This document discusses the rise of blogging and its mainstream adoption. It notes that 85% of UK news organizations and 70% of US newspapers now have blogs. It provides examples of how blogging was used to cover major events from 1998 to 2008. The document then discusses why blogging is useful for editorial content, commercial reasons, and professional networking. It also provides tips for how to blog regularly and effectively.

1. Paul Bradshaw Senior Lecturer, Online Journalism, Magazines and New Media, School of Media, Birmingham City University, UK (mediacourses.com) Blogger, Online Journalism Blog Journalism blogging

2. Neil McIntosh, Head of Editorial Development, The Guardian “ If you enter the jobs market without [a blog], no matter how good your degree, you’re increasingly likely to lose out to people who better present all they can do, and have the experience of creating and curating their own site.” … also see the 37 comments at http://bit.ly/U3wgJ

3. Are blogs mainstream? 85% UK news orgs have blogs 70% US newspapers (95% of top 100) 44% European news orgs (stats from Jan 2008)

4. How it happened

6. 1998: Drudge Report

7. 2001: September 11

8. 2002: Trent Lott

9. 2003: Salam Pax

10. 2003: Christopher Allbritton

12. 2004: Memogate

13. 2004: Asian tsunami

14. 2005: London bombings

15. 2007: Talking Points Memo

17. 2007: Dave Winer wins a bet

18. 2007: Myanmar protests

19. 2008: Chinese earthquake

20. Is blogging a genre?

21. Is this blogging?

22. Is this blogging?

23. Is this blogging?

24. Is this blogging?

25. Is this blogging?

26. Is this blogging?

27. 1. Conversational, social, networked?

28. 2. Incomplete, open, ongoing?

29. 3. Personal, informal, reflective?

30. “ Pre-surfed web”

31. Expert analysis

32. Synthesis

33. Opinion

34. Anything you want it to be.

35. It’s just a platform really.

36. Why blog?

37. 3 reasons

38. Editorial Leads, speed, space

39. 2. Commercial SEO, distribution, accountability

40. 3. Professional Networking Pulling power Development

41. how to blog

42. Regularly?

43. “ The majority of the Top 100 blogs tracked by Technorati post five or more times per day, and a full 43 percent post more than 10 times per day. Meanwhile, 64 percent of the 5,000 blogs ranked lower than 600 post two to four times a day, which is still a serious commitment.” ( source )

45. “ Daily posts are a legacy of a Web 1.0 mindset and early Web 2.0 days” ( Eric Kintz )

46. 6 of Kintz’s 10 reasons why frequency doesn’t matter Traffic is generated by participating in the community Traffic is irrelevant to your blog’s success anyway Frequent posting is actually starting to have a negative impact on loyalty Frequent posting drives poor content quality Frequent posting threatens the credibility of the blogosphere Frequent posting will push corporate bloggers into the hands of PR agencies

47. Link

48. Comment

49. Transparency

50. Tags

51. Community (blogosphere)

52. White = blog; green = 1 way link; blue = reciprocal Daily Kos BoingBoing LiveJournal Michelle Malkin Porn Sports fans

53. A hook.

54. 3 broad types?

55. 1. ‘Behind the scenes’ reflections

56. 2. The niche news service

57. 3. The running story

58. But don’t be afraid to mix it up.

59. 13 ideas for blog posts ( http:// bit.ly/KqqcU ) Interview someone Respond to something elsewhere Blog an event Reflect on something Do something visual (photos, video, slideshow with commentary) Make a list Write a how-to Let someone else post Ask a question Suggest an idea Pick a fight (in a nice way) Write a glossary or A-Z guide Find, analyse & explain data

60. Do something now (2 mins) Think of an idea for a blog. Is it going to be about… Your life as a journalist – leads, ideas, what didn’t make it into publication, mistakes, issues, community? Your specialist area – what’s going on, backgrounders, rumours, community? A challenge, a goal, a format – interview 100 major figures; reviews; go eco; swap lifestyles, etc?

61. Do something now Write your post: ‘5 things I’m going to try on the blog this month’ Link to your sources whenever you mention something from them Link to your social bookmarking (Delicious) account! Tweak and edit – structure, grammar, spelling, links. Work the intro and the ending (chopping first par sometimes works).

62. Explore, network, socialise Create a blogroll of related sites Post some comments on other blogs where you can contribute something (useful links, tips, questions, encouragement) Sign up with Technorati Explore and play with your Wordpress dashboard (e.g. Presentation > Widgets)

63. Do more Rohit Bhargava’s 25 basic styles of blogging Technorati – State of the Blogosphere 2008 Dan Gillmor – We The Media See bookmarks at delicious.com/paulb/blogging

64. Twitter.com/paulbradshaw