Online Journalism 1 - Weblogs and Journalism

Newspapers and blogs

Most big news media organisations now run several blogs. But are they any good? Is there any point to a big newspaper setting up several blogs?

A while back, Andrew Grant-Adamson wondered whether there was much point to many of the blogs newspapers were running back then. His post drew an interesting response from Shane Richmond, who blogs for the Daily Telegraph. He outlined all the things newspaper blogs could do...

Have a look at his post and see what you think of his list. He put it together a year and a half ago now. Are newspaper blogs doing all the things he suggests? Incidentally, two years ago, Richmond also put together a blogging style guide for Telegraph writers - it's definitely worth a look.

One last thing I'd like you to think about - how could newspapers use blogs to cover the news. Think about a big ongoing story like the environment. How could they use blogs to cover this in a different way - think about blogging as a form, what it does best. We'll talk about some of your ideas in class.

Are blogs good or bad for journalism?

Events like the cases we're looking at today have sparked a big debate about the effects blogs are having on the news. Some people are very positive - for example the technology journalist Dan Gillmor, whose book 'We The Media' develops the argument that the net is making journalism less like a lecture and more like a conversation and that can only be a good thing. He argues that blogs (and related personal media technologies) are bringing in a new form of public journalism, one in which the public is actively involved.

Some people disagree and see blogs as inaccurate, untrustworthy and biased, used by activists to spin the media their way. Some see blogs as a new form of alternative journalism, a kind of practical criticism of the problems and biases of big media. Others suggest blogs are just reproducing the excesses of establishment journalism and, anyway, have been incorporated and co-opted by the big companies.

Certainly, in the last two years or so, blogs have become an established part of the news media, both here and in the States. Some bloggers now wield real political influence. Two years ago now, The Guardian ran an interesting piece about some of the more popular UK blogs that cover politics. Bloggers over here haven't developed the same high profile (or quite had the same effects yet) as their US counterparts. But this piece is a way into some of the interesting discussions taking place online.

Some well know political pundits now host blogs for themselves and their Hollywood/media chums - the best known example is Arianna Huffington, whose Huffington Post blog is becoming more and more popular. It was the model for The Guardian's popular Comment is Free blog. When that site launched, the paper drafted Huffington in on the launch day to write a piece about why the 'blogosphere is now the most vital news source in America'. Have a look at that piece and think about what all this says about the current status of blogging and bloggers.

Is blogging still a tool for the little guy to talk back to the media? Or has it now become part of the media business as usual?

Blogs and the news media agenda

When blogs first became popular, it was clear that there were tensions between bloggers and mainstream journalists. Many bloggers were explicity critical of what they call the MSM - the mainstream media - and its biases and hidden agendas. Similarly, journalists were very suspicious of bloggers - and ofen very dismissive of what they wrote.

Over the last three- four years, there have been a number of celebrated cases in which bloggers have directly affected the news agenda and have, via their blogs, forced professional journalists to cover stories in a particular way. We're going to look at some of these cases today.

I'll split you up into groups and I want you to find out the story behind these four names

• Dan Rather
• Trent Lott
• Eason Jordan
• Dilpazier Aslam

Today's session

Today we're going to look at how blogs affect the news agenda. We'll look at some celebrated instances from recent history when bloggers have had a direct effect on big stories and new media organisations. We'll also look at how news media organisations use blogs and try to think about ways they might use them better.

There will also be time to work on your assessment blogs. I'm going to hand out some general notes about what we've covered on the unit that may help you when it comes to developing your blog. I'll also try to talk to all of you individually about how the blog is going.