, engaged debate yet among these candidates.

McCarter's conclusion about bloggers, so-called mainstream journalist and political news coverage is found in her opening paragraph, which states: "The second annual YearlyKos convention has come and gone, and with it the days when bloggers could be dismissed by traditional media as some kind of fringe element. The coverage of the convention has reflected the reality that the community of bloggers and citizen journalists are highly informed, intelligent, and civically minded."

Technorati tags: Joan McCarter, DailyKos, New West.Net, YearlyKos Convention, Matt Bai, Kossack, Jeffrey Feldman

'Publishers... Don't React Terribly Well to Competition...'

Matthew Buckland of South Africa's Mail & Guardian Online makes the following observation about bloggers and mainstream publishers: "It's been easy for some to dismiss the blogosphere as a fringe publishing phenomenon. Publishers, who have had a monopoly on mainstream publishing since the invention of the printing press, don't react terribly well to competition - especially competition they can't really get a handle on."

Well said. To read more, please see "Media, take note of bloggers

Technorati tags: Matthew Buckland, Mail & Guardian Unlimited, Blogosphere, Mainstream Publishers.

Pho's Akron Pages: 'Bloggers Massing Against Ohio Dot Com'

The lawyer who edits Pho's Akron Pages says some Ohio bloggers are targeting blogs on Ohio.com, a site owned by the Akron Beacon Journal, a daily newspaper in Akron, Ohio, USA.  "It started with one offhand remark about the clunky-but-familiar title of the new left-wing "community" blog on the Akron Beacon's Ohio.com website," Pho wrote in an August 1, 2007, post.

"I expected Matt Hurley at Weapons of Mass Discussion [link added] might have something to say about the Blog of Mass Destruction, he added. "But things have escalated and we have us a blogstorm."  To read the entire post, see "Bloggers Massing Against Ohio Dot Com."

Technorati tags: Pho's Akron Pages, Ohio.com, Akron Beacon Journals, Weapons of Mass Discussion, Blogs of Mass Destruction

Telegraph Media Group Launching New Blogging Community'

Mad.co.uk, a site that "delivers business insight to professionals in marketing, media, new media, advertising and design," reported May 9, 2007 that,  "The Telegraph Media Group is launching a new blogging community called “My Telegraph.”

"The initiative offers greater interaction for users of Telegraph.co.uk and enables registered bloggers to post their own views and collate all their comments in one stream called “My comment,” writes reporter Branwell Johnson.

Johnson says "Bloggers will also be able to upload their own photographs and images." To read more, please see "Telegraph launches blogging community."

Columnist Describes Experience at Wisconsin Blog Summit

"On Saturday [April 28, 2007] I attended a "Blog Summit" at Marquette University sponsored by WisPolitics.com, a political Web site," Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel Columnist Eugene Kane told his readers on April 30, 2007. "For a "mainstream media" journalist who has been writing a blog for more than a year, it wasn't exactly like going into the belly of the beast, but it was close," he said.

To read more, please see "Summit brings bloggers out of the woodwork." May require subscription.

Technorati tags: WisPolitics.com, Eugene Kane, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

Is 'The Blogging, Online Media Thing' Overrated?

Mathew Ingram, a blogging journalist with The Globe and Mail of Toronto, Canada, has a March 27, 2007, post in Agora Vox in which he notes:

Many bloggers and journalists alike are busy debating the “death” of newspapers and the online evolution that media organizations of all kinds are being forced to consider (see my previous post), but it seems that some are still wondering what the fuss is all about - witness the latest commentary from Tim Luckhurst, a former editor of The Scotsman, in the Independent, a paper whose editor is a well-known skeptic when it comes to online. Mr. Luckhurst appears to think that the whole blogging, online-media thing is overrated. Despite the fact that the Telegraph has spent “millions” on things like blogs and video, he suggests, the payoff has been meagre. How does he know this? Unnamed “senior editors” and “analysts” say so.

