Ian Reeves

Journalism as conversation  Moving away from the idea of journalism as a one-way lecture  Allowing a more participatory approach for audiences  An escape from the ‘us’ and ‘them’ mindset  Transparency is the new objectivity

Why should journalists blog?  Visibility – reaching your audience and letting your audience reach you  Vulnerability – showing that you’re open and transparent  Veracity – allowing, even encouraging your audience to correct your errors  Variety – giving yourself an option to express yourself in a different voice

When should journalist blog?  Often  When researching certain stories to understand what the audience thinks  When you see something interesting elsewhere that is relevant to your audience – link blogging  To keep following a running story  When you need to explain your approach to a story

How should journalists blog?  Using a blog tool on their publication’s main site, or  Using any one of various free blogging tools – Wordpress, Blogger, Movable Type etc  Then publicise your blog – register with Feedburner, Technorati etc

Blogging pitfalls  Loss of objectivity  Accusations of bias  Blurring of lines between professional and personal  Blurring fact and opinion  Legal dangers  Time consuming  Comments hijacked by special interest groups

Entrepreneurial blogging  There is money to be made… m bloggers-in-the-world/ … if you can get the traffic

Further reading  Conversational j0urnalism Conversational j0urnalism  Transition to digital journalism Transition to digital journalism  Don’t have a blog, won’t get a job? Don’t have a blog, won’t get a job?  A blogger or a journalist? A blogger or a journalist?  Transparency is the new objectivity Transparency is the new objectivity  Social media guidance for BBC journalists Social media guidance for BBC journalists  Guardian guide for journalists blogging and commenting Guardian guide for journalists blogging and commenting