This category and blog entry was built to accompany some presentations I'm involved with for the 2004 annual conference of the Canadian Association of Journalists. This entry accompanies a panel titled The Blog Revolution. The panel discussion is scheduled for Friday, May 7 at 9 am Pacific / 12 noon EDT. So far as I know, the panel will not be Webcast although we might be lucky to have a live network connection in the room at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. Here's the panel's mission, some bullet points I plan to elaborate on, and then (I hope) a place to jot down some of the panel discussion and feedback. This blog is now open for comments and feedback from all.
Panel Mission:
THE BLOG REVOLUTION: How blogs are changing and challenging journalism – Everyone's doing it, including media professionals. Web logs, or blogs, give anyone a platform and a potentially limitless audience. Lately, bloggers have broken news stories, kept other stories alive, created their own celebrities and, oh yeah, helped overthrow the editor of The New York Times. Previously unknown bloggers have been offered plum jobs in conventional newsrooms, and conventional newsrooms have started blogging. Some prominent journalists have even found themselves paired with “watchblogs” that analyze and critique every story they create. What are the tensions between bloggers and traditional journalists? And what can journalists learn from blogs and bloggers? Is this a new form of media democracy? This panel of tech-savvy journalists, bloggers, and media observers will explore the way blogs are changing and challenging journalism – and where it's all going. The panel includes: David Akin, technology writer for the Globe and Mail and CTV; Emira Mears, co-founder of Raised Eyebrow, web design, media activist and co-editor of soapboxgirls.com; Alan Bass, assistant professor of journalism, University College of the Cariboo; Robert Washburn, professor, e-journalism at Loyalist College in Belleville, Ontario; Caterina Fake, community development and marketing lead at Ludicorp; and Saleem Khan, editor at Toronto Metro News.
Saleem asked me if I would talk about this:
Share your experience as a working journalist who came to blogging, explain why you do it and similarities and differences between traditional journalism and blogging. It would also be interesting to hear how your blog or others you read may factor into your daily work.
- Wasn't sure when I started why I should blog and am still not sure. I've been blogging since Feb 2003 and I now think I'm learning why it's valuable. First, it makes me part of a online community of bloggers and, as I cover online communities, it's important I hang out in these online communities. Beyond that, by initiating conversations on my blog, it's a great way to develop story ideas, find new sources, and solicit for both. It's also a nice outlet for news tidbits that I think are interesting for my beat but which might be too trivial for either CTV National News or The Globe and Mail.
- The big difference for me between my traditional journalism and my blogging is really tone of voice. My day job is a reporter. I'm not a columnist. I'm not a pundit. For me to be an effective reporter, viewers/readers and sources (and my bosses) must believe I can treat just about any story assigned to me fairly. For that reason, I'm going to avoid saying things in any public forum — my blog, a listserv, a conference like this one — that will compromise my ability to treat a story subject fairly. That said, I can be a little more loose in my blog with what I say and I can use the first person point-of-view when I write, something I can't really do when I report for The Globe or CTV. That's my difference. Other journalists who blog will tell you something completely different.
- My blog regularly helps with my day job. In fact, I think it's important to note here that, my blog is absolutely secondary to the work I do for money — namely report for The Globe and CTV. The Globe and CTV are interested in boosting readership and finding viewers. The purpose of my blog is not to find more readers. It is it to help me help the Globe and CTV find readers and viewers. I do that by finding stories that are more interesting and compelling than the stories my competition has. Usually, what makes one story better than a competitors', particularly on a business beat, is that a reporter can illustrate a trend by bringing a real person into the story and ditching analysts, experts, industry spokespeople etc. I'm convinced that by being a blog author and and a blog reader, I'm able to find individuals to help with my stories more quickly than ever. Even for journalists who don't blog, staying on top of some key blogs that fit into your beat or even just knowing your way around the blogosphere, seems to me to be as vital a skill nowadays as knowing how the World Wide Web works.