"One of the most damning things seems to be the lack of comments on the Telegraph blogs, which Luckhurst says only get a few remarks in some cases," Ingram adds.

Maybe readers don't think what the Telegraph is blogging about is worth commenting on. However, that in no way means blogging is overrated. Besides, I'd look at the traffic as an indicator of reader interest rather than comments.

To read Ingram's entire post, please see "Independent: just another word for ’wrong.’

Technorati tags: Matthew Ingram, The Globe and Mail, Agora Vox, Blogging, Online Media, The Telegraph

Who Determines Who's A Journalist?

Bill Sloat at The Daily Bellwether of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, who "for years... was a newspaper reporter or magazine writer, and sometimes an editor," has a March 16, 2007, post headlined "Ohio's MSM Does Not Own The Word Journalist: It Belongs To All. I recommend it.

Miss Laura: 'WAPO Might Need A Blogger Ethics Panel'

Miss Laura over at Daily Kos says in a March 13, 2007, post that, "WaPo (the Washington Post) Might Need a Blogger Ethics Panel."

Paul McNamara: 'Can Outing An Anonymous Blogger Be Justified?'

Paul McNamara, Network World's news editor and Net Buzz columnist, asks in Buzzblog: "Can outing an anonymous blogger be justified?"

As McNamara notes in a March 10, 2007, post, "The question springs from a tempest swirling around the St. Augustine (Fla.) Record and its efforts - including the use of its own on-property surveillance camera - to remove the veil of anonymity from a blogger who had been highly critical of a local politician."

McNamara interviewed "The Record's editor, Peter Ellis," in an attempt to answer the question.

By the way, I reject many good posts I would like to feature. Why? Because they are written anonymously.

Rogers Cadenhead: 'Newspaper Asks Public to Identify Local Blogger'

Rogers Cadenhead over at Work Bench reports in a March 8, 2007, post that, "A Florida newspaper appears to have hit an all-time low in the relationship between bloggers and the media. The St. Augustine Record is asking the public to help expose the identity of a local blogger who recently started a site critical of county politicians.

See "Newspaper Asks Public to Identify Local Blogger." I recommend it.

The Buffalo (New York) News Launches Multiple Blogs

Mild-Mannered Blogger! noted March 5, 2007, that "The Buffalo News officially entered the 21st century this morning by re-launching their website with updated news throughout the day, as well as multiple blogs written by staff writers. A sincere congrats to them, as I know many people within their organization have been frustrated by their old site."

To read more, please see "hey, new buffalo bloggers!" Also see editor Margaret Sullivan's "Getting The News fresh all day."

She said "in the months ahead, are podcasts, video, multimedia photo slide shows, audio music clips and more."

Cosmic Variance's Sean Carroll Looks At Bloggers And Political Punditry

"We have an interesting illustration of how the Internet is changing the nature of political punditry, in the form of the ongoing spat between Joe Klein [link added] and the liberal blogosphere," contends Sean Carroll, a "Senior Research Associate" in the Department of Physics at the California Institute of Technology located in Pasadena, California, USA. 

I found his March 4, 2007, analysis of bloggers' participation in political punditry and the effect it is having on political discourse thought-provoking.

To read it,  please see the Cosmic Variance  post headlined "The Tremulous Punditosphere."

Recommended: Tim Lee's 'The Cathedral And The Blogosphere'

 On March 2, 2007,  Tim Lee over at The Technology Liberation Front blog posted an article headlined "The Cathedral and the Blogosphere." He followed up on March 3, 2007, with "More on the Cathedral and the Blogosphere."

The first article is in response to Robert Kuttner's post in the January/February 2007 Columbia Journalism Review  headlined "The Race." It's a perspective on the state of newspapers in the United States.  

The second article is his response to "an interesting critique of the argument" he "made yesterday [March 2, 2007] concerning blogs and newspapers."

It's a good discussion. I recommend each of the articles cited above.

