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Blogging 101By Prof. Mark Grabowski
Why blog?1. Blogs are more common and more
credible. HuffPost won 2012 Pulitzer.2. It will make you a better journalist3. If you want to get a job in
journalism after college, you need to be able to write for the Web.
4. 44% of all journalists work digitally
What is a blog?There’s really no set definition for a blog. Blogs are whatever people want them to be. A blog is just a medium.
Generally, though…Most blogs feature posts in reverse chronological order, hyperlinks, a section for readers to comment and a writing style that is a bit more casual than writing seen in newspapers and academic papers.
Moms’ blogsNew York Mom’s Bloghttp://www.nytrendymoms.com/
Gossip BlogsPerez Hilton makes millions covering celebrity
gossip at: http://perezhilton.com
Gossip BlogsGawker provides NYC
gossip, such as this:http://gawker.com/5812604/educated-snob-berates-train-conductor-for-no-good-
reason
St. John’s Gossip BlogFortunately, this appears to be defunct…http://stjohnsgossip.blogspot.com/
Pets BlogOwned By Pugs http://www.ownedbypugs.com
I Can Has Cheezburger? http://icanhascheezburger.com
Newspaper blogsNew York Times real estate blog
http://realestateqa.blogs.nytimes.comProvidence Journal 7 to 7 News Blog
http://newsblog.projo.com/Philadelphia Inquirer Phillies Blog
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/phillies_zone/
More Phillies BlogsPhiladelphia Daily News High Cheese http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/phillies/Oswalt-
or-Worley-An-alternate-viewpoint.html
• MLB Phillies Blog http://zozone.mlblogs.com
Law Bloghttp://abovethelaw.com
Tech Blogs Mashable Gizmodo Tech Crunch Ars Technica Engadget
Top blogs are journalistic
Blogging as journalismRemember: blogs don’t always equal online journalism. And this is an online journalism class. So, while you will be writing for a blog, remember, you’re also a journalist. As such, your blog posts shouldn’t be mere rants or photos of your cat.
Fundamentals still apply
Even though this is “new media” and some things are different, don’t forget the basics of journalism:
tight, succinct writinga strong lead, sourcesfacts, newsworthy info does it pass the, “why should I care
test?”
Provide value for readers
Most importantly, your blog should provide value for readers. Don’t just regurgitate information easily available elsewhere in the Web. Be enterprising. Provide insights and analysis.
Don’t get stuck in the past
At the same time, don’t just think of a blog post as a newspaper-type story that you’re posting online. There’s a reason the Internet has become the #1 source of news – ahead of traditional media, like newspapers, TV and radio. Because it allows journalists to tell stories in ways they can’t in other mediums. So, your posts should combine text with multimedia elements, such as photos, video, audio and hyperlinks.
Consider partnering with a classmate
3 musts for a good blog1. Have something valuable to say
If you’re just posting pictures of your cat, no one’s going to care, except you and your mom. If your merely opining on the New York Jets game, why would strangers care more about your opinion than an ESPN analyst like Ron Jaworski? You’re not providing value. So, either cover a topic better than anyone else does or choose a niche topic that’s not being adequately covered.
3 musts for a good blog2. Publish regularly
If you have lengthy time gaps between posts, readers will forget about your blog and stop coming back. You need to feed their appetites. In this 24-7 media cycle, if you don’t, someone else will and they’ll go elsewhere for their news. The best blogs are updated multiple times a day. At a minimum, you should post at least one substantive post per week – and that’s just if you want to get a ‘B+’ grade.
More posts = more traffic
While more bloggers reported publishing on a daily basis in 2015 compared to 2014, the majority of bloggers (66%) are still publishing less often than daily, but more often than monthly.
3 musts for a good blog3. Build an audience. If you have something valuable to say and regularly publish, the audience will usually follow. We’ll discuss ways you can expedite the process and generate publicity for your blog. Keep in mind that making a name for yourself in the blogosphere can take several months or much more time. It won’t happen overnight.
15 Blogging Tips
Choose good topicThe topic should be something that’s
practical for you to cover. You need to talk to sources and take photos.
