Online Journalism 1 - Weblogs and Journalism

Things to do for next week

I'd like you to do a couple of things for next week. First, try to think of an idea you could explore in a diary-feature format on your blogs. You don't need to start writing up the idea. Just try to think of one. We'll talk about what you've come up with next week.

Next, leave a comment on a blog you like or find interesting. I don't mean write a review on your blog. I mean write something in the comment area on the blog. Then write something about why you chose to comment in this blog on your class blog and link to your comment or the post you commented on - so I can look at what you've written.

Diary format features

Another thing we'll look at today is using a blog to develop a longer more sustained feature idea. I'm going to circulate some print features that use a diary format to develop and explore a particular idea. We'll look at how these are written and think a little about how to develop and extend this style of feature on a blog.

There are a couple of blogs we might also look at in connection with this - The Julie/Julia Project, which formed the basis of an award-winning book, and eggbaconchipsandbeans.

Workplace blogs

Today we're going to look at 'personal journalism' - I admit it does sound like a slightly odd term. I'm using it to refer to the kind of personal writing you often find on blogs, in which people document their ordinary (or not so ordinary) lives. These kinds of blogs often feel very close to diaries - but because they're made public via the net, they can end up feeling close to 'journalism' or having a kind of journalistic effect.

One are we'll look at first is workplace blogging. Lots of ordinary people keep blogs about their day jobs. These blogs are usually anonymous, to protect the bloggers from their employers. James Richards, an academic from Heriot-Watt University, is researching workplace blogs. He's written a good definition of what this sort of blog is and also has collected a good list of reasons why workplace bloggers do what they do.

Visit one of these links - you'll see he's put together a huge list of links to different workplace bloggers. I'd like you to look at a couple of workbloggers. Try to find one you like. Read through what they say. Think about whether they're telling you anything new and whether you could class this as 'journalism'. Write a quick review and link to the blog you're covering. We'll talk about the things you find in class