A Rural California Businessman's Perspective On Protecting News Sources

Kurt Vosburg, described by the Tracy Press of Tracy, California, USA, as "a rural Tracy small businessman" who "is among a select group of local residents rotating their columns in the Saturday Tracy Press," has a March 3, 2007, column you might enjoy headlined "Too bad Perry Mason never showed."

The post is a commentary about whether there is a "precedent that protects the media — journalists/reporters — from divulging the identity of reliable sources."

By the way, the Tracy Press has a list of staff and community bloggers. That's the kind of networked journalism I like to see.

Adrian Monck: 'Linking (is) Not Plagiarising'

British journalism professor and blogger Adrian Monck has a March 3, 2007, post over at Adrian Monck Online headlined "Linking not plagiarising..."

"I would like journalists to seek out and link back to material that relates to their story," he said . "And that includes me...," Monck wrote.

I totally agree. I often find myself annoyed at online journalist who don't link to source material or use links to provide perspective for readers."

Recommended: Frontline's Interview With Blogger Jeff Jarvis

I found Frontline's Question and Answer (Q&A) conducted with BuzzMachine proprietor Jeff Jarvis for the four-part series called News Wars vigorous, enjoyable and informative. It was conducted by Lowell Bergman.

PBS aired "News Wars" in February 2007.

To read an edited transcript of the Q & A, please see Frontline "Interviews Jeff Jarvis." For  Jarvis' take on the segment in which he appeared, see "Old news on old news."

Would The Blogosphere 'Shrivel And Die' Without The MSM?

Kevin Drum,  the full-time blogger who writes The Washington Monthly's influential Political Animal blog, makes a valid argument in the March/April 2007 Issue of Mother Jones for "why blogs—or "citizen journalism" [link added] to its most enthusiastic cheerleaders—will never replace the mainstream media (a term so prevalent it has its own IM-like abbreviation: msm).: According to Drum:

For all the hype over blogosphere triumphs such as the takedown of Dan Rather [link added]or the almost  instant posting of cell-phone photos of the 2004 tsunami, the plain fact is that very few blogs do sustained original reporting of their own. It's also why the endless debate over whether blogs are better or worse than the msm is pointless. In the same way that newspapers excel at broad coverage of breaking news, TV excels at images, magazines excel at long analytic pieces, and talk radio excels at ranting screeds, blogs also excel at certain things. Trying to compare them to "journalism" is a mug's game, like trying to figure out if a beanbag is really a chair. Who cares? Beanbags are great for certain forms of sitting down and lousy at others.

In fact," Drum contends, "blogs and the msm are symbiotic. Blogs at their best improve on msm reporting both by holding reporters to account and by latching onto complex topics and talking about them in a conversational style that professional reporters just can't match. But the blogosphere would shrivel and die without a steady diet of news reporting from paid professionals."

To read more of Drums thought-provoking analysis, please see "A Blogger Says: Save The MSM!"

Should Bloggers Get Credentials To Cover California Legislature?

"For 60 years, the Capitol Correspondents Association [in Sacramento, California, USA] has been charged with deciding which reporters should be sanctioned to cover the California Legislature," notes John Howard, managing editor of the Capitol Weekly, a Sacramento-based ""newspaper of California government and politics."

"But," Howard reports in a March 1, 2007, post, "a new set of bylaws aimed at restricting the access of partisan bloggers has set off a mini-firestorm within the Capitol, as California aims to become the first state in the nation to set out specific rules over how and whether bloggers should be credentialed."

To read more on the debate, please see "Out in cyberspace, looking in."

Why News & Record Editor John Robinson Started Blogging

John Robinson, editor of the News & Record in Greensboro, North Carolina writes:

One of the primary motivations for me to begin blogging back in 2004 was a sense of frustration when reading what was being said about the newspaper in the blogosphere. Some of it was insightful and instructive, but much was wrongheaded and unfair. I realized I needed to get into the game so that I could address, respond and talk.

There's more. See his February 24, 2007 post headlined "The blogger-city manager sit-down."

