I want to crowdsource much of the content for my workshop this week, The Blogger’s Voice.
I want to help journalists who are beginning bloggers understand how blogging is different from writing stories or a column. I have lots of thoughts on this, but I want to share more than my thoughts. So I welcome advice from experienced bloggers on all these questions (you will be credited by name):
- How is blogging different from writing stories and how is it similar?
- What is good advice for reporters (and their editors) who start blogging about whether/when opinion is acceptable?
- Blogging tends to be more conversational than news writing. What are some tips on developing the conversational style? And do you have any cautions about topics or beats where that may not be appropriate (or where it’s absolutely appropriate, though journalistic reflexes might say otherwise)?
- Do you have some tips to share on engaging the community and crowdsourcing stories through a blog?
- What, if any, ethical issues should bloggers address?
- What other advice do you have for bloggers who are more experienced with reporting than with blogging?
- What are some good online links for blogging journalists?
Thanks in advance for your help. I will be posting the handout for the blog later this week.
OK, here comes my blogging-for-journalists talk in a small package:
1. Blog about something you’re authoritative and passionate about. (I learned that from Robert Scoble.) A good blogger is an expert who cares deeply about the subject matter.
2. Blogs are for everything from knitting to NASCAR. There’s no limit to the niches you can find in your community. If there’s a niche, there’s an audience.
3. That guy in the next cubicle over who constantly calls you over to “check out this awesome video” or “read this stupid press release?” Yeah, he needs a blog.
4. A blog is *not* a column. It’s a tool to *start* conversations, not to stand on stage and spout off what you think for 1200 well-crafted words. Ask a lot of questions, link to a lot of answers, and generally try to give as much as you get.
5. Recommended: http://beatblogging.org to find out what some of the best newspaper bloggers are up to, what works for them, and how they balance their workload.
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Excellent advice, Ryan. Exactly why I was hoping you would respond.
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Ditto Ryan’s number one. It all flows from that. If you don’t have first-person experience and authority, you likely will not be able to sustain the passion, credibility and endurance that readers demand.
Next, forget the whole opinion issue. That word (“opinion”) confuses and stresses too many journalists. Let’s talk instead about *conclusions*. When the facts lead you to a logical conclusion, make it. If they don’t, say that. If you don’t know if they do, ask the audience.
Finally, if you are having a hard time getting people to follow you into a conversation – no one’s clicking the comment button – try running a poll in a blog post. Twiigs.com has a neat tool for this. Just ask some question that’d make for a great bar conversation, and invite readers to respond. Don’t make it anything serious, that you’d random-sample on. Ask about something that they do on a regular basis, related to your beat. (“Toilet paper: Roll over or under?” is a classic, though extremely simple, example.)
Once you get people to click on the poll, you’ve gotten them to take the first step toward interacting with you online. And these sort of conversations strike people are far for welcoming that ones on more serious issues. They’re ice-breakers and many nascent blogs need them.
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Toilet-paper polls. Something for the luddites to cling to as a blog stereotype, like what-I-had-for-breakfast tweets. I like it.
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* How is blogging different from writing stories and how is it similar?
Many newspaper reporters are very rigid in their approach to inverted pyramid, five Ws approach to news writing. If you’re reporting a story in a blog format, try to think of the most interesting thing about the story and tell it in a conversational way. Don’t worry about whether you “answer all the questions” in the first sentence. Just write and let it flow naturally. And drop the third-person voice. If you are at a fire scene and you see a fire fighter rescue a cat, write, “I saw the firefighter clamor up the burning tree and grab the frightened feline by the tail.” That may not be the best example/sentence, but also use livelier language. Don’t let the rules objectivity keep you from stating the obvious: the cat was frightened.
* What is good advice for reporters (and their editors) who start blogging about whether/when opinion is acceptable?
Opinion is always acceptable. Actually, objectivity and opinion are not mutually exclusive concepts. Scientists are objective, they make objective observations and then draw informed conclusions and present those conclusions in a manner that essentially is their opinion. Opinion isn’t evil, but how you state your opinion and the motive behind your opinion can be very bad if handled immaturely.
* Blogging tends to be more conversational than news writing. What are some tips on developing the conversational style? And do you have any cautions about topics or beats where that may not be appropriate (or where it’s absolutely appropriate, though journalistic reflexes might say otherwise)?
Again, hitting on objectivity: One text book I have says that it is bad to write, “The beauty queen was statuesque.” Instead, the objective journalist, the book says, writes, ‘The beauty queen stood 5’8″ and was 34,28,34.” Which is the livelier writing? You’re writing will automatically be more interesting if you write naturally and use vivid language and forget about objectivity. I often train aspiring bloggers, too, to write a post as if it were a letter with all of the personal pronounces in place, and the recast all of the sentences on the rewrite to take out personal pronounced (I, me, we). This will help you develop a more natural sounding voice after years of objective newspaper writing.
