May 22nd, 2007
Every Newspaper Journalist Should Start A Blog
The hallmark of the new media revolution is that the balance of power is shifting to individuals — on the web, anyone can can be a publisher, individuals can make their voices heard through comments on nearly every item of content, and search puts individuals rather than media brands in control of content discovery. But a great irony of individual-centric new media is that this empowerment hasn’t generally extended to the individuals who “powered” old media — journalists.
The news that the San Francisco Chronicle is laying of 25% of its newsroom should be a clarion call to journalists. While most newsrooms aren’t in near-term danger of suffering such extreme bloodletting, the Chronicle is still a canary in a coal mine.
But what can journalists do besides bemoan the decline of the newspaper business and fret over the future of journalism?
I have a suggestion for every newspaper journalist — start your own blog. Today.
Why Journalists Should Blog
Starting a blog means:
- Creating an independent publishing platform — blogging software makes this easy
- Creating a platform for journalism that isn’t dependent on a corporate entity’s financial fortunes
- Embracing the power and accepting the responsibility of being a publisher
- Learning how to use the technologies that are transforming media
- Putting your career on a growth track by not defining yourself as a print journalist
- Creating an online resume that shows you can do new media
- Becoming a node on the new media network — journalism will be networked
Some journalists already blog for their publications, and all journalists SHOULD blog for their publications. But writing a blog on a publication website is in many ways no different from writing a column — it’s just better software. No, journalists need to start their OWN blogs. (CyberJournalist has a list of journalists who blog independently and for their publications.)
How To Start A Blog
Here are five practical tips on how to start a blog and how to be an effective blogger that should remove any practical barriers for any journalist who wants to take the leap into independent publishing:
1. Use hosted blogging software if you’re not technically inclined
I think WordPress.com is by far the best hosted blogging platform. But you can use TypePad, Blogger, or any of a dozen others. The cost ranges from free to minimal, and it’s easy to set up. Just pick one and do it.
2. Use Feedburner for your RSS feed and your email newsletter
Feedburner will turn your RSS feed into a user-friendly landing page that shows people how to subscribe to your feed in MyYahoo or other feed readers. Feedburner also lets you publish your RSS feed as a daily email for people who don’t currently use RSS. Feedburner provides stats on how many people are reading your RSS feed and email newsletter, and provides basic website traffic analytics so that you won’t be flying blind. Best of all, Feedburner’s basic service is free, with very affordable upgrades.
3. Start with link blogging
You don’t have to commit to writing original content to get started blogging. Instead, you can simply publish links to things you read that you think are important, with some brief commentary. Get a Del.icio.us account and start bookmarking what you read. You can set up your “link roll” to automatically publish to your blog every day. Whatever you do, you should link to other sites. The more you link out, the more you get back — this is the fundamental law of the web.
4. Publish whatever your can’t publish through other outlets
Newspapers have finite space. The web has infinite space (which is a double-edged sword). Use your blog to publish what might otherwise have been left on the cutting room floor, or ideas or information that might not otherwise have an outlet.
5. Learn from journalists who blog independently
Check out the independent journalist bloggers on the CyberJournalist list. Check out Mathew Ingram, Jeremy Wagstaff, and Nicole Stockdale, and Kathleen Chapman and William Hartnett (husband and wife blogging journalists). Learn from journalists who already doing it.
UPDATE
Here’s an important caveat from John Roberts, which is informed by my tip #4 and which I strongly agree with:
I would add the caveat that it’s important to inform the publications you are working for about this “personal” blog. Whether it’s fair or not, drawing the lines between the personal and professional is harder — and therefore more important — for journalists, especially if you blog on the same topic in both places.
There’s no value for journalists in starting a blog with anything other than full transparency and disclosure, and ideally with the support of their news organizations — this may be a challenging path, but it’s something the news business has to confront.
UPDATE #2
I expected some challenges to this post, but not necessarily from journalists with independent blogs. Bobbie Johnson, a correspondent at The Guardian, argues that not ever journalist should blog, for a number of reasons, including:
Journalists have a job to do
And while that job might be able to accommodate blogging, it’s not always going to. The primary job of a reporter should be to get stories; anything else is a bonus.
