Sunday, June 11, 2006
The Spokesman-Review does it right...
I just spent an hour perusing The Spokesman-Review, of Spokane, Wash., Web site. What a goldmine. I'm impressed by the scope and thoughtfulness of its blogs and other interactive features. Readers are given opportunity to reflect on and respond to news coverage, as well as learn about the personal ticks and beliefs of The S-R news staff. My personal favorites: "Ask the Editors," "Eye on Olympia," and a recent feature that's essentially the diary of a 17-year-old in rehab for meth and pot addiction. Wow. Online publisher Ken Sands has done so much right. It seems to me that he really investigated how online could reinforce traditional news values. I applaud him.
Sands offers a harsh reality check to newspapers editors on the verge of jumping on the online bandwagon at http://www.mediacenterblog.org/2005/04/it_can_be_tough. As he says, it's tough to do what one hasn't done before. His advice - to start small, think specific and focus on topics instead of writers - are practical and useful. And they're bit-sized enough to implement with ease.
I don't know is his closing comment is true: that it's easier to turn a good blogger into a good journalist than vis versa. Transition takes time, and in the way that he and his staff managed to use journalistic principles as guidelines for their blogs, I expect other newspapers will have the inclination to do the same. They may not do it correctly immediately, but new journalists rarely outmatch their more seasoned counterparts. Laziness, insecurity, ignorance: These are everyone's excuses. I'm glad that Sands is so willing to share his knowledge, which I think is another mark of his online training. The Internet is about inclusiveness, and print media has probably been too full of itself for too long. Humility, in every field, every personality and in all teachings, never hurts.
Sands offers a harsh reality check to newspapers editors on the verge of jumping on the online bandwagon at http://www.mediacenterblog.org/2005/04/it_can_be_tough. As he says, it's tough to do what one hasn't done before. His advice - to start small, think specific and focus on topics instead of writers - are practical and useful. And they're bit-sized enough to implement with ease.
I don't know is his closing comment is true: that it's easier to turn a good blogger into a good journalist than vis versa. Transition takes time, and in the way that he and his staff managed to use journalistic principles as guidelines for their blogs, I expect other newspapers will have the inclination to do the same. They may not do it correctly immediately, but new journalists rarely outmatch their more seasoned counterparts. Laziness, insecurity, ignorance: These are everyone's excuses. I'm glad that Sands is so willing to share his knowledge, which I think is another mark of his online training. The Internet is about inclusiveness, and print media has probably been too full of itself for too long. Humility, in every field, every personality and in all teachings, never hurts.
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Still not a blogger....
I'm not ready to decide whether blogging is my future. I'm done with it for now, but I'll always be connected to technology and journalism, and I'm certain I'll encounter their latest intersection - blogging - again. Plus, its gurus are promising that blogs will be an imperative part of newsrooms to increasing degrees in years to come, and I'm not about to make myself unemployable.
Overall, I enjoy being a blogger. I connect with many of its virtuous features: it's interactive, it's instant, it's easy, it's inclusive and it's sometimes outstanding journalism. But it's also free, it's often sloppier than print and it's always infused with opinion. My other beefs: Most bloggers use secondary sources for their work. And I feel like some bloggers are trying to subvert print, which quite possibly employs many of the most successful online journalists. My opinion may be a product of old-fashioned defensiveness because I'm afraid that technology will make print, the field of my immediate and probably long-term future, obsolete. And it would be a harsh loss. Newspapers are our most respected informers. They are umbrellas, blankets and gifts, literally. They are our breakfast and often times bathroom companions, and they are the only reading my boyfriend and I do daily, except for e-mail. And, humor aside, they contain some of the most tongue-tying, important, juicy stories of our present and history. I believe news print is just too good to let go. And, did I mention that blogging pays even worse than a reporting job? Seriously, quality will severely pay when a working journalist can’t support him/herself.
Call me naïve, but I don’t believe the sky is falling. What we have is too worth preserving, and I know many people concur. I guess I’m making my working orders to become the best journalist I can be, knowing that to be outstanding, I must ride this technological wave. And I while I won't be resistant to blogging opportunities in the future, I'll likely do it because I'm working for a newspaper.
Overall, I enjoy being a blogger. I connect with many of its virtuous features: it's interactive, it's instant, it's easy, it's inclusive and it's sometimes outstanding journalism. But it's also free, it's often sloppier than print and it's always infused with opinion. My other beefs: Most bloggers use secondary sources for their work. And I feel like some bloggers are trying to subvert print, which quite possibly employs many of the most successful online journalists. My opinion may be a product of old-fashioned defensiveness because I'm afraid that technology will make print, the field of my immediate and probably long-term future, obsolete. And it would be a harsh loss. Newspapers are our most respected informers. They are umbrellas, blankets and gifts, literally. They are our breakfast and often times bathroom companions, and they are the only reading my boyfriend and I do daily, except for e-mail. And, humor aside, they contain some of the most tongue-tying, important, juicy stories of our present and history. I believe news print is just too good to let go. And, did I mention that blogging pays even worse than a reporting job? Seriously, quality will severely pay when a working journalist can’t support him/herself.
Call me naïve, but I don’t believe the sky is falling. What we have is too worth preserving, and I know many people concur. I guess I’m making my working orders to become the best journalist I can be, knowing that to be outstanding, I must ride this technological wave. And I while I won't be resistant to blogging opportunities in the future, I'll likely do it because I'm working for a newspaper.
