News-Record.com

One of the problems about traditional newspaper folk discussing blogging is that they misunderstand it. They try to fit blogs into a box. Blogs are all about opinion. That can be true. They're also all about news, telling stories, showing personality, talking to others.

As I read Ed Cone in the N&R on the blogging and journalism conference at Harvard and Tom Blount's column (reg. required) in the High Point Enterprise, I understand where the traditional journalists are coming from. I was in that place a year ago. Some of the folks on my own staff are worried that blogging will hurt their credibility because it will require them to opine on the news. That's far from the truth, as any read of The Chalkboard or Inside Scoop or The Front Pew illustrates. You simply need to learn about the possibilities of the form, and there are many.

Blog are another way to reach an audience. They can be a news sources, with no threat to journalistic ethics. They won't take over newspapers, but they can pose a threat, if editors let them. They can also be a complement or, as I prefer, another way to make the paper accessible, relevant, interesting and transparent.