Back when there was only print and healthy newspaper economics, this might have been a tenable position, but I don’t think it is any longer. Journalist have to get stories, engage with their readers, learn new technologies, and find time to blog — life has indeed gotten more complicated, but that’s true for everyone in the media business. Bobby sounds a bit like a newspaper executive still living in a bygone era. I needn’t point out that working at The Guardian, Bobby enjoys the backing of trust rather than the backing of Wall Street investors (despite The Guardian’s laudable efforts to operate as a self-sustaining business).
Bobbie goes on:
There are two constituencies for most journalists: sources and readers. In most situations one is a small group that informs the other - the source gives you a story which you then weigh up and translate, before imparting to a wider audience.
But what does a blog give me if I’m writing for a disconnected, digitally unengaged readership? In this case, the amount of work that I put into a blog isn’t going to deliver significant benefits either for me, or - more importantly - for the audience I’m supposed to be serving. If there’s a better way you can serve your audience or engage with them, blogging is just going to be a pain in the arse.
and
Obviously in the future, as generations grow up with a different level of comfort with online interaction, we’re going to see that model shift
Again, this is longing for a simpler time, where the readers were held at distance, waiting for the story, and the journalist could go off in a cocoon, work sources, write the story, and then deliver it on a silver platter to readers. But what if your readers can become your sources? What if they want to engage with you outside the context of the crafted, edited, printed story?
And the idea that this isn’t happening yet because most people still read the newspaper in print flies in the face of every newspaper circulation trend line.
After concluding his spirited contrarian argument, where he does make some good points, Bobbie asserts:
In fact I think most journalists should take some time to learn about the different ways of interacting with their readers. In the most raw terms, blogs can generate great leads, and in more ephemeral terms they can teach us a lot about our readers.
I couldn’t agree more — that is the spirit of this post.
Bobbie and Ian Bettteridge, another blogging journalist, both complained that I didn’t give enough recognition to journalists who already blog, and Bobby complains about the shortcomings of the CyberJournalist list of blogging journalists.
First, the whole point of my tip #5 was to recognize journalists who already blog and suggest that other journalists who want to blog should learn from those already doing it.
Second — come on, guys, you’re journalists! Instead of whining about the problem, do something about it. Jonathan Dube has gone to a lot of effort to create the list — if you’re not on it, get yourself added, and also send Jonathan the names of other people you know who are missing from the list.
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I strongly support this statement. Experienced reporters and writers’ voices are sorely needed in the blogosphere.
However, I do wish to bring up the elephant in the room. Most full time bloggers even with journalist credentials will be unable able to replace the salary they’d earn at a newspaper. Blogging doesn’t pay enough to live on for the vast majority.
Thanks for including me on that list, Scott — and I think your post is dead on.
Mathew, are you kidding, you were the first on the list
Webomatica, I agree, and nowhere did I suggest that journalists should or could quit their newspaper jobs. This is about establishing an anchor point of independence.
I would add the caveat that it’s important to inform the publications you are working for about this “personal” blog. Whether it’s fair or not, drawing the lines between the personal and professional is harder — and therefore more important — for journalists, especially if you blog on the same topic in both places.
The best stuff, of course, will likely appear where you get paid to do it.
John,
I definitely agree — that’s why I suggested journalists focus on publishing on their blogs what doesn’t get published through other outlets, e.g. the cutting room floor.
And, yes, it’s absolutely essential to be transparent with your employer and strive to find a way to make it work.
The conference began with opening remarks from Frank Moretti, department head of Columbia?s Center for New Media Teaching and Learning. The challenge is then set for the audience by Cathy Casserly of the William and Flora Hewlett … Every Newspaper Journalist Should Start A Blog The hallmark of the new media revolution is that the balance of power is shifting to individuals ? on the web, anyone can can be a publisher, individuals can make their voices heard through comments on nearly every item of content,
Thanks for the link! And, shameless plug warning, check out the site of my husband and fellow journalist.
