Saturday, June 26, 2004

Notes by and about blogging journalists Jon Udell, who writes regularly about technology for magazines and his weblog, responded to some questions about the similarities and differences under the heading "When a journalist blogs." I like his common-sense distinctions between the print and online fields, especially his observation that print journalists' work already ranges "from less to more personal." Jon's technology writing includes feature stories, reviews and more personal columns, plus a blog that he also positions at "the personal end of the spectrum." I'd been thinking of the personal nature of blogging recently, after realizing how uncomfortable I feel around blogs that go past civil personal-discourse and into he-said/she-said squabbles, skittering between technical topics and issues of character or personality. Running the facts through a blogger's personal filter can provide new insights, especially if you've read enough of that blog to know what the author stands for, and what indicators he or she uses when moving toward that more personal end of the spectrum. While I wasn't thinking of a color spectrum, I did try (perhaps too hard) to use a photographic metaphor while saying thanks to Dave Winer for being the catalyst for a continuing blogging community at Harvard: Journalism at its best can give you a snapshot of accurate facts, thoughtful interpretations, with honesty, ethics and clarity. Blogs can do all of that too -- but their more personal (even emotional) nature can be like another filter in front of the camera lens. Before the burglar got my Leica, I remember having a set of filters -- some added color or removed color -- but some just cut through UV and haze. [more] Coincidentally, right after reading Jon's piece today, I got e-mail from a former Hartford Courant colleague who has just launched her own weblog, Vivian Martin's Press Review, which I look forward to reading. Another old friend has come up with a fascinating genre-blurring cross between personal blogging, sharing family stories and recipes and selling cookbooks! Skip's Italian Food Blog is a very special place, where a tradition like the barber shop birthday shave can segue into an anecdote about cooking snails, and an "autochthonous vegetation" item can travel from a spelling-bee to a dandelion patch at the edge of the Wesleyan University campus and back to la cucina. Saying farewell to Dave, then reading Jon and Vivian and Skip, all sent me back looking for links from the journalism discussion at Harvard's Winer-inspired Bloggercon this spring, and I'm saving them here so that I don't lose track if I'm back in a classroom talking about these things: Jeff Jarvis: Discussion notes from Bloggercon Micah Sifry: "Bloggers are editors" Robert Scoble: "Passion" is one difference, for better or for worse. Betsy Devine: Ten quotes from Bloggercon discussions Will Richardson: "... teach our students how to be participating consumers of news" 4:22:21 PM    comment []

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