Marc Reeves, The Birmingham Post and Five fine questions on blogging.
I love a blog post which asks a good question. This lunchtime the editor of the Birmingham Post, Marc Reeves, popped up five corkers as he wrote about how one of his guest (corrected thanks to Jon) bloggers had attracted a good chunk of derision from readers for this post and this one.
So those questions…
- Is a blog a tool only for individuals rather than media brands or organisations: A blog is one of two things – a stream of information attached to an RSS feed – or a tool for conversation. I’ve never managed to hold very enjoyable conversations with a brand or an organisation. So I plump firmly for the individual here.
- What ‘control’ should a host brand such as the Post impose on its individual bloggers? As much as you like – you’re the boss. The problem is that if you assert too much control then the fun part of the blogging will go away, because your writers will be looking over their shoulder and the readers will sense they’re neutered. Two questions to ask yourself: What is news? if you describe something as a news blog what would you expect to find in it? What reasons would be good enough to ask someone to stop blogging? Clearly a contemptuous attitude to libel might be one. Would racism be another? How about 3 boring posts and your out. They’re a bit of an idiot? Again, you’re the boss…
- What are the Post’s brand values in the eyes of readers? – In my eyes – changing. I think the quality which will most endear me to the post is openess and transparency because that creates the opportunity for an intelligent debate, which this city needs and the Post is well positioned to host. Coupled with lots of photos of people holding glasses of wine and standing next to Brian Woods Scawen.
- Are traditional news brands inherently incapable of adapting to the new – two-way – nature of online journalism? No – some journalists might be, but they shouldn’t be blamed for that. You’ve got to be quick though. Just look at the falling revenue from all those estate agents trying to save money on their advertising budgets.
- What now constitutes expertise in a given field? Fastest finger on google? Nah – too flippant. It is the depth of thought that I admire. Why? Because the web has made it easier than ever for us all to passionately hold to half thought through or borrowed ideas. I also reckon that highly networked people are well placed to be experts because they have access not just to information but other people’s brains to help them think through ideas. Did I just describe a university?
I also suggest you read the comments section on the post, many of my answers are echoed there.
(Marc – you just got 4 links with one post!)
Your Famous! 
Love you lots .x.
May 7th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
Nick . . your links are welcome, but more so your comments. ‘The University of Transparency’....? Hmmmm…..
May 7th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
>one of his guest bloggers
According to Roshan (in the comments to his original post):
“I’m just doing a job the Post management assigned me to do. But this is not a personal blog but a Post blog…If that helps.”
– odd that it’s one of the staff that caused the controversy rather than the guest bloggers?
(didn’t want to raise it there as it would have distracted from what I hope will be a fascinating debate)
May 7th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
Thanks for the correction Jon – and for the comment Marc. can I please come and work for the University of Transparency.
May 7th, 2008 at 8:48 pm
Just for clarification, Roshan is not a member of staff, but a freelance columnist who works regularly for us. a fine distinction I know ….
May 7th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
A distinction all the same Marc, I suppose what I meant was that an experienced journalist/columnist was shocked by the response to his blog post. More experienced bloggers (journalists or not) could probably have seen it coming (not that that makes it right, or him wrong).
May 7th, 2008 at 9:20 pm
It’s a learning process. When what you write is personal not every comment is welcome. When it is a paid for commodity then all comments should be welcome.
May 8th, 2008 at 8:46 am
Nick: It is a learning curve for all newspapers and journalists. Newspapers and journalists can learn a lot from blogs and bloggers, which could eventually go a long way to securing a healthier future and a larger readership base.
But, equally, newspapers are curious oddities and journalists are strange animals. I think some of these idiosyncracies are completely alien to blogging and bloggers, but they need to be preserved as they make for good journalists and good newspapers.
So finding the common ground between the two is key and it is something I don’t believe any newspaper, including those with a strong web presence, have quite got right yet.
I’m excited about the Post’s future, a lot more so than when I worked there. But the learning curve is steep and I think Marc’s latest post gets to the heart of the original issue I felt sufficiently moved to rant about.
May 8th, 2008 at 8:57 am
Hi Paul,
Undoubtedly a lot of learning and invention to come. I’m not sure though tha professional journalists have idiosyncracies that remain unique to their profession or necessarily at odds with blogging. What sort of things did you have in mind?
May 8th, 2008 at 9:41 am
Nick: Hhhhmmm…I’m thinking of the way journalists work I guess. There probably is a fair bit of overlap with blogging but I’ve always felt the atmosphere in a typical newsroom (no matter what size it is) is very different to any other “office” environment. It shapes the way journalists think and work, there is a pack mentality and yet journalists prefer to be regarded as individuals. There is still also this belief amongst some journalists that they should be dictating to readers, not listening to what they have to say.
Something like angryjournalist.com highlights them best – that’s if you can stand reading two or more of the sort of complaints you’ll hear anyway if two or more journalists are gathered together.