Mediabistro.com
Figuring Out Blogs & Whatever's Next
http://www.sreetips.com/blogs.html

with Sreenath Sreenivasan
WABC