It was nice to read one of these articles that is actually related directly to me. In her article, Blogging Between the Lines, Dana Hull talks about Blogs becoming an important part of a newspaper reporter's job description.
It hits home for me since I have another blog, BuckenBlog, that I update about once a week. I know, once a week is clearly not enough and I need to post more often. I know I would have more posts if updating BuckenBlog was actually in my job description or if was paid to update. It is not part of my job and I do it for free, therefore, the blog relies on my shaky self discipline.
I'm a sportswriter so my blog sticks to sports, mainly the ones I cover (wrestling, baseball and soccer). I give my take on the game or match and what is to come for the team. Since I don't have to worry about getting anyone into legal trouble because of what I write.
But that's that something most sports bloggers usually don't have to worry about, since the world of sports is typically light-hearted and away from the top news stories. That is, of course, unless you aren't blogging about a congressional steroids hearing and/or dog-fighting, but that's a different story.
When I do keep a blog that's sanctioned by a newspaper, I don't intend to write anything too serious that could end up getting me and/or my employer in trouble. I would hate to see any writer or newspaper go up in smoke after what someone said in a blog. After all, it's just a blog.
Hull brings up this point: "Should blogs rise to the same reporting and sourcing standards as content that appears in the print edition?"
I don't think so. Blog content is the blogger's opinion and gives the blogger a chance to have fun with his/her beat.
4 comments:
I don't think blogging material should be on the same level as newsprint either.
There are some newsworthy blogs out there. But how do you weed out the others?
Then again, maybe I have grown up with newsprint being a primary source of legitimate news.
I also agree the bloggers shouldn't be held to the same standards as reports, unless you are blogging about hard news. Like I said in my blog, I feel the point of a blog should be to further the conversation and add solutions or opinions on a topic. Think of it as a discussion with a friend. You don't usually pull out quotes and site your sources, you simply state your opinion. I think this should be a good starting point for blogs and as they develop they can take small steps forward.
"It was nice to read one of these articles that is actually related directly to me."
You've (perhaps unintentionally) just shown why hyper-local journalism and citizen journalism is the wave of the future. People like to read stuff that is either about themselves or at least directly related to themselves.
You might also be overlooking the fact that becoming known in your area requires that you build some street cred. A good blog could help that by getting your name known and source list increased, but only if you're taken seriously.
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