This is a great post that, I hope, will be taken seriously by journalists. The media industry is far too tumultuous to rely on a single outlet. Making inroads into an independent career — even if it’s for networking, practice, etc. — is an excellent move.
[...] mentioned as an example of what every newspaper reporter should be doing in Scott Karp’s post Every Newspaper Journalist Should Start A Blog. Right on, which is why Kathleen and I are both massively into the [...]
[...] Karp suggestions that “every Newspaper Journalist Should Start A Blog”, but I think he’s actually underestimating the amount of journalists who already have blogs. [...]
Thanks, Kathleen, I added your husband to the list.
[...] what - I suppose - many old media types would see as a breathlessly modish statement: that “Every newspaper journalist should start a blog“. Some journalists already blog for their publications, and all journalists SHOULD blog for [...]
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[...] Every Newspaper Journalist Should Start A Blog. Scott Karp says the new media revolution should empower the reporters who have powered old media, too. Good advice. [...]
May 22nd, 2007 Journalism, Blogging none Comments Scott Karp suggestions that “every Newspaper Journalist Should Start A Blogâ€, but I think he’s actually underestimating the amount of journalists who already have blogs. Certainly, they’re spreading fast as far as I can see. What’s more, if my experience in hiring new staff is anything to go buy, journalism courses are
[...] Karp thinks that Every Newspaper Journalist Should Start A Blog. Why? Well, he has a lot of reasons. The one I liked: “Putting your career on a growth track [...]
and harder to write. Why? The stakes are going up. Not for me, I really don’t care. But for the people I’m writing about and who want access to my audience. … â– Every Newspaper Journalist Should Start A Blog（Google Blog Search: a-blog） http://publishing2.com/2007/05/22/every-newspaper-journalist-should-start-a-blog/ Here are five practical tips on how to start a blog and how to be an effective blogger that should remove any practical barriers for any journalist who wants to take the leap into independent publishing:. 1. Use hosted blogging software …
and harder to write. Why? The stakes are going up. Not for me, I really don’t care. But for the people I’m writing about and who want access to my audience. … â– Every Newspaper Journalist Should Start A Blog（Google Blog Search: a-blog） http://publishing2.com/2007/05/22/every-newspaper-journalist-should-start-a-blog/ Here are five practical tips on how to start a blog and how to be an effective blogger that should remove any practical barriers for any journalist who wants to take the leap into independent publishing:. 1. Use hosted blogging software …
Scott says: “Instead of whining about the problem, do something about it”
Not really fair, Scott: no one’s “whining” here. Neither myself nor Bobbie were moaning about not being on the list. It’s a laudable effort, but it’s a voluntary list, which means that it’s not a fair reflection of the number of journalists blogging. Some don’t know about it, some don’t want to be on it (for whatever reason).
You also neglected my main point: journalism students are already being encouraged to start blogs in journalism schools everywhere - in fact, I haven’t come across a new year for some time who hasn’t at least started a blog. Not all of them carry on with it, but at least they know the ropes.
[...] suggestion that every newspaper journalist should have a blog, made by Scott Karp at Publishing 2.0, is [...]
[...] discussion was sparked by Scott Karp who also gives some tips for people starting to blog (you need to scroll down to get to them). The [...]
Every newspaper journalist should start a blog » Publishing 2.0
Ian,
Your observation about blogging being encouraged in J-school is an important one — I’m really speaking to an older generation of journalists in this post.
The list is certainly not the only way to give journalists who blog recognition, but for those who don’t know about it who would want to be on it, it’s worth spreading the word. Or, you could have simply listed in your own post some other blogging journalists who you admire. I think it is important to recognize how widespread this is, but I for one enjoy being able to actually check people’s blogs and see what they’re doing.
I enjoyed discovering your blog.
[...] Karp responded - very quickly, I might add - to my post about why I think it’s not necessarily a good idea [...]
[...] Karp at Publishing 2.0 has an interesting post about why journalists should blog independently from their employers (hat tip: Mathew Ingram). He gives seven [...]
