[Air-l] journalists weblogs

[David Akin]

On 2/16/04 5:01 PM, "Alexandru Leonties" <aleonties at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Does anybody know a good place on the web that
> integrates/aggregates weblogs of journalists? I am
> interested for a research on the credibility of such
> (journalism) weblogs.

Journalism and blogging has been a hot topic among those of us who are
professional journalists. If there has been a thread that comes up time and
again when journalists get together to talk about blogging, it's been issues
about self-censorship and free speech. Some media organizations are happy to
let their journalists blog away; some prefer blogs written by the
journalists they employ to follow certain guidelines; and others forbid any
blogging by staff employees. I'm speaking here, incidentally, of those who
are employed largely by traditional media organizations (newspapers,
magazines, television news, radio news, etc.) and not of those who identify
themselves as journalists because they blog.

So far as I can tell, this debate has been most active in American media
circles. Here in Canada, the debate is just getting underway among
journalists where there is little, if any, understanding among most
mainstream journalists about blogs, their purpose, and their value.

I and some colleagues hope to do something to increase understanding among
Canadian journalists about blogging at the annual conference of the Canadian
Association of Journalists (http://www.caj.ca), to be held in May.

I'm preparing some materials for a workshop and a panel on blogging for that
conference. Looping back to Alexandru's original post, perhaps I'll run
across some aggregators as I'm organizing those materials. If I do, I'll be
happy to post those to the list.

In the meantime, for those who are interested, here's the blurb conference
organizers are distributing for these panels. I'm keenly soliciting any and
all thoughts/research, etc. on these subjects as I prepare for these events.

The Blog Revolution: How Blogs are Changing and Challenging Journalism

Everyone's doing it, including media professionals. Web logs, or blogs, give
anyone a platform and a potentially limitless audience. Lately, bloggers
have broken news stories, kept other stories alive, created their own
celebrities, and-oh yeah--helped overthrow the editor of the New York Times.
Previously unknown bloggers have been offered plum jobs in conventional
newsrooms, and conventional newsrooms have started blogging. Some prominent
journalists have even found themselves paired with "watchblogs" that analyze
and critique every story they create. What are the tensions between blogging
and traditional journalism? And what can journalists learn from blogs and
bloggers? Is this a new form of media democracy? This panel of tech-savvy
journalists, bloggers, and media observers will explore the way blogs are
changing and challenging journalism-and where it's all going.

Workshop: Blogging 101
They've played key roles in the combative US presidential campaign.
Academics say they'll revolutionize mainstream journalism. But what do blogs
have to do with the daily lives of journalists in Canada? What do
journalists need to know about this new source of views and information?
David Akin, who is National Business and Technology Correspondent for CTV
News, a contributing writer for The Globe and Mail, and a blogger himself,
leads a workshop for journalists who may one day want to start their own
blog and for all those who wish to learn how blogs fit into daily
newsgathering. Blogs-- short for Web logs -- are a new kind of online
publication that are quickly becoming as important to journalists as e-mail
and the World Wide Web. Akin will run through some of the popular blog
publishing tools; take participants on a brief tour of the blogosphere; and
lead a discussion of the relationship of blogs to mainstream working
journalists. Designed for those with little or no knowledge of blogs or
blogging, this workshop will focus primarily on giving working journalists
real-world skills they can put to use right away in their newsroom.


-- 
David Akin
---------------------------------------------------------
CTV News                               The Globe and Mail
National Business                     Contributing Writer
and Technology Correspondent
---------------------------------------------------------
Office: 416.313.2503                         dakin at ctv.ca
Mobile: 416.528.3819                dakin at globeandmail.ca
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444 Front St. W.                        http://www.ctv.ca
Toronto, Ontario, CANADA      http://www.globeandmail.com
M5V 2S9
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IM and FAX at http://www.davidakin.com
Blog: http://davidakin.blogware.com