July 17, 2003
Personality Plus
Michelle Nicolosi, editor of the Online Journalism Review, tells JournalismJobs.com that blogs are a "great tool" that newspapers can use to move beyond bland and toward personality.
In an email interview, she says her advice to newspapers is "don't be afraid of blogs." They can build Web site traffic and reader loyalty - as well as provide beat reporters with a creative and utilitarian outlet for news that doesn't fit into the newspaper. She adds:
"Reporters should be given the freedom to have a little personality in their blog(s), to link offsite, to post pretty much as they see fit. If they do a bad job, cancel it. But if you try to control it too much, the blog will not really be a blog -- it'll be briefs. Newspaper style briefs are boring. They don't have the same appeal and won't draw the same kind of crowd as a personality-driven insider's look at a given topic."
Personality. Identity. Interaction. A good blog has all of them. Newspapers don't' have enough. They seem like the perfect match.
Links
JournalismJobs.com Interview: Michelle Nicolosi
Some Solid Advice...
Bloggers seem to be making a difference everywhere:
Czech media watchers, take note. Just about the only drama to speak of at Karlovy Vary had zilch to do with films. There has been hell to pay in the Mlada fronta Dnes newsroom over an intervention on the part of the paper's publisher with regards to an article calling attention to all the free perks (such as luxury hotel suites) that the festival's sponsors lavish on politicians. The paper decided to hold the article until Monday, after the festival was over, and it was played down big time when it was finally published.
http://scottymac.blogspot.com/2003_07_13_scottymac_archive.html#105837319697521244 Media sponsorship