BLOGGING & JOURNALISM’S FUTURE

New Tools, Old Values

Compiled by Steve Fox, University of Massachusetts

December, 2010

Blogger, Wordpress, Tumblr – Write short, long, add multimedia, photos, video

YouTube, Vimeo – Short, long videos

Flickr, Picasa – Photo feeds

Twitter – the microblog

Mobile delivery = capturing breaking news

Online Roundups Aggregation

Opinion Informed Analysis

Long text Microblogging

Outliers in PJs Mainstream

The 2010 edition of State of the Blogosphere finds blogs in transition—no longer an upstart community, now with influence on mainstream narratives firmly entrenched, with bloggers still searching for the next steps forward.

Bloggers’ use of and engagement with various social media tools is expanding, and the lines between blogs, micro-blogs, and social networks are disappearing.

Technorati’s State of the Blogosphere

The Megaphone is Alive

Connections matter, not platforms

Journalists need to be platform-agnostic

All platforms working together as one

Tips:• Blogging develops writing

• Inform yourself, research

• Lively, personalized style

• Active voice

• Scanning

• Bullets, lists

Blogs: New Tools for Journalists

#1 Linking: Providing a thoughtful, credible series of links will help create an audience that will come to your blog for your expertise and perspective and, most importantly, keep them coming back.

Providing a link to Lindsay Lohan’s fan page may not do much for credibility.

So, THINK BEFORE YOU LINK!

“Cover what you do best. Link to the rest,” Jeff Jarvis

One of the many misperceptions of bloggers is that they don’t report.

As a journalist, a blog is a tool.

You’re reading, researching and, in many cases, interviewing for your blog entries.

Don’t take shortcuts. Link out and attribute often.

Practice journalism, not plagiarism.

You’re fighting the image of the ranting blogger.

All the ‘old’ rules apply.

Don’t take shortcuts. Write, edit, revise.

Just because you can hit the publish button….

Take the time and respect your audience.

Typos and factual errors turn away readers and blogging doesn’t change that.

The old adage: “Write as long as it takes.”

Some bloggers write 1,500-word entries — and readers love it.

Ideally: 300-500 word range; shorter is better.

Consider a series of blog entries on a topic.

One way to get readers to come back while keeping entries short.

Old newspaper construct: Reporters write stories; editors write headlines.

Bloggers write headlines for audience & search engines.

SEO: Specifics in your headlines help search engines access content.

Make your headline work for you: Cover ground that draws the reader in.

Don’t just set up your blog and let it sit.

A successful blog, like a garden, needs tending.

Your audience is not going to just show up. Find time to blog and do it.

Incorporate pictures, video, audio, polls.

Read and comment on other blogs.

Respond to comments from your audience.

Not all the comments you get will be nice.

Warning: Thick skin needed.

Never respond to snark with snark.

Have a discussion, not a shouting match.

A Change of Direction

Journalism is no longer a lecture – more like an ongoing, developing conversation.

Blogs, message boards, online discussions have created a two-way information highway for journalists.

The “group formerly known as the audience” is creating information through wikis and user-generated content.

It’s far easier for people to communicate from places previously unimaginable. (ie: tsunami coverage.)

State of Journalism

In 2009 Twitter and other social media emerged as powerful tools for disseminating information and mobilizing citizens such as evading the censors in Iran and communicating from the earthquake disaster zone in Haiti.

The majority of Internet users (59%) now use some kind of social media, including Twitter, blogging and networking sites.

-- Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism

The ‘Future of News’

"This year for the first time I have come to believe that we will be able to tell you about certain subjects better on the Internet than we will be able to in print.”

-- Washington Post Chairman Don Graham, 2005

-- That was FIVE years ago!

Go Grab The Ball!