Sunday, May 13, 2007

Class Discussion : Using blogs in journalism

Hello to all,
I want to share with you some questions about using blogs in Journalism. In fact , it was so easy to creat one, but I am still asking mysef how this could by used in journalism with the ideal way. I know that a lot of blogs have important news. but I want an advice on how to research all blogs to find the most useful material for my work? Is there any techniques to search blogs effectively? How can I discover so important information in a blog ?

Also, after creating my blog, I asked myself how can I make this blog important. I know that blogs are mediums for sharing information, but millions blogs can be created and disappeared easily without affecting anybody.

Would you share with me your ideas about blogs?
Regards,
Houssam

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Dear Houssam,

I have create a blog last year exclusively to look after my frustrations. Not to see my articles however validated during the conference drafting to undergo contrary modifications with reality. In order to preserve the entirety of the original article, I thought that a blog was the tool indicated best. Thus, my friends, and many other readers and sympathizers can make the difference between what was published and what was transmitted for publication.

Irène
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Dear Irene,
Thanks for reply. What I have understood that blogs can be used as a draft tool or a personal platform. Another question: If my blog is equivalent to my website, May that means that blogs are going to spread and websites are going to be disappear, taking into account the easy process of creating a blog comparing with building a website? Also, why most of the organization have website and official blog at the same time? What are the different in functionality between them? Sorry for headache, I am trying to think with loud voice to understand what I am using.
Regards,
Houssam
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Houssam,
Blogging has many purposes; personal and professional reasons. Your blog as a journalist can help you express yourself more compared to your paper or media outlet. You can put on it whatever you want. It can earn you money-you have to do lots of work to start earning some money through adverts especially.

As you blog, you are adding your own and country's voice and presence to web. You may be the only person from your country that can present a certain perspective that the world would want to know online. Your posts can also be picked by other publishers, researchers, etc and you would never know who else reads them and the impact that may have. You can easily install traffic counters on your blog so that you know who and where from the visitors came. That helps give a picture of how your blog does. You can promote it by telling friends all over and invite them to read and comment.They in turn tell others, etc. On top of that, note that search engines can easily pick the content of your posts so anyone searching for say Houssam using google might be led to your blog as long as you have tagged it properly.

Note that as you blog, you are adding value to the web whether you like it or not. Here is a link that you can read: http://westciv.typepad.com/dog_or_higher/2006/10/why_blogging_as.html You can also simply search on the internet why people blog.

I don't know if you know Global Voices (www.globalvoicesonline.org) which aggregates, curates, and amplifies the global conversation online – shining light on places and people other media often ignore. Your blog might be used on this site too. I do write round-ups for my country and it is a good way of telling the world how bloggers the issues under discussion in an individual country. Check your own country on this site and see what other bloggers say.

Victor
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Dear Irene and others
I share your sentiment about creating a blog to care of your frustrations in the newsroom.
I guess we all have the same problems of editors turning your stories upside down and sometimes putting unsuitable headlines or totally shelving your story.
With blogging, no story should end up in the trash can.
I do credit the source of my stories I put on my blog to take care of copyright problems coming from my employers, in case they ever raise the issue of the fact that they sponsored the stories and as such they own them. After all, all.africa.com has been distributing many stories from African media for free and several websites are using them without knowing the sources or paying any monies to the writers or originators or the newspapers concerned.
All they do is to credit the sources.
Therefore I don't think I should feel anything, putting a copy of my already published story on my blog and crediting the Paper.
Thanks,
Isabella
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