* tem a possibilidade de criação de um resumé online, que mostra de que ele é capaz de fazer com a nova mÃdia; * torna-o um nódulo na rede da nova mÃdia.E vai por aà afora a argumentação de Karp pró-blogs de jornalistas. Leia a postagem completa. marcos palacios
[...] Carp x 2: First, he lists seven reasons why every journalists should start their own blog, “Learning how to [...]
Publishing 2.0
[...] Ahora que tiene wifi, DarÃo está más online que nunca. Y no sólo lee Infobae desde el baño, también me pasa desde Buenos Aires enlaces buenisimos como este: Todos los periodistas deberÃan bloguear [...]
[...] Karp makes a very good case for another reason you should blog: To save your own skin. He also offers some good tips on getting started. Share and Enjoy:These icons link to social [...]
Ahora que tiene wifi, DarÃo está más online que nunca. Y no sólo lee Infobae desde el baño, también me pasa desde Buenos Aires enlaces buenisimos como este: Todos los periodistas deberÃan bloguear
While I am a great believer in the power of blogs as tools for journalists, it is too sweeping to say that every reporter should blog. Like every form of writing, blogging requires its own set of skills. Some journalists will have the talent to blog in an interesting and stimulating manner, other won’t.
My students at the J-School at the University of British Columbia all had to keep blogs as part of their journalism assignments. Some excelled at the freedom that blogging offers while other struggle to let go of the traditional, hard news pyramid structure of reporting.
Blogging does offer great opportunities for journalists to write about their world and connect with audiences. But just because any journalist can set up a blog does not mean every journalist
[...] Karp over at Publishing 2.0 have a post up, basically saying that every journalist should start a blog. And of course, there’s rebuttals [...]
[...] There’s a detailed post on why this survival tactic must be adopted by journalists together with some tips to get started. Publish whatever your can’t publish through other outlets Newspapers have finite space. The web ha… [...]
criticism from both a commenter and a journalist/blogger (Brad at Union Square Ventures has some thoughts here on how editing on the Web begins after publishing). And no, I’m not praising Scott’s post just because he mentions me In a comment, John Roberts notes that journalists should always let their employers know about their blogs (wise advice), and in his own post, a journalist/blogger — Bobbie Johnson of The Guardian, who I have a lot of time for —
the sports page and the cartoons. Disaggregation on the web means that journalism needs to be valued on its own — that is the challenge presented by the disruption of the news business. I recommend the entire post, and Scott’s excellent follow-up: Every newspaper journalist should start a blog. Amen.
en casa para dejar de lado el diario de papel (discusión con algunos detalles un poco grotescos), nos enteramos de un post interesante: “Todo periodista de un diario deberÃa empezar un blog†(Traducción vÃa Google – “Every Newspaper Journalist Should Start A Blogâ€, versión en inglés). Un artÃculo publicado en Publishing 2.0 que no sólo se transforma en una guÃa para que los periodistas que quieran iniciar uno puedan hacerlo, sino que también marca esos fundamentos.
Pulishing 2.0, o editor Scott Karp lista uma série de razões para que todo jornalista tenha um blog. “Eu tenho uma sugestão para todo jornalista: comece seu próprio blog. Hojeâ€, escreve Karp. Leia aqui o post completo de Karp. (em inglês) Tags: Blogs
[...] an eye to their career and long-term, independent survival, every journalist should start a blog, states Scott Karp in a piece that’s getting a lot of attention on journalist’s web sites. Says Karp:”What can journalists do [...]
saptamani, cand la Iulian sau Bradut, dar si la altii, am citit de noi bloguri lansate de oameni de presa din ce in ce mai cunoscuti. Ba chiar intr-o emisiune de la Antena 3 s-a adus in discutie subiectul “jurnalism vs blog”. Cineva “de afara” spunea saptamana trecuta ca orice jurnalist ar trebui sa is faca un blog si vene si cu cateva argumente. “Fapta sa” nu a ramas nepedepsita, cineva venind cu un post in care arata de ce nu ar trebui fiecare jurnalist sa isi faca blog.