The Homicide Report Blog

Did you know the Los Angeles Times had a blog called The Homicide Report?

I didn't until I read LA Observed blogger Kevin Roderick's February 24, 2007, post headlined "Times bloggers go to school.

LA Times To Send Reporters To Blogging Boot Camp March 12

Kevin Roderick at LA Observed reported February 24 2007, that "The L.A. Times [link added] will send all of its staff bloggers, current and aspiring, to blogging "boot camp" on March 12."

"The idea, according to a memo from Innovation Editor Russ Stanton, is to show them that the new Times way for blogs is that 'they are updated several times each day, are passionate about their subject matter and regularly reach outside the building to pull the community into the discussion,'" Roderick wrote.

You can read read the February 23, 2007, memo Stanton sent to his staff by reading Roderick's "Times bloggers go to school."

Blogging At The Strib Guild And The St. Paul Guild

Strib Guild, the blog of the "newspaper guild at the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and the St. Paul Guild, the blog of "the newspaper guild at the St. Paul (Minnesota) Pioneer Press," are trying to keep newspaper employees they represent in the know about developments that could result in more job loses at Minnesota's two most prominent newspapers.

I give the edge to the St. Paul Guild, which is more current and conversational. Strib Guild, which reportedly has about 400 members, last posted on February 14, 2007. See "Happy Valentine's Day from the Guild: Now more than ever, you can’t afford NOT to be union! 

St. Paul Guild, which reportedly has about 380 members, lasted posted on February 23, 2007. The discussion was "Why two weeks matter."

According to Workday Minnesota, "Star Tribune employees also are represented by other unions." The Pioneer Press, on the other hand, "is a wall-to-wall shop."

Journalists And Bloggers: It's The Same Old Song

Think Progress' February 20, 2007, post headlined "Tony Snow and White House Reporters Slam The ‘Hateful,’ ‘Polarized’ Blogosphere" had generated 334 comments at post time. They were quite enjoyable and informative. 

C-Span carried the Washington, D.C.-based National Press Club discussion the Think Progress report is based on. If you are interested in hearing it, Think Progress has a link to the February 20, 2007 event, at which White House spokesman Robert Anthony "Tony" Snow and reporters expressed their views on the impact that blogging and the Internet is having on news coverage.

Comments by  NBC Chief White House correspondent David Gregory and Snow seems to have generated most the discussion among commenters.

CJR (Columbia Journalism Review) Daily has a post about the event headlined "Beware The Bloggers.

Bloggers Blog weighs in with "Tony Snow, David Gregory Criticize Blogs."  Thanks to Bloggers Blog for the tip.

By the way, The National Press Club offers its members classes on blogging. For example, a February 28, 2007, seminar is titled "Advanced Blogging."

A March 6, 2007, seminar is titled "Web Writing and Editing." On March 12, 2007, members can take a course titled "Blogging Basics." However, "this event is not affiliated with the National Press Club" but posted on its calendar. 

The Hamilton Spectator Launches Two New Blogs

On February 16, 2007, The Hamilton Spectator of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, announced that it had launched "two news blogs to connect readers directly with Spec(tator) journalists reporting the news." See "Blogging the news." 

Colorado Confidential 'Recognized For Excellence In Journalism'

Wendy Norris at Colorado Confidential reported February 16, 2007, that the blog "was notified today that it will be recognized in this year's Colorado Society of Professional Journalists annual Mark of Excellence awards at its annual banquet on March 30, 2007."

Congratulations to Wendy and the rest of the staff.

To read more, please see "CoCo Recognized for Excellence in Journalism." Thanks to Viva La Blog for the tip.

Why Are The Economist's Bloggers Anonymous?

Stephen Bainbridge over at Professor Bainbridge.com is "curious" about "why the Economist.com's bloggers are anonymous." 

To read why, please see "Anonymous Blogging at The Economist." 

The New York Times Highlights Bloggers Covering Libby Trial

The February 15, 2007, edition of The New York Times has an articl