* Do you have some tips to share on engaging the community and crowdsourcing stories through a blog?
Manage your community well. Participate. Don’t allow trolls or mean people to spoil the conversation.
* What, if any, ethical issues should bloggers address?
Always be honest. Always be transparent.
* What other advice do you have for bloggers who are more experienced with reporting than with blogging?
I like I largely covered this in various ways above.
* What are some good online links for blogging journalists?
No specific recommendations right now.
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Helpful advice, Howard. I am flattered that you took the time to post such a detailed response, given all the other demands I know you have on your time as publisher of TheBatavian.com. This shows your passion for helping other journalists. But I gotta ask? What was the date on that textbook that encouraged reporters to write the measurements of beauty queens?
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1980s, I believe.
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Amazing. I covered the Miss Southwest Iowa pageant (there’s a career highlight for you) in 1976 and we were beyond measurements then.
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At this point, you don’t need measurements, or a description. Just link to her Flickr stream or Facebook page and let readers decide for themselves!
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At this point, you don’t need measurements, or a description. Just link to her Flickr stream or Facebook page and let readers decide for themselves!
P.S. – Sorry, forgot to tell you great post!
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How is blogging different from writing stories and how is it similar?
I wholeheartedly second Howard Owens’ answer for this in regards to news stories versus blogging. I’d add though that feature writing brings in a bit of a different issue. Some reporters see feature writing the same as blog writing, but that’s not necessarily true. I would say to remember that in feature and column writing you are telling a story to a reader; in blogging, you are talking about a story with a reader.
What is good advice for reporters (and their editors) who start blogging about whether/when opinion is acceptable?
Reporters are very hesitant to state an opinion, but bloggers outside of newspapers are not in the slightest – I would suggest trying to find a middle ground. You don’t have to slap someone in the face with what you think is the right or wrong way, but making your stance known is almost essential when we’re viewing blogging as a conversation.
What are some tips on developing the conversational style? And do you have any cautions about topics or beats where that may not be appropriate (or where it’s absolutely appropriate, though journalistic reflexes might say otherwise)?
As I (and other commenters here) said above, don’t think of blogging the same way you think of a column. Blogging is not a graduation speech, it’s a conversation with someone at the grad party.
Do you have some tips to share on engaging the community and crowdsourcing stories through a blog?
Don’t be your own cheerleader. Or, at least, don’t ONLY be your own cheerleader. It’s so easy for people to find just enough time to promote and share and engage people with links to their own posts and blogs, and completely ignore the fact that you aren’t the only one in the world writing about that topic, let alone the only one blogging. Once you recognize that and learn to cheer for sites outside of your own, you’ll be a great trusted resource.
What, if any, ethical issues should bloggers address?
Most of the same you’ve been addressing for years. Always link to your sources, always provide honest information.
What are some good online links for blogging journalists?
almightylink.com, savethemedia.com, beatblogging.org
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Thanks, Roxanne. I hope I remember to attribute to you when I repeat the graduation speech/party analogy.
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I have a PPT on Slideshare about this:
Main point: Blogging is not “extra work.” It’s an essential part of your normal work if you are a journalist.
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* How is blogging different from writing stories and how is it similar?
Before there was blogging, there was interactivity. It was analog, and it was fact-to-face, and it was cumbersome. Telephones helped. Blogging is nothing more than more efficient interactivity. Way more efficient. Instant perfect global copyability, as Clay Shirky puts it, is more than just an evolutionary step along the efficiency continuum. But in the end, blogging is simply interactivity, which is something reporters already should be familiar and comfortable with.
What are the reasons a reporter needs to have contact with the community? Those same reasons exist on a blog. In the old days, you got in touch with the community, and then you retreated to write. Because the cycles of interaction can happen more quickly on a blog, the back-and-forth can be broken into smaller pieces, and can stretch into and through the writing/publishing phases of journalism. So blogging carries more of a “work in progress” tone. That usually means shorter bursts, less obligatory background, more conversation. The starting and ending points to our work are blurred by blogs, and journalism becomes more of a continual process.
* What is good advice for reporters (and their editors) who start blogging about whether/when opinion is acceptable?
The blogosphere has an overabundance of opinion. What communities need is an abundance of verified facts. I agree with Kovach/Rosenstiel that what matters is an objective *process*, not so much the elusive ideal of an objective person or even story. But if we are to regard what we do as journalism, we need to keep the discipline of verification at the heart of what we do. It’s what separates journalism from all other forms of communication. This should extend to journalists’ professional blogs.
* Blogging tends to be more conversational than news writing. What are some tips on developing the conversational style? And do you have any cautions about topics or beats where that may not be appropriate (or where it’s absolutely appropriate, though journalistic reflexes might say otherwise)?
