Some further thoughts on the relationship/battle between corporate media and personal media. The playing field is not level so it is difficult to accurately compare the two forms. Corporate media has research, staff, resources, etc, while a blogger may only have themselves, their readers and their passion for a subject. Each side attempts to hold the other to their own set of standards, which just doesn't work.

More and more media outlets are creating blogs. But going back to my post on blog misconceptions, are they adopting the tool or the style? Many are adopting the tool, i.e. the quick publishing of content with the ability to receive feedback from readers. But is the news still a lecture? Sure they have a blog, but if they're not linking, commenting and interacting with the readers then its not a conversation, it's a lecture.

The big question of course is will they be successful? Remember that in many cases their measure of success is revenue and page views. So we ask again, will they be successful? Looking at individual blogs there is a good chance they they might not. A blog does offer a beat reporter the ability to connect directly with those interested in their topic, but in many cases we're not talking about thousands of readers.

Taken in whole though, a blog network comprised of niche subjects and broader news and opinion based blogs can have a significant readership. This mirrors what is always been the case with the traditional newspaper, i.e. niche subject areas and the reporters that cover them are in a sense subsidized by the more popular content. That has always been the mission (or burden) of newspapers. If they just printed the popular news we'd have tabloids everywhere.

The newspapers that are learning (and doing it right) realize like many of us that blogs are a low cost way to publish. Suddenly content that could never find room in the print edition can be published online. At the Orlando Sentinel one of the popular blogs is Attention Must Be Paid by Elizabeth Maupin. Elizabeth blogs about theater in Central Florida and around the country. With her blog she has unlimited ink and paper to review and discuss the theatrical arts. But perhaps more importantly, Elizabeth can interact with readers that share her passion and interest. Is it a successful blog? In a passion/interaction sense it is, from a page view/revenue sense we'll have to wait and see.

In the next installment I will talk some more about the downfalls. What happens when they aren't successful? Will we see the traditional media say, 'Blogs don't work?' Those within the industry that never jumped on the blog bandwagon will say, 'told you so' while traditional bloggers will say, 'they weren't doing it right'. In my mind they'll both be right.