First a confession. I am fairly new to blogging. It is one of those things that I dabbled in but never did as part of my previous job as a BBC journalist. Until my boss asked me to blog the 2006 We Media conference in London.
Reporting on an event like this via a BBC blog was an eye-opener. Suddenly I was a reporter, commentator and pundit all at once. And it felt good.
While many journalists are sceptical about blogging, it can be tremendously liberating and compelling, as New York Times journalist David Carr found out:
“Sometimes I wonder whether I care to the point that I neglect other things, like, oh, my job. Tweaking the blog is seductive in a way that a print deadline never is. By the time I am done posting entries, moderating comments and making links, my, has the time flown. I probably should have made some phone calls about next week’s column, but maybe I’ll write about, ah, blogging instead.”
He goes on to write how his NYT blog has provided a “firehose” for feedback from readers.
Feedback is perhaps the wrong word. What is going on is more like a conversation with readers, allowing journalists like Carr to be more engaged with the public.
As he writes:
“I and others at The Times have never been more in touch with readers’ every robustly communicated whim than we are today. Not only do I hear what people are saying, but I also care.”
My advice to budding journalists – shed your fears and start blogging.
PDF