What should journalism schools teach about blogs?
For a possible summer 2004 panel discussion at a journalism education conference...
How can "mass communication" scholars look at weblogs? Should journalism educators be teaching future professional journalists about blogs? Should they be teaching future bloggers about journalism, from fact-checking and headline-writing to libel law?
This is my first draft of a panel proposal... Comments appreciated...
Weblogs, newspapers and political coverage:
New roles for professionals in a world of amateurs
What's going on?
1. Blogs by opinion columnists (everyone an "instapundit"?)
2. Blogs by reporters (with or without gatekeeping editors!?)
3. Blogs to invite public tips and comments (participatory journalism or token "interactivity")
4. Blogs as something to cover. Identifying important voices versus "blogrolling"? Who has time to read this stuff? How do you sort out grassroots and astroturf? (The information equivalent of herding cats?)
5. Using blogs and Web linkage to supplement newspapers: Linkage to document opinions with facts, link opposing opinions for public debate
Recent cases in point, the Democratic party's own weblog titled "Kicking Ass" (http://www.democrats.org/blog), as well as the Dean campaign's "how to" weblog cottage industry using a particular open source software engine, offering support for regional campaign offices. Meanwhile, NYU Prof. Jay Rosen points to something new in newspaper editorial page use of weblogs.
Related weblog entry
1:58:15 PM 
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