editorsweblog.org

Tips and guidelines for bloggers

Plenty of web pages offer advice on coding, design, and stylesheet tricks. This Dennis G. Jerz collection (from US Setton Hill University), emphasizing content, rather than coding, offers links to advice on writing electronic documents, mostly web and blog pages, but also e-mail and interactive fiction. It is part of a larger collection of handouts on writing.

How to start a professional weblog

It's not recent (18 months old = a century in the cyberspace time) but very useful: "This afternoon I had the pleasure of talking with John Markoff's journalism class at Stanford University about the kind of journalism we practice in weblog-land." At the end, Dave Winer, a very experienced blogger, gives us a lesson you will not forget...

"How to start a Weblog (For Professional Journalists)" was posted on May 7, 2002.

Start

The hardest step in trying something new is to start. So just do it. ;->
Get some weblogging software, and create a new site. Start by posting something stupid like Hello World or This is my first post. Breaks the ice. Everyone does it.
Don't worry about the URL, some of the most popular weblogs have the nuttiest addresses. It's not the URL that attracts people, it's who you are and what you think that matters.
Some people think every weblog has to look beautiful, but I don't agree. My philosophy is we're all just folks, and come as you are.
Dogma 2000, a manifesto written by an Austrian blogger, sums it up beautifully. "If you have something to say, put in on the Web."

Links 

The next step is to link to stories.

When a colleague or competitor writes an article that you find interesting, for any reason, link to it. You don't have to say why you find it interesting. It may seem strange to point to a competitor, but readers like it when you do. People who read weblogs are information junkies, they want all the angles. They may not even click on the link, but it's nice to see it there.
Another time to link is when one of the companies or people you cover does something, even if you don't write an article. By doing this you are creating an archive not just for your readers, but also for yourself. If you wrote one article about a company, there's a chance you'll write another. It'll be good to have a dossier then.
Also, every time you link you're helping the Internet because search engines will adjust the page's rank accordingly. Over time, as you develop a community, more people will point to your blog, and your choice of links will have more weight.

Full transcript of interviews 

It would be great if each reporter's weblog had the full transcript of interviews for readers who are interested.

List all stories written by the author 

Probably in the right margin of the home page, a reverse-chronologic list of all major articles written by the author. No more than 20 or so, linked to a page where they're all listed.

The usual things 

In the left margin, include a list of weblogs you read regularly or think are important. A reader can tell a lot about you by the sites you point to. It's okay when you're starting to have this list be small, but update it when you feel the time is right.
If there's an XML feed that readers can subscribe to, link to it with the white-on-orange XML icon. You'll see an example on my weblog. For extra credit also include an XML Coffee Mug that lets readers subscribe to the XML with two clicks in some desktop news aggregators (including my own product, Radio UserLand).

Say who you are 

I have a page linked to Scripting News with a picture of me, a brief history of the weblog with pointers, various mottos of the past, a disclaimer of Netscape 4 support, and other almanac-like homilies. It answers one of the first questions I have when I see a new blog -- who writes this and what is it about?

Write 

After speaking with many professional reporters, this is probably the point where you hold back. After all, writing is what you get paid to do. No one is paying you to write for the weblog. But..
You're going to write anyway. Think of it this way. How many things do you observe that have nothing to do with your beat? You can't sell an article about a great movie if you write travel reviews. Every human being observes things just by living, and you're a writer, so write about it.
A great example is Glenn Fleishman'sweblog. He's a freelancer who writes about technology, but he also has a lot to say about practically everything else. Weblog writing is writing you do for the sheer pleasure of expressing yourself.

Send me a pointer 

If you're a professional reporter and start a weblog, that's newsworthy. Please send me a pointer, and I'll help you build flow.

Conclusions 

Weblog software is good for professional journalists, not just amateurs. It's been cast as an Us versus Them thing, and that's incorrect. It's a new style of writing, made possible by the Web, and by the advancement of software.
I can't speak for all amateurs who blog, but I would like to see more pros use the technology.

