Four months ago, they didn’t exist on the Poughkeepsie Journal Web site. Today, they’re one of the ways the newspaper connects with people who want good information on topics they’re into, and want to talk to other people about them.
I’m talking about blogs – the five letters near the top of the list of the latest techno buzzwords. If you haven’t heard, “blogs” is short for “web logs.” They’re online resources of information for niche audiences that are written informally in a diary-like style.
Those other five letters – “niche” – are at the top of the list of what’s redefining the newspaper business. We’re looking more and more at ways we can serve people who want to know a lot about specific subjects. A lineup of blogs is one of the ways we can do this.
But this new communication has its kinks, and we’re developing standards and rules as we go along and face new challenges.
First, a few words about the variety in the content of our blogs, then, a few words about the pitfalls.
Go to www.poughkeepsie journal.com/blogs and you’ll see what I mean. That Web page is like a menu of hobbies and interests. Some of the bloggers are on staff at the Journal. Others are community people with some kind of expertise, or very strong interest, in the topic they’re blogging about.
Do you like to cook or bake? We’ve got a blog on that. The blogger, Journal editor Barbara Gallo Farrell, is running a cake-decorating contest right now.
Love your dog? Our pet blogger, Journal staffer Michael Woyton, loves his, too, and wants to hear why you think yours is so great. Send him a note, and a picture of Fido or Fluffy.
Like to read and play golf? Yep. We’ve got a book blog and a golf blog. Planning a wedding? Got it. Into the music scene? Got it. Looking for hip places to shop, or the latest pop culture tidbits? Got both of those.
A fan of politics? We’ve got three political blogs, local, state and national.
We’ve also got a blog about religion, with the Rev. Tony Beck of Beacon’s doing a blog that discusses some of the more controversial sides of this topic, as well as giving some wonderful spiritual insight.
A dozen Marist College students and their teachers have been writing a blog about a community service trip they’re on in South Africa. They have posted a dozen of photos that give our audience a front row seat to the sights of the people, and the wild animals, the Marist group has encountered.
Check that blog quickly. The students return to the United States this week.
Like high school sports? That’s kind of a no-brainer, according to the hundreds of Web page views our high school sports blog, called “Varsity Club,” gets in a single day.
Instant communication
Sounds like these blogs are the greatest things since sliced bread, right? In many ways they are. They’re the newest version of the old niche, newspaper column, but the writer and reader can communicate with each other instantly.
We’ve got new challenges along with the new technology. Rules, standards and practices are being invented and re-invented on a daily basis. How are they different from those newspaper columns?
The biggest difference is they are not edited in advance, though they are monitored regularly by editors. The blogger is, in essence, self-publishing. This is something many of us newsroom veterans are having trouble getting used to.
Would-be Journal bloggers are screened carefully for writing style and dependability before they begin.
We’ve spent careers having our work scrutinized before it gets into print. With a blog, the publication is instantaneous. It can also be changed as you go along, which means that if a spelling error or inappropriate language appears in a blog one minute, it can be removed the next minute.
That’s a huge advantage over traditional printed material.
So the format’s entirely different, but one thing hasn’t changed – it’s about people talking to other people. We’d like to hear what you think about our blogs.
Which do you like or dislike and what new blogs would you like to see? Contact this column to let editors know your opinion as they continue tweaking this new way to communicate.