Picking up on Howard Owens’ thoughts, I agree it’s important to remain informal, approachable, and lively. Editors since the days of hot type have admonished writers to use 5-cent words instead of 25-cent words; that advice goes double on a blog. What is needed in extra measure on a blog, though, is humility. Online interactivity has this strange ability to turn innocent discussion into flame wars. The temptation to get the last word is strong. The journalist already commands a particular position of authority, especially if it’s his or her own blog, and so it’s doubly important for the reporter to stay humble.
* Do you have some tips to share on engaging the community and crowdsourcing stories through a blog?
I see blogs as just one avenue into the community. Twitter’s “phone tree” style network is another, potentially even more effective, way to spread the word about something you’re working on. Whatever the tool, the reporter needs to go onto the turf of others — find a Facebook group of local engineers, for example, if you need counsel on a story about failing local bridges. Enlist the assistance of other local bloggers with whom you already have established a partnership. Again, blogs are simply more efficient ways to interact, but the responsibility for moving affirmatively into the community to seek information remains the journalist’s responsibility.
* What, if any, ethical issues should bloggers address?
We have a newsroom ethics policy. It applies online. We don’t misrepresent ourselves. We don’t do anything undercover. We announce who we are and what we’re up to.
We have a company code of conduct. Among other things, it forbids us to tear down the company’s good name in public, and online is just another form of public. The policy requires us to discuss with supervisors any private affairs that might be considered professional conflicts of interest. That expectation extends to what anyone on the payroll does, privately, online.
Any ethical or business policy that might apply to a reporter if he or she were standing in a public park, also applies online.
* What other advice do you have for bloggers who are more experienced with reporting than with blogging?
Are you a good reporter? Can you find sources quickly? Do you have a healthy relationship with community? Are you accountable to readers and sources?
Blogging can amplify those qualities. If you’re good at locating sources, blogging will help you find more, and filter them out more quickly. If you are accessible to the community, a blog makes you even moreso. Any good reporter would welcome that.
In other words, if you’re a good reporter with little experience with blogs, don’t think of blogs as something different. Think of them as something you do already, but with more potency.
* What are some good online links for blogging journalists?
Here’s my OPML export from my journalism RSS reader. Import it to yours:
Sage OPML Export
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Steve –
I feel a little out of my element here, as I started blogging to start a conversation with anyone who wanted to explore the new mind set, and tactics, necessary to create a new sustainable local information service.
Naively, I followed Ryan’s advice and tried to start a conversation and link to lots of other sources. I was very impressed with the immediacy of the feedback and the relationships that have developed with people I would not have met but for the blog.
Chuck
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I was going to say:
* Write like your talking to friends, not in the institutional voice of the newspaper.
* Blogging is closer to writing a column than to a story.
* Have facts and get them straight. Just because another guy spouts off opinions based on something he reads online doesn’t mean that you should.
* Post something several times a week.
* Be thoughtful. Before you file, make sure you’re moving the conversation forward.
* Link out, for goodness sakes.
* Don’t be overly self-promotional.
* Snark and sarcasm only makes you seem snarky and sarcastic. Don’t do it unless you’re exceptionally talented.
But your previous commenters said it better.
“What is good advice for reporters (and their editors) who start blogging about whether/when opinion is acceptable?”
* I am more timid about dropping opinion into the blog than your other commenters. I think reporters can write with authority and with voice, but without sliding into the editorial role. I prefer our reporters to keep their opinions about the validity of an idea to themselves. If they have facts that give perspective to the idea, by all means state them.
“Do you have some tips to share on engaging the community and crowdsourcing stories through a blog?”
* Don’t stop at the blog. In fact, our blogs aren’t that useful for crowdsourcing. Use Facebook and Twitter, too. The combination of the three gets the best results, I think. Also engage with others. Don’t just drop in, ask a question and expect results. You have to build a persona and a respect.
“What, if any, ethical issues should bloggers address?”
* Howard’s right. Honesty and transparency. I’d add a sense of fairness. And you’re going to be caught in a mistake at some point. Own up to it quickly and openly. Other than those, search for journalism ethics policies online — there are many — and think through them. Many have been put together by experienced journalists who know how gray ethics can be. If you find yourself thinking, “that’s bs,” then maybe this conversation isn’t for you.
“What other advice do you have for bloggers who are more experienced with reporting than with blogging?”
* Just do it. People are forgiving on the Web, much more than the 65-year-old guy who didn’t get his paper delivered in the right spot. You’ll develop a writing style and voice that you should try to transfer over to the newspaper, if that’s what you’re working on.
Links? Many. Follow Buttry, Sholin, Niles, Owens, Thomas, Jarvis, Rosen, Yelvington & Outing. (Steve can provide the links.) Then follow the people those folks link to. That’ll get you started.
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More excellent advice. I will be providing those links and more. Thanks, John
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