blog like a journalist
TRANSCRIPT
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Blog Like a Journalist
Establishing Your Voicein the Digital Age
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Blogging is so 2005
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In 2016, social media rule
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Even Andrew Sullivan got out
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But there’s a downside to social
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You can write for yourself.
Or you can serve someone else’s agenda without
getting paid for it.
(Or, like most of us, you can do a little of both.)
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A blog is your own digital homestead
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What is a blog?
Taking the most expansive definition possible, a blog consists of content, usually text or mostly text, that is published online in reverse chronological order.
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Dave Winer
“A blog is the
unedited voice of
a person.”
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Elements of a journalistic blog post
• Call your audience’s attention to something it doesn’t know
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Elements of a journalistic blog post
• Call your audience’s attention to something it doesn’t know
• Link to the source of your information; quote (but not too much) from your source
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Elements of a journalistic blog post
• Call your audience’s attention to something it doesn’t know
• Link to the source of your information; quote (but not too much) from your source
• Add value by bringing in other sources of information
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Elements of a journalistic blog post
• Call your audience’s attention to something it doesn’t know
• Link to the source of your information; quote (but not too much) from your source
• Add value by bringing in other sources of information
• Offer your own perspective and analysis; strive for disciplined informality
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How to keep it going
• Choose a beat that’s narrow but not too narrow
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How to keep it going
• Choose a beat that’s narrow but not too narrow
• Compile a wide-ranging reading list
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How to keep it going
• Choose a beat that’s narrow but not too narrow
• Compile a wide-ranging reading list• Engage with “the former audience”
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How to keep it going
• Choose a beat that’s narrow but not too narrow
• Compile a wide-ranging reading list• Engage with “the former audience”• If you’re not doing original reporting, stay
away from talking about motives
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How to keep it going
• Choose a beat that’s narrow but not too narrow
• Compile a wide-ranging reading list• Engage with “the former audience”• If you’re not doing original reporting, stay
away from talking about motives• Learn to use photos within the limits of
copyright law
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Platforms
• WordPress.com is free, user-friendly and modest in its ambitions
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Platforms
• WordPress.com is free, user-friendly and modest in its ambitions
• Easy upgrade path to WordPress.org if you want more control
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Platforms
• WordPress.com is free, user-friendly and modest in its ambitions
• Easy upgrade path to WordPress.org if you want more control
• Tumblr, Medium and Blogger all have their good and bad points
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How often should you blog?
The old rule was as often as possible — once a day or more.
Social media and WordPress’ email option have lessened the stress.
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Blogging can help youstand out from the crowd
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Blogging can help youstand out from the crowd
• Be part of a larger conversation
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Blogging can help youstand out from the crowd
• Be part of a larger conversation• Hone your journalistic voice
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Blogging can help youstand out from the crowd
• Be part of a larger conversation• Hone your journalistic voice• Enhance your career
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And it’s fun
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www.universalhub.com
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www.pictureboston.com
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www.dankennedy.net
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www.dailykos.com
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www.theroot.com/blogs/journalisms.html
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Photo credits
• Andrew Sullivan (cc) 2006 by Trey Ratcliff• Mark Zuckerberg (cc) 2008 by kris krüg• Blogger (cc) by Gregg Richards• Dave Winer (cc) by Josh Bancroft
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(cc) 2015 and 2016 by Dan KennedyCreative Commons license online at
www.dankennedy.net
For more information, see “Blog Like a Journalist:The Revolutionary Gleam Has Faded.
Yet Blogging Remains at the Center of theDigital Media Toolbox,” by Dan Kennedy.
Medium, August 13, 2014.
School of JournalismNortheastern University
Boston, MA 02115