The topic should be interesting to people other than just you. It should provide value.
The topic should be something that can be discussed every week for an extended period of time and has different aspects for you to address.
Choose URL carefullyWhen you start a new blog, you will be
asked by Word Press to give it a URL (e.g., myblog.wordpress.com). This may be difficult to change later, so what you pick for “myblog” matters a lot. Choose a blog name that relates to your blog topic.
Explain your blogOnly returning visitors will know
what your blog is about.80% of blog visitors are new. Create an “About Me” section.
Include an e-mail address people can reach you at if they have news tips or feedback.
Write clear headlinesTitles should be literal and dead-
clear. Think about a person typing search terms into Google. Use keywords they’d use. Five or six words is an ideal length.
Use short paragraphsA 200-word paragraph looks pretty
long on a Web page. Keep all paragraphs to 3-4 sentences or 75 words at most.
Write tightly• 43% of people admit to skimming blog posts.You can’t afford to bury the lead online. Tell
readers quickly what the story is about and why they should keep reading – or else they won’t.
Also, use active verbs. Passive verbs bore readers. Bored readers leave. Avoid redundancy.
One thing to remember is that the absence of space limitations online should not be viewed as an invitation to ramble on about things.
Use inverted pyramidAccording to research, only 16 percent of online
users read a webpage word-by-word. The vast majority scan read. There is no harm “giving the story away” in the first paragraph.
Most content management systems are also set up so that your first paragraph appears as the snippet of text underneath your headline on a Google search result.
So, use the “inverted pyramid” writing style.
Provide up-to-date infoThere are time constraints with traditional
media. In Online News, publication is immediate.
This is a big reason why the Internet is a superior medium for journalism and why carbon copies of things you may write for the newspaper won't work well.
So, if you’re covering a event, blog about it ASAP. Don’t wait to publish your blog post until a week later, when it’s old news.
Cite credible sourcesA source provides reliable, truthful
information on a topic. Each blog post should contain at least two sources – at least one of which should be a primary source (an expert source).
A secondary source offers reliable second-hand information on a topic.
Note: always avoid using anonymous sources.
Use hyperlinksHyperlinks allow the writer to provide a
wealth of related information to the reader.
Linked phrases such as "click here" or "Web page" do not provide helpful information, so avoid them. Integrate the text of your blog posts with relevant links.
Link to useful websites.
Use non-textual elements
Blog posts with images get 94% more views.
Bring your story to life. Engage with your readers and give them something they can't get in print. With images, charts, graphs, video, etc. Even different font sizes and colors.
Write regularlyAll your posts need not be substantive.
For example, you may post an interesting photo that relates to your topic.
But you should have at least one good, substantive post per week (this means a post where you reported on something newsworthy, interviewed sources, had links and/or photos or videos, etc.).
Offer varietyDon’t just cover meetings or
write profiles for each post. Mix it up.
Have a wide variety of posts covering different aspects of your topic. Good blogs are fun to read because they don’t feel repetitive.
Provide value for readers
Don’t repeat obvious info. Don’t rehash old news.
Tell readers something they don’t know, and can’t get elsewhere.
94% of people who share posts do so because they think it might be helpful to others.
Remember, the most popular blogs are news blogs.
Respect copyright lawU.S. copyright law does apply to ALL IMAGES you see
on the Web, on any Web page. So it is absolutely NOT okay to copy an image (photo or otherwise) from somewhere online and use it in your blog.
It is still NOT okay if you add a link to the original and/or a photo credit line.
The image does NOT need to have a copyright symbol or a copyright notice to enjoy this protection. All published works are automatically protected by this law — and that includes ALL images online.
What to do for visuals?First, you could just take your own photos or
make your own artwork. This would impress me and count as a non-textual element in your post.
Second, some people have chosen to allow limited use of their Web-published work — that is, they have given you permission in advance. For more info, visit http://www.newslab.org/2011/03/03/free-multimedia-resources/
Questions?E-mail me at: grabowsm@stjohns.edu
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