Dave Winer

The whole story and the links here: DaveNet : How To Start a Weblog (For Professional Journalists)

Dave Winer Résumé:

Employment history

2003: Fellow, Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Harvard Law School.

1988-2002: Founder and CEO, UserLand Software, Inc.

1994-1996: Contributing Editor, Wired.

1981-1988: Founder and CEO, Living Videotext, Inc. (Acquired by Symantec in 1987.)

1979-1981: Lead developer, Personal Software, Inc.

Education

1978: MS, Computer Science, University of Wisconsin.

1976: BA, Mathematics, Tulane University.

1972: Bronx High School of Science.

IFRA Newsplex experiments moblogs

Just received from Doug Fisher, former wire-service editor about a moblog - short for mobile web log - reporting on the 2004 Democratic Presidential primary. "It is unlike coverage of this news event that you will see anywhere else. Directed by a group of professional newspaper and television news editors, an enthusiastic team of journalists-in-training from the University of South Carolina using second-generation picture phones from Cingular Wireless filed these reports during a period of 32 hours."

More details with Kerry J. Northrup, Ifra Newsplex Director.

Each panel in this moblog tells a little piece of the story of the primary from an intimate, first-person perspective. As you start to scroll and jump through the entries, however, they meld into an intricately multifaceted report. In the end, this Wireless Election Connection is an example of how technology and resourcefulness are blurring the lines between traditional print and broadcast journalism in a way that is creating new forms of storytelling.

At the Ifra Newsplex at the University of South Carolina, we work with journalists all over the world to demonstrate and train on new technologies and techniques for the converging marketplace of print, broadcast, online and mobile news media. Moblogs are just one aspect of the future of news...

The whole moblog on the IFRA Newsplex website.

Note that Doug Fisher runs his own Common Sense Journalism blog.

A lot of political blogs, but where is the beef?

Is it the beginning of a "blog backlash"? In an interview with CyberJournalist.net, NYTimes.com Editor in Chief Len Apcar discusses the site's new blog-like political feature, Times on the Trail. "We thought that there were a lot of political blogs out there, but we didn’t necessarily think that the quality was very good. We thought that there was a lot of rumor out there, but we also thought that there was a vehicle here for short-form information... I looked at many blogs and I came away thinking I was not interested in creating a blog, but I was interested in creating something completely different. "

The whole interview on Cyberjournalist.net

French weblogs to cover the US presidential campaign

They are French, the first based in Washington, the second in New York, but both correspondents for Libération. They opened this week their own weblogs entirely dedicated to the US presidential campaign. With a French touch and also, their so particular Libération tone. To the French daily newspaper, "it's a first in the online history of the French press". Maybe, or maybe not. But for sure, it's only for French speaking readers.
Go to the Pascal Riché weblog, "La course à la Maison Blanche".
Go to the Fabrice Rousselot weblog, "Campagne toute !".

"Times on the Trail": first New York Times blog

The New York Times launched its first Weblog today. "Times on the Trail" is a new "continuously updated report from the campaign trail reported and edited by the Washington bureau of The Times and produced by NYTimes.com."

A New York Times editor's note on the first Political Points post says, "This is the first edition of a new web-exclusive feature by Carl Hulse and other Times reporters that will be added to and updated throughout the day. "

"On the Trail" includes links in the right column, with "a selective guide to today's campaign coverage on the Web".

The Times has already been experimenting with the format in "Kristoff Responds", a Webloggish forum in which Nicholas D. Kristof, Op-Ed columnist for The Times, answers reader e-mail and gives "the story behind the column.

Formerly, NYTimes.com editor-in-chief Len Apcar said that Weblogs on the Times' site would be part of the organization's coverage of the presidential campaign. Apcar added it could be "some kind of running journal that looks at the feel, the texture, the personalities, the tensions and some of the drama of the campaign, the smells and bells of a particular story. In the right hands it could be compelling reading."

Access to the "Times on the Trail" weblog.

Weblogs, US elections and newspapers: still some misunderstandings

"Politics has done for the Web what sport did for USA Today," said David Rapp, executive editor and senior VP for Congressional Quarterly Inc. It popularized the Web and gave it credibility."
From NAA Electronic Media Director Melinda Gipson.