[...] Read the full article here: Every newspaper journalist should start a blog [...]
to GET the web. I want them to understand how the web is different. I want to cure them of their tone deafness to the conversation going on around them.If you blog in the way blogging is meant to be done, you’ll realize these benefits He’s commenting on a post by Scott Karp at Publishing 2.0 which generated a real torrent of comments for and against. All good stuff, particularly Bobbie Johnsons rebuttal, but I would still fall back to Howard’s point. It isn’t a replacement for your job, it isn’t a vanity process. It’s about
I’m a journalist who blogs a lot, both for work and play, but I’m with the “not necessarily” crowd.
Blogging is just one of several skills you can develop as a journalist. A reporter who can blog is valuable, but so is a reporter who can edit. So is an editor who can create multimedia presentations. So is a Web content developer who can debug code.
I don’t see any need to force it. Some people aren’t comfortable in a conversational style. Some have demanding daily routines already and couldn’t keep up a blog.
I suppose it’s useful in seeing how Web conversations work, but not all Web conversations are the same. Some blogs attract interesting conversation, but some attract nothing but cranks.
And it’s a mistake — a mistake that’s spreading through journalism — to assume that the audience you get on your blog is necessarily representative of your readership as a whole. That’s particularly true at newspaper sites, where readers have long been passive and aren’t going to make the leap to active participants overnight. Besides, if the conversation is heated or borderline distasteful, many readers won’t want to enter the fray.
The only mandatory exercise I’d recommend for journalists is that everyone should spend at least a year on a copy desk. Learn what it means to work for a living.
¿Por qué no es indispensable que todo periodista cuente con un blog? http://www.bobbiejohnson.org/?p=957 (argumentos de Bobbie Johnson). ¿Por qué es recomendable que todo periodista cuente con su blog? http://publishing2.com/2007/05/22/every-newspaper-journalist-should-start-a-blog/(respuesta de Scott Karp) El interesante debate fue consignado por el destacado investigador brasileño Marcos Palacios.
Every Newspaper Journalist Should Start A Blog » Publishing 2.0
to dedicate their lives to serving the public good. For example, Google might run free training for young journalists to teach them how to thrive in a search-driven, online media world — particularly if these journalists want to try their hands at independent online journalism, i.e. blogging. The opportunity here is to stop taking less constructive actions like pointing fingers and abdicating responsibility, and instead look at constructive ways that technology can actually enhance and evolve the practice of journalism, far beyond what
on the population at large, and I share Bobbie’s aversion to sweeping generalizations. In this case, Karp makes a convincing argument on the benefits of blogging. But he doesn’t convince me everyone should do it. Here’s part of the response I left on his site: “Blogging is just one of several skills you can develop as a journalist. A reporter who can blog is valuable, but so is a reporter who can edit. So is an editor who can create multimedia presentations. So is a Web content developer who can debug code.”
Schreiben lernen! Inverted Pyramid war gestern. Bloggen ist Schreiben jenseits von Schablonen In direkten Dialog mit den Besserwissern und denen treten, die es wirklich besser wissen. … meint Scott Karp in diesem Beitrag (Punkte 1-6) und meine ich (Punkte 7-10). Weitere Punkte ab in die Kommentare! Share This
Every Newspaper Journalist Should Start A Blog
all journalists should blog. Sure, I’d love more journalists to embrace blogging. I am after all the blogs editor at the Guardian. Scott’s post has some great suggestions and tips for journalists who want to blog, and it’s worth a read for curious journalists who need to be
[IMG Journalist attack threat level] Hang on, this is a bit of a conceit, an extended metaphor. I’ve heard some suggestions such as from Scott Karp at Publishing 2.0 that all journalists should blog. Sure, I’d love more journalists to embrace blogging. I am after all the blogs editor at the Guardian. Scott’s post has some great suggestions and tips for journalists who want to blog, and it’s worth a read for curious journalists who need to be
damn cool. Good journalists care about their audience. Good journalists talk to their audience. Once they see how blogs fit into that, then they really get the idea. I’m rather warmer to the idea that every journalist should have a blog than Kevin is. Journalism is, in the end, about providing information to an audience. And if you don’t care about an audience enough to want to interact with them, not only shouldn’t you be blogging, you shouldn’t be in journalism at all.
