Orlando Sentinel Columnist Mike Thomas now has a blog. On the surface, nothing shocking there. What is interesting is his column announcing his new blog. This is the choice quote:
I am a citizen journalist. Once I made fun of bloggers, and now I am one. Funny what a paycheck will do to your outlook on life.Mike then goes on to describe how the click is the new measure in journalism.It's all about the Web now.
When we produce expensive, looooong stories on issues vital to Central Florida and humanity in general, here is what happens at Click Command: clickclickclick.Welcome to our world Mike, however the overwhelming majority of us don't do it for a paycheck. You can complain about the 'Click Command' or you can use your journalistic skills to produce quality, informative content that will make us click. After all that's what you're getting paid for :-)When Mike Bianchi writes that the Gators should pay Billy Donovan $1.3 billion to keep him from going to Kentucky, here is what happens: CLICKCLICKCLICKCLICKCLICK!
Disclosure: The Orlando Sentinel and Tribune Media are clients
Visitor Comments
After reading Mike's column, I wondered if I'm now the "Click Commander" or at least one of the commander's top assistants?
I will say that the issue of the exact measurement we on the Web can give articles, blogs, podcasts, etc. does cause comments in newsrooms, and not just ours. Those of us who grew up on the print side got used to boarder measures, like circulation or how many people called to complain (they seldom called to praise). Now we can tell minute by minute, day by day, how things on Web are doing, both in "clicks," and, perhaps more importantly, comments on blogs and message boards. (I say more important, because search engine optimization sometimes brings people in just because it's about "American Idol" or Britney Spears and pops up high in Google. People who take time to comment or send photos are using out site on deeper levels than scanning something they found in a search -- and we hope they come back more often for the interacton.)
When we make decisions about placement of stories, etc., it's can be easy to chase the "clicks," which might not always be the kind of "quality informative content" we all want on the Web.
Disclosure: I'm the online news editor of OrlandoSentinel.com and worked with Josh on blog training.
Posted by: John A. Cutter/Senior Editor/Online News | April 3, 2007 11:45 AM
It's interesting that journalists who once mocked blogging are now being paid to contribute to the blogosphere. Our university class is conducting a survey dealing with the reactions of journalists to social media. We're beginning to see more traditional journalism transition to more widely accepted online interaction.
Posted by: Kristina | April 4, 2007 11:19 AM