Advice for blogging journalists from Scott Dochterman

Scott Dochterman, Doc’s Office blogger for The Gazette, responded to my request for advice for blogging journalists. This is one of several posts related to Bloggers share lots of advice.

In the relative short time I’ve blogged, I’d say I’ve learned four strong lessons through trial and error.

1. Timing is everything. The best time to post new information is around 11 a.m. or 3 p.m. My hit counts go up immensely in those times because of people going to lunch/eating at their desks and those who mess around online late in the work day. If you post something new (and of course relevant) around those time zones, hits will soar.

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Bloggers share lots of advice

In my early days as a journalism trainer, I made my mark by compiling helpful handouts. I thought I had a lot of good ideas on the topics I trained on and I compiled tip sheets that people told me they found helpful.

That approach (and sharing those handouts liberally online at No Train, No Gain) built my reputation in the journalism training field more than anything I did. So when I decided to do a blogging workshop this week, my first inclination was to develop a handout with all my tips and advice on blogging. I could have done that and almost did, but two things held me back:

• I’m not that experienced at blogging and still learning a lot myself. I feared that my own advice might be too shallow and obvious (though I’m amazed at how often people express gratitude for advice that I consider obvious, so I will include some of mine).

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Liveblogging: Telling stories as they happen

I will be leading a webinar on liveblogging this Tuesday, April 21, for the American Society of News Editors. I have compiled these tips as a handout for the webinar. I welcome experienced livebloggers to add their tips in the comments here or to answer the questions I raised Friday. If you are an experienced liveblogger or an editor whose staff liveblogs, please email me. I would like you to  join us in a live chat Tuesday afternoon about liveblogging.

Please plan on joining the live chat about liveblogging Tuesday between 1:30 and 2 p.m. Central time:

ASNE live chat about liveblogging

Newspapers originally responded to the opportunities of the web by posting print stories online after they appeared in print. Then we recognized the need to post news immediately to the web and started posting bulletins when news broke, often followed after the newspaper deadline (or even after newspaper publication) by newspaper-like stories. Liveblogging is a story form for digital platforms, a blend of the styles and techniques of traditional newspaper-style reporting, radio play-by-play and the interactivity of blogging.

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