Excerpts of the On-the-scene conference Weblog organised by the Newspapers Association of America. See also below a list of proeminent weblogs.

"All online users are votors or potential voters," said David Rapp. Politics, he contends, is better than sports because users are participants and not just spectators.

Rapp outlined three elements political Web sites need:
1. Game day reporting
2. Stats, stats and more stats
3. Provocative columnists.

Seven years ago, the Internet played no role in the elections, said Peter C. Waldheim, senior strategist and producer/online operations, Democratic Congressional Campaign Commititee. In the 2000 election, the Web played a roll similar to televisison in the Kennedy/Nixon debates. People who saw the Bush/Gore debate on TV thought Gore won, and the people who read it online thought bush won, said Waldheim.

There are 170 million voters online, said Waldheim. A year ago this month, Howard Dean had 450 online supporters. Today, he has 600,000 online supporters, and most are donors, he added.

Daniel Weintraub, Public Affairs columnist and writer from The Sacramento Bee, said that, during his state's recent gubenetorial race, posts to his California Insider political blog went from 200 a day to 20,000 a day. Most of them were likely younger voters, he added.

Independent political bloggers have become very popular in this environment (see below). Sites like The Daily Dish and The Talking Points Memo are not only addictive for political insiders but where grass roots users go for unvarnished information. Their ability to extract payment for their efforts also is impressive. Weintraub said Talking Points editor Joshua Micah Marshall recently asked his users for money to go to New Hampshire to cover the state presidential primary, and had sufficient funds overnight to make the trip. Some 4,000 subscribers to Daily Dish pay $20 a year for a premium e-mail newsletter product.

Weintraub says that's plenty for publishers to subsidize the cost of a reporter or two to apply more attention to the subject during an eventful political season.

Waldheim suggested there might be more money in obtaining sponsorships from major brand advertisers like Coca-Cola to perhaps support sites dedicated to "good government." Rapp identified two kinds of political advertising -- the influence ads, which sites like CQ and WashingtonPost.com receive to "send a message" to legislators in Washington, and the grassroots issue advocacy advertising that is geared toward getting voters to put their own individual pressure on their representatives or senators. "Newspapers should have the opportunity to tap into that" latter sort of advertising, Rapp said.

Karen A.B. Jagoda, president and founder of the E-voter Institute said that most politicians don't advertise online because they don't view it as an "emotive" or persuasive enough medium. But new campaign restrictions on broadcast spending 30 and 60-days out from the general election could be a boon to online newspapers and other grassroots Web sites this year. She advised newspapers to look at rich media advertising and to make a greater effort to tout the kinds of traffic Weintraub's site has experienced as a way of capitalizing on the fact that politicians' need to reach voters actually will increase during this vital period when their TV ads go dark.

URLs for the Ultimate Elections panel:

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/insider
http://www.spokesmanreview.com/blogs
http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/insider
http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/files/specials/interactives/elex2004/campaignMinute.
http://slate.msn.com/id/2093760
http://www.dailykos.com
http://www.atrios.blogspot.com/
http://www.factcheck.org
http://herndon2.sdrdc.com/dcdev
http://nrcc.org/nrcccontents/batn
http://offthekuff.com/mt
http://www.tray.com
http://www.politics1.com
http://www.sacbee.com/24hour/politics http://weblog.siliconvalley.com/column/dangillmor http://www.southdakotaelections.com
http://www.sptimes.com/election
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com
http://volokh.com/
http://www.the-hamster.com/
http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/files/specials/interactives/candidate_gallery/index1. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/politics/elections/2004
http://andrewsullivan.com/
www.cq.com

written by NAA Electronic Media Director Melinda Gipson.

Mark Glaser's Guide to the Blogosphere

It's not recent: already seven months! But the Mark Glaser's Guide still remains a real "joystick" to move into the Blogosphere. More than 30 blogs or assimilated sites are listed with a direct link to each site... Thanks to the Online Journalism Review.

