Blogging and Journalism: Short History, and a Case for Change
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Transcript of Blogging and Journalism: Short History, and a Case for Change
what’s a blog?
history
before the internets
(tubes!)
we had reporters who wrote for newspapers
an editor would assign stuff like photos and
sidebars
it would all get edited, laid out on a page, and printed
on paper
like this:
and it was good.
but then they made the internets
so we changed stuff
and that wasn’t bad, at first
but the content was … printy.
and people started to like talking to each other
online
but they couldn’t talk to us
so they went someplace else
to talk
chatrooms. listservs. blogs.
so the bosses said - HEY!
‘come back!we got news!’
so they added blogs.and audio. and video.
and community-produced content.
and it was good…
But how was it supposed to work?
Where there multiple blogs?
who edited them?
and wait … didn’t the print people need help blogging to
begin with?
whew…..
Let’s step back.
what’s good about blogs?• conversational• regular updates• links to more material• discussion in comments• niche/relevant topics • easy to create/edit
• plays well with other technologies
can’t newspapers do that?
without …• losing reporting credibility• creating stupid workflows• abusing overworked writers• being afraid of our audience
Maybe it’s time to try something new.
Laura Fries
laurafries.com • [email protected] director, association of alternative newsweeklies
presentation given at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, June 2007