As a companion piece to my 'Jaded View of PR and the Blogosphere' here is something about journalists. Once again the caveat that I've been working with traditional media for a number of years on how they can adapt to the world of social media. Also, the vast number of journalists I work for are great people doing great work. It's just a few that spoil it for everybody else.
Generally when you get a group of journalists together on a panel the topic of blogs will come up. One of the often used responses about the blogosphere is, "Blogs are often inaccurate." Each time a journalist says that I will usually respond, "Really, can you give me a specific recent example." Guess what their response is?
Some journalists say that blogs don't check facts or are mostly opinion and as such not real news. It's ironic that when they make those statements it's often based upon generalities and opinion. In a sense, when some journalists speak about blogs they're committing the same sins they say bloggers commit.
Recently, Social Media Club Atlanta held a panel discussion featuring a number of traditional media folk. To say there were some tensions would be an understatement.
Amber Rhea a local Atlanta blogger e-mailed me after the session and conveyed a story similar to one I've experienced. A traditional journalist on a panel will say, "What you do is more......" Just insert your own ending there: 'entertainment', 'fun', 'opinion', 'of a dairy'. In Amber's case her response was, "What 'I' do? Have you ever read my blog? Do you even know what 'I' do?" Hmm, a journalist making a statement without looking at the original source material.
I write a hyperlocal blog and it's a mixture of news, links and opinion. In the year and a half I have run the blog I've only posted incorrect information once and it was more of a writing slip-up than a huge gaffe. I quickly updated the post and pointed out the correction. When a journalist says that blogs are often inaccurate I say, "Really have you looked at my blog or other hyperlocal blogs?"
Making general statements about blogs being this or that infuriates me. Likewise, most newspaper folks will bristle when somebody makes a similar blanket statement such as, "All newspapers have a liberal bias."
Visitor Comments
Hey Josh and everyone else reading this,
You also might be interested in this podcast of a new media panel at the Atlanta Press Club. It was about a week after the SMC meeting. I also wrote about the panel. Anyway, what was interesting about that event was that there were a lot of the same "blogs are inaccurate" sentiments - but they were mostly coming from the audience, not the panel members themselves. And the panel members responded to these objections and hopefully succeeded in changing some people's minds... or at least offering a different perspective.
Maybe this is because the panel members were chosen because they work in some capacity w/ new media at their various media organizations... but still, it was a refreshing, interesting change.
The guy from WSB-TV that night said, "As journalists, if we're not listening to the bloggers, we might as well not answer the telephone."
Posted by: Amber | June 22, 2007 3:32 PM
Josh,
The idea that there's anything wonderful or nefarious about blogs in general is ridiculous. Blogs are simply a medium. Content is what matters.
Got a question, though.
You posted something on one of The Ledger's blogs that intrigued me, but also left me scratching my head.
It concerned blog names and something you called "keyword relevance." When I saw the Ledger blog name A & L, which you used as an example, my first thought was that it stood for arts and letters, not the government doings in the Auburndale High School attendance zone. I guess I was wondering about the name of this blog "Hyku" and how the same principle applies. It's not about Japanese poetry.
You wrote: "Many blogs find that over (sic) half of their traffic comes from content that is over 3 months old." Journalism question: How many is many? What's the documentation?
Also, I'm trying to understand what you are saying. Are you saying that people search for information on the web based on subjects that interest them or based on the names of blogs? And are you saying the latter is preferable? My hits are a mix of web searches and going to my blogs on The Ledger web site, but I haven't discovered anyone yet who is searching for my blog by name only, if that's what you mean.
I also have a personal blog involving some environmental work I do, but it gets little traffic, as near as I can tell. That's OK because I post primarily for my own amusement.
Thanks for listening.
Tom
p.s. anymore coffee shop gettogethers planned? I did enjoy the one I attende.
Posted by: tom palmer | June 22, 2007 9:43 PM
Oops, the podcast link didn't come through... I forgot you strip out HTML. :P Here it is: http://www.gapodcastnetwork.com/network-programs/mostly-itp/2007/06/07/event-atlanta-press-club-panel-discussion-new-media-the-changing-media-landscape
Posted by: Amber | June 22, 2007 10:15 PM
Tom, in response:
#The idea that there's anything wonderful or nefarious about blogs in
general is ridiculous. Blogs are simply a medium. Content is what matters.
Blogs are a medium, but there is also a general perception that blogs are a style as well. I don't always agree with that, but if you ask 10 people what a blog is, many will give you an answer that they're an online diary.
#Got a question, though.
#You posted something on one of The Ledger's blogs that intrigued me, but also left me scratching my head.
#It concerned blog names and something you called "keyword relevance." When I saw the Ledger blog name A & L, which you used as an example, my first thought was that it stood for arts and letters, not the government doings in the Auburndale High School attendance zone. I guess I was wondering about the name of this blog "Hyku" and how the same principle applies. It's not about Japanese poetry.
Hyku is the name of my company, just as 'The Ledger' is the name of the paper, not much you can do about that. However the full title of my blog is "Hyku | blog - commentary by blog and social media consultant Josh Hallett"
The primary keywords in my industry are 'blog' and 'social media'. In that way, everything I write is aligned with those keywords.
For more about SEO in newspaper headlines and by extension blogs you can check out:
http://hyku.com/blog/archives/001447.html
http://hyku.com/blog/archives/001417.html
#You wrote: "Many blogs find that over (sic) half of their traffic comes from content that is over 3 months old." Journalism question: How many is many? What's the documentation?
I can dig thru my stats and give you a complete report if you want. Alex Barn also analyzed his stats:
http://blogs.msdn.com/alexbarn/archive/2005/09/06/461311.aspx
#Also, I'm trying to understand what you are saying. Are you saying that people search for information on the web based on subjects that interest them or based on the names of blogs? And are you saying the latter is preferable? My hits are a mix of web searches and going to my blogs on The Ledger web site, but I haven't discovered anyone yet who is searching for my blog by name only, if that's what you mean.
People search for things of interest, often if very specific ways. More and more, people are also attaching location qualifiers. For example "Lakeland Seafood Restaurant" People rarely search for the name of the blog. But if the name of the blog can be aligned with the primary keywords then you kill two birds with one stone. It doesn't always happen, but it's preferred.
A great example is my friend Dan Harris, he writes the 'China Law Blog' what does he blog about? Chinese legal matters. A large percentage of his traffic comes from people searching for legal topics related to China.
#I also have a personal blog involving some environmental work I do, but it gets little traffic, as near as I can tell. That's OK because I post primarily for my own amusement.
That's the beauty of blogs, most people do it for their own reasons and should do what they want. However as we both know, newspapers are a business and they look to drive page views/traffic.
Posted by: Josh Hallett | June 22, 2007 11:09 PM