I.C.E. Club - Madagascar » Blogging

Blog vs Journalism

r1lita — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 07:55:33 +0000

Many bloggers differentiate themselves from the mainstream media, while others are members of that media working through a different channel. Some institutions see blogging as a means of “getting around the filter” and pushing messages directly to the public. Some critics worry that bloggers respect neither copyright nor the role of the mass media in presenting society with credible news. Bloggers and other contributors to user generated content are behind Time magazine naming their 2006 person of the year as “you”.
Many mainstream journalists, meanwhile, write their own blogs — well over 300, according to CyberJournalist.net’s J-blog list such as Maragtas Online Community. The first known use of a weblog on a news site was in August 1998, when Jonathan Dube of The Charlotte Observer published one chronicling Hurricane Bonnie.
Blogs have also had an influence on minority languages, bringing together scattered speakers and learners; this is particularly so with blogs in Gaelic languages, whose creators can be found as far away from traditional Gaelic areas as Kazakhstan and Alaska. Minority language publishing (which may lack economic feasibility) can find its audience through inexpensive blogging.

What Is A Blog?

r1lita — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 07:54:27 +0000

There are various types of blogs, and each differs in the way content is delivered or written.
By media type
A blog comprising videos is called a vlog, one comprising links is called a linklog, a site containing a portfolio of sketches is called a sketchblog or one comprising photos is called a photoblog. Blogs with shorter posts and mixed media types are called tumblelogs.
An Artlog is a form of art sharing and publishing in the format of a blog, but differentiated by the predominant use of and focus on Art work rather than text.
By device
Blogs can also be defined by which type of device is used to compose it. A blog written by a mobile device like a mobile phone or PDA is called a moblog.
By genre
Some blogs focus on a particular subject, such as political blogs, travel blogs, fashion blogs, project blogs, legal blogs (often referred to as a blawgs) or dreamlogs. While not a legitimate type of blog, one used for the sole purpose of spamming is known as a Splog. A Slog (Site or website log) is a section or ‘slice’ of a regular business website, which is seamlessly integrated within the regular website structure but is produced with blogging software.

How A Blogger Can Become A “Good” Journalist?

r1lita — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 07:52:01 +0000

Nowadays, it’s amazing to see all the blogs which are spilled throughout the net.
There are several types of blogs which vary according to the so-called “blogger”.
Can blogger be considered as journalist, Can blog be considered as cyber-newspaper?
During the last Iraq war, important withheld news could have been revealed to the world thanks to bloggers from this country.
Can it be presented as the “other” media? Actually it depends on the situation (and the blog itself!) but one thing is sure, it really helps internet to become a very active support for ideas exchange throughout the world.
Blogs, podcasts and e-newsletters make it easy for anyone to be a journalist. But just as the debut of desktop publishing led to some very ugly documents, these newer tools are spawning some very sloppy journalism, which does no good for the reputation of participatory media. Here are some tips on how good journalists do useful work:
1. Respect the value of people’s time. Anyone who publishes is making a deal with their audience: This will be more rewarding than real life would have been. Know your point, get to it quickly, and make your content dense with value. We live in a narcissistic age, and free access to world-wide distribution is not helping. We all need to remember: It’s not fascinating just because I said it.
2. Have a strong focus, and relate everything to it. A good focus is a simple idea that people care about–in a newspaper story, it’s the lede . It’s a hard discipline to learn, but you can really only get one good idea across in any one article or program–everything else either supports and develops that idea, or it conflicts with and confuses it. Think of Beethoven’s Fifth as a model: the whole first movement is based on four notes.
3. Look for the heat in your subject. Appeal is emotional, not intellectual. Even theoretical physicists get excited more by primal motives like pursuit, struggle and triumph than they do by abstract concepts. This primacy of emotion is routinely abused in mass media–hence the prevalence of sex, death, greed and vanity–but you don’t have to go that far, just look for what people will really care about in your content and use that as a guide.
4. Whatever your subject, write about people, physical objects and actions. These are what engage the imagination and the emotions, and concentrating on them has the added benefit of aiding clarity. Avoid abstractions, generalities, jargon and cliches.
5. Use plain speech, and talk like a real person. Too many people have been trained to use big words and complicated sentences to build an edifice to hide behind. If a simpler word can be used with no loss of meaning, use it. Same goes for fewer words vs. more. If you can’t say it plainly, that may mean you don’t understand it well enough yet.
6. Avoid adjectives and adverbs wherever possible. They seldom have any impact. It works much better to find the right nouns and verbs. As Mark Twain said, “If you find an adjective, kill it.” Try it, you’ll be amazed at the difference it makes.
7. Opinions are not facts, even your opinions. Opinions make personal journalism lively. But be sure you know the difference between opinion and fact, and make it clear to your readers as well. It’s all too easy to jump to conclusions when you’re predisposed to believe something. This is the source of deluges of unreliable information on the Web.
8. Identify your sources. Just asserting a fact is unpersuasive — even in ALL CAPS with lots of exclamation marks!!! — and it contributes nothing to a discussion. Your audience needs to know where this information comes from, so they can judge its credibility.
9. Identify interests. If someone appears to be an expert, that’s one thing. If they also have a financial or other interest in you believing their version of reality, that’s another. Be skeptical. Good journalists have to assume that everyone, even people they like, may be lying.
10. Fact-check. Reputable pro media outlets use professional fact checkers, and they still manage to make mistakes frequently. People may be citing you as a source, so try to get the details right. Related to this: spell-check!
So who is that famous blogger? A journalist from the net or just a little guy who wants to show-off to the world?