Mark Glaser has made a distinction between the "opinionated individual Weblogs, the "group or community Weblogs" and the "media business Weblogs".

See the full map on the Online Journalism Review website (June 2003).

Excerpts from the OJR article:

"This past year has seen the world of Weblogs, aka the blogosphere, grow in power and stature, if not to the general public, then to the other media. So we've created a graphical depiction of what I believe to be the most influential blogs, pushing the direction of media coverage and perhaps even public policy..."

About the map classification:
"The bigger the mouth, the more influential the Weblog. The position of the mouth shows its political orientation (left or right) and whether it's doing more blogging (top) or more journalism (bottom). "More blogging" means a focus on linking, summarizing and quips. "More journalism" means more original commentary, reporting, and perhaps a journalism background. Note: Drudge and Romenesko do not consider their publications blogs."

Blogs and Journalism Need Each Other

Don't find a good analysis on Weblogs and Journalism? Go to the last report of the Nieman Foundation. Many bloggers, weblogger Rebecca Blood argues, are a part of what she calls “participatory media,” highlighting and framing news reported by journalists, “a practice potentially as important as—but different from—journalism.” Blood doesn't expect that bloggers will adhere to the journalistic standards of fairness and accuracy but regards transparency as “the touchstone for ethical blogging.” Paul Andrews, aSeatlle Times technology columnist, contends that blogs, acting as catalysts, “are transforming the ways in which journalism is practiced today ... [by nudging] print media to richer and more balanced sourcing outside the traditional halls of government and corporations.” Fall 2003 Niemann Reports excerpt.
Fall 2003 Nieman Reports excerpts.

At a time when access to the high-speed Internet is getting easier and do-it-yourself publishing software abounds, Weblogs are cyberspace’s quick-moving, multilinked, interactive venues of choice for millions of people wanting to share information and opinions, commentary and news. In launching the Chicago Tribune’s Weblog in August, columnist Eric Zorn—who writes that paper’s daily Weblog Breaking Views—described his new role as “leading the Tribune into this emerging hybrid media form.” In this section of Nieman Reports, bloggers and journalists (some of whom wear both hats) write about the points of convergence and divergence of Weblogs and journalism. What separates these forms of communication? How do they influence each other? Is what’s happening on Weblogs changing how journalists do their jobs and, if so, in what ways? Can news organizations embrace Weblogs and maintain the standards of the craft? Weblogger Rebecca Blood, author of “The Weblog Handbook,” tackles the issue of how Weblogs and journalism are connected. Many bloggers, Blood argues, are a part of what she calls “participatory media,” highlighting and framing news reported by journalists, “a practice potentially as important as—but different from—journalism.” Blood does not expect that bloggers will adhere to the journalistic standards of fairness and accuracy but regards transparency “as the touchstone for ethical blogging.” Paul Andrews, a Seattle Times technology columnist and Weblogger, contends that blogs, acting as catalysts, “are transforming the ways in which journalism is practiced today ... [by nudging] print media to richer and more balanced sourcing outside the traditional halls of government and corporations.” Bill Mitchell, editor of Poynter Online, envisions Weblogs as improving journalism by helping news organizations “become more interesting, more credible, even essential.” As he writes, “Especially when big news breaks, it’s tough to beat a Weblog.” Tom Regan, who cowrites two blogs on The Christian Science Monitor’s Web site, gives examples of how bloggers “have forced traditional news organizations to change the way they covered a big story” and examines several areas of threat that some journalists feel from Weblogs. J.D. Lasica, a blogger and senior editor of the Online Journalism Review, observes that blogging communities exist on “grassroots reporting, annotative reporting, commentary and fact-checking, which the mainstream media feed upon, developing them as a pool of tips, sources and story ideas. The relationship is symbiotic.” And he contends, blogging is beneficial to news organizations. Former investigative reporter Paul Grabowicz, who teaches journalism students about Weblogs at the University of California at Berkeley, believes blogging can help journalism “to regain the public trust” by inviting readers to participate instead of seeming impervious to correction. “... this don’t-bother-calling-me attitude—all too common in journalism—is a message that has been taken to heart by the public.”