Blogging and Journalism Presentation Highlights

Yesterday, in my Digital Freedom class, we had the opportunity to listen to professional bloggers speak to the topics of blogs as news, the credibility of blogs, and how blogs function in a professional and personal world.

Our speakers were Matt Stansberry of SearchDataCenter.com and Oregon Fly Fishing Blog and Matt Neznanski of the Corvallis Gazette Times. 

Here are some highlights from their co-presentation:

 

Perks of having a blog even if the company or organization has an online magazine

• Easier to integrate photos and videos into a posting
• Demonstrates a bond with readers and creates communication with readership
• Shows the company is listening to and serving its readers
• Greater flexibility and freedom with style of writing
   

Perks of having a blog instead of print format

• Print does not always lead to more reporting; a blog allows you to feed off the comments and suggestions of your readers
• Immediacy as compared to print

What is the difference between a blog post and an online article? 

• Number of sources; for news articles, usually a publication’s director demands the article must have multiple sources
• More visual and engaging aspects are usually used on blogs compared to an online news article
• Content of a blog can be based off someone else’s writing or a response to their post; news articles usually present facts or are investigative stories
• For large companies, such as Matt Stansberry’s employer TechTarget of SearchDataCenter.com, readers do not differentiate between news articles and blog posts.

How do you generate readership?

• Comment on other blogs with a link back to yours
• Write about someone else’s post
• Cast your blog posts on group sites such as OregonLive.com
• Find your niche