Blogging is an important tool for newspapers and journalists when done right.
Blogs can cover stories and beats from new and exciting angles that regular printed stories cannot. Blogs can provide rapid-fire updates and, most importantly, a conversation. But bloggers can only be as good as the tools they are given to succeed with.
Most newspapers have jumped on the blogging craze, but how many papers have really thought out what it meant to add blogs? Most are doing blogs for the sake of doing blogs, which is exactly what our readers don’t want. Newspaper blogs that aren’t done right will never compete well against independent blogs.
Independent bloggers don’t do it for money, jobs or fame — they blog because they want to, and they set up blogs and post in their spare time. It’s not easy to compete with that kind of determination.
One of the first issues I see at a lot of papers is a lack of formal guidelines for blogging. How often to post, how long do posts need to be, what should posts be on, etc? Guidelines are crucial.
First, newspapers need to make sure their bloggers blog regularly. It’s not acceptable to have someone blog every few weeks. A blog like that won’t attract any sort of following and serves no real purpose.
At a bare minimum, newspaper bloggers need to blog at least once a week. Realistically, a minimum of twice a week will keep people coming back. I would suggest telling each blogger that he or she needs to post at least on Monday and Thursday (or whatever days you select for each blog) and then post the other days if the blogger comes up with something else. But having those two days when readers know there will be new content is crucial.
Posting two random days a week is not the same as posting twice a week on the same days each week. And a blogger should never be afraid to post more than once in a day, especially if a big story breaks. Let’s keep users updated as quickly as possible.
Length is another issue, because many bloggers find it hard to blog regularly because of the length of their posts. They write too much. This is particularly an issue for columnists and reporters used to writing a lot for each story. They simply can’t get into a mode where they make short posts, but that’s the key to regular blogging.
Experienced bloggers know how to mix in short one paragraph posts with intermediate and long posts. Blogs don’t need to fill column inches, which is one of their strengths. Posts can be as long or short as they need to be.
It’s also important for blogs to stay on topic. Too often I see newspaper bloggers who think their work blog is a personal blog. If your blog beat is technology, why are you posting about the democratic primary?
If I go off topic (which I rarely do), it’s fine because this is my personal blog. But I know that I need to stay on topic to keep a dedicated following. People don’t read The Journalism Iconoclast to get cooking tips or to read about how much I love Guitar Hero III.
Finally, and most importantly, newspaper blogs need to be a part of the community and a part of the conversation. They cannot own the conversation. This means that every blog must not only accept comments, but also the blogger should be willing to respond to posters and have a conversation.
Bloggers should read other blogs on similar subjects and be a part of the blogverse. And a blogger must never be so big for his britches that he is unwilling to post on another blog and be a part of that blogger’s conversation.
Blogging is a community event. That’s hard for a lot of journalists and newspapers to swallow.
Newspapers, however, often do give bloggers guidelines. They are almost always related to print-centric notions of conflict of interest. And yet, most newspaper bloggers are never given real guidelines about how to be a good blogger.
If you’re going to give a blog to someone who has never blogged before, it’s probably a good idea to tell them how to be successful. Good blogging is a lot harder than just going out and writing.