June 2, 2006

Embrace The Blogs

Bill Colrus has a very nice piece on "citizen journalism" in the current edition of the Chattanooga Pulse, which you can read online here. And I don't just say that because I'm quoted. It's a long article - here's a small excerpt:

If media outlets were to embrace the interactive nature of blogs, they'd find themselves reconnecting with the public and, in turn, regaining some of their lost market share. An editorial page, for example, should not be considered just another piece of "product," but rather a place to start a conversation. This conversation can serve many purposes - debate, clarification, correction, entertainment, etc. - but perhaps its most important (and previously untapped) purpose is that of a lead generator. Reporters typically get leads from a variety of sources: phone calls, E-mails, letters, conversations, etc. The commenting feature on a blog can provide leads, as well.

The way this former newspaper journalist sees it, newspapers that don't fully tap the potential of the blogosphere and citizen journalism are newspapers that are in the process of going out of business - though it doesn't have to be that way.