[...] every journalist should have a blog. So here’s [...]
I’ve been lucky this year, my employers have asked me to write a blog about biofuels, devise some web TV and web radio products and help develop the consumer side of a purely subcription play website. OK so I don’t do any paper based journalism any more, but I managed to do that and work on a blog for the global chemicals industry in the gaps in my day. [check out Chemical Industry Insider on blogger] I guess if you’re “can do” then you can do it, if you aren’t then you wont.
[...] Fernando T. (Inspiración: tojou, bojo, publishing2) [...]
[...] Por supuesto, al final las decisiones son de cada uno. En mi caso, a pesar de las cuestiones negativas, opino que siempre es mejor aprender que no hacerlo, y por eso mi opción sería que SI, que todo periodista debería tener un blog. En el peor de los casos lo abandonará, o se quemará, y eso también son enseñanzas e incluso lecciones de humildad. (Inspiración: tojou, bojo, publishing2) [...]
[...] needs to become part of what defines a journalist’s skill set. While I still maintain that every journalist should start a blog, creating another outlet for original content creation is still a high [...]
[...] Getting Started We have all become writers, thanks to the new media. Access to a computer, the ability to type and the inclination to write and an internet connection is all that it takes to become a ‘published author’. Blogs are platforms for individuals to share their thoughts on any subject. Editorial restrictions seem to be a cause of concern with many of the batch of 2007-08. You are free to express thoughts without being subjected to editorial concerns. Blogs are considered the most democratic platforms / spaces available today. This is a platform for you to express your concerns and write about issues that matter to you. Here is a post that tells you why every journalist should blog. It even tells you how. http://publishing2.com/2007/05/22/every-newspaper-journalist-should-start-a-blog/ [...]
[...] every journalist should have a blog. So here’s [...]
[...] http://publishing2.com/2007/05/22/every-newspaper-journalist-should-start-a-blog/ [...]
http://www.marketingvox.com/archives/2007/11/08/b2b-journalists-blogs-other-online-sources-more-than-ok-to-use/
some are listening…
I agree too. This is the way of the future for many journalists out there.
[...] glimpse of 30 I caught in the distance. My wife and I launched her portfolio site at mid-month, and Scott Karp of Publishing 2.0 highlighted it as an example of what every journalist should be doing. I also made the switch to WordPress. Top post: Links you probably won’t find on Romenesko. [...]
[...] Zorg verder voor contactinformatie en andere relevante persoonlijke gegevens. Extra links: - Every Newspaper Journalist Should Start A Blog - Blogging tips for beginners - Blogging starter [...]
[...] distribution through his own experience blogging, and Howard Owens advocating that this is why every journalist should start a blog, I realized that the problem isn’t just a lack of understanding about blogging, or social [...]
[...] for the industry, to those providing examples that hint at hope for the future. After reading a couple of posts about journalists blogging, I thought I should give it a [...]
I totally agree with this in theory. But what about the fact that this takes time and journalists are used to getting paid to perform their craft? No one should work for free and plenty of folks have learned that while blogging brings about great networking opportunities and recognition, it does not pay the bills for most people.
We all know that journalists should blog — they know how to be trustworthy information-givers. What we need to know more of is how journalists who no longer have the security of a newsroom job can make a living blogging on their own.
Every journalist should blog.
- Job security - too much change in publishing.
- Build your brand - take your audience with you, whether online or print.
- Learn new technologies - writing skills alone won’t be enough.
We need to bring more professional quality to blogging.
I couldn’t agree more with this! Check out mine! http://journalism3.wordpress.com/
[...] Karp, a blogger, offers great insight on why journalists should start they’re own blog. And he’s not the only one. Literally, hundreds of bloggers, even traditional journalists, [...]
[...] not trust what I can not see, I do not trust who I do not know” – so a tip for the journalists, make yourself visible to the blind and trustworthy to the doubtful only then will you be [...]