Online Journalism: Theory and Practice

Week 3Lecture 1

Summer 2011

G. F Khan, PhDDept. of Media & Communication,

YeungNam University,South Korea

Last lecture…

Old vs. New MediaThe technological evolution of journalismThe development of online journalismAdvantages of online JournalismNew journalism forums

This lecture…

-Introduction to blog -Blog as a news platform

-Advance blogging -Setting up your blog-Syndication content with RSS

What is blog?

 Is a website Short for Web log, a blog is a Web

page that serves as a publicly accessible personal journal for an individual.

Interactive online Dairy to publish thoughts and information (i.e. personal information, news, etc)

What is a blogger?

Blogger – author of a blog

Why blog?

To express one’s opinions, an outlet To present info, happenings,news, links,

photos To promote or market To communicate or discuss

Common feature of a blog

FocusedComments & feedback featureArchives

Blogs are archives of past blog entries and are in reverse chronological order (most recent appears first

SubscriptionReceiving new post

Blogs as journals

Some blogs are merely a type of diaryor a scrapbook of memories.

Why is it important for a journalist to have a blog?

Why to blog?

New media analyst believe every journalist must have a blog

Help you in building a community of readers

Help you in testing new ideasReceive early & direct feedback

Publish or broadcast in the timeliest manner possible

For a collage journalist

Blogging means testing and learning a new content management system

Publishing news stories, building audiences, and getting attention

Helpful in getting a job

Its all about you

You decide how often to publishYou decide what content will you takeYou decide the layout of your blogYou decide how to interact with audienceYou decide what to edit the content and

what the headline line say

What is a good blog?

A good blog is continuing conversation

You facilitate it but, audience dominate itReaders opinion is valuedReaders are your friendsThey want you to get the story rightReaders make your blog stronger

than any single could make it alone.

Blogs are not magic

Writing a successful blog takes dedication and determination

There is never a breakNeeds constant workAlways needs updating and posting new stories

Blogs can be influential or incredibly boring It all depends on the writer (s) powering the

blog

Why blogs are important?

The first information revolution in 1990sWhen everyone started creating websites just

to have oneCreating a website needed a lot of technical

skills about computers & web designMost individual publishers were computer-code

geeks Flashy website of Statics information

Why blogs are important?

However, early information revolution gave way to two way information with advent of blogs

Blog flipped the early model on its headAny one can publish who can click a

mouse and type.

Why blogs are important?

Blogs changed journalismDan Gillmor launched the first blog

for San Jose Mercury News a mainstream news organization, in 1999.

Its simplicity, immediacy, and interactivity have improved journalism.Bringing journalists and audience

closerRemoving the constraints of time and

space that limited journalist ability to report a story

Why blogs are important?

Most companies use blog these days Future 500 companies who have

blogs https://socialtext.net/bizblogs/ In the beginning of 2009,CNN had 30

blogs e.g. http://news.blogs.cnn.com/ New York Times had 65 active blogsLocal news papers and TV stations

around the world have also blogs

Becoming a blogger

Before making your blog read news stories

You have to read blogs in order to write an effective blog

Top 100 blogs: http://technorati.com/blogs/top100/

Find blogs that are right for youSelect the topic you are interested

E.g. environment, politics, sports, food, or fashion, education.

Becoming a blogger

Note which posts you like most, then refine that information:What makes them interesting?Is it compelling or convincing?Are the topics relevant?Are there enough links to material?

Track the frequency of post:Is the blog updated regularly?

Becoming a blogger

Learn the languageBloggers use some specific terms

Post: an entry on a blog (post), or to make an entry on a blog

Permalink: A link available on each post that provides direct access to that post.Helpful for other bloggers to link directly to a given

post or for readers to e-mail a linkVblog (video blog - a blog that features video

commentary as its primary mediumMoblog-Blogging from a mobile device

E.g. http://my.vlogcentral.com/

Make a plan create a blogTo create a basic plan for your blog, answer these

questions: What will you name your blog (1-3 words)? What is a good short description of your blog? What is the mission (2-3 sentences)

Set goal of your blogBefore starting your blog think about what you will

blog about Always pick a topic you have enough knowledge

about itYou should be passionate about the topic

Using these information user will know immediately what your blog is all about.

Make a plan create a blog

Enter “start a blog” in Googlehttp://www.wikihow.com/Start-a-Blog This is a step by step guide

Chose a blog system to create your blog

Who provide blog systems?

A lots of companiesBlogger.comhttp://wordpress.com/TypePade.com Wikispaces.com

Top 40 + Free Blog Hostshttp://mashable.com/2007/08/06/free-blog-host

s/

Recommended system Recommend system for your

group project is blogger.com & worldpress.com Two leading platformsCreating blog is quick and pain lessHave demos and videos tutorials to

help you get started Its also FREE!

Worldpress provide more themes whereas, blogger provide flexibility to customize the design without knowing the code

Let’s start with BloggerHow to Create a Blog on Blogger

Video tutorial: http://www.youtube.com/BloggerHelp

Customize your blogName your blog

The name will display on the top page of your blog and also in the URL (link)

ThemesCustom logoAdd Videos and PicturesWidgets-Quickly add extra

functionality e.g. search box or calendar

Paid Domain name

RSSRSS-Really Simple Syndication

It allows you to easily stay informed by retrieving the latest content from the sites you are interested in.

Its really simpleInstead of visiting several web pages or

performing searches over and over, you can set up RSS to do that for you.

RSS-Select a ReaderTwo types

Web-based readers: that you can access by logging into a specific web page.

Stand-alone: that is downloaded into your computer and then launch. You can download & read later, even no

internetPopular options: NewsGator, Feeddemon

Integrated into blogsTo understand the difference e.g.

Gmail account V.S outlook express

How to know if a webpage is RSS active

Firefox and Opera display the now-common square orange badge for a Web feed in the browser's address bar when they find RSS feeds on a site.

You'll see a similar symbol in Internet Explorer's toolbar.

Safari shows a blue rectangle with "RSS" written in white letters.

Thank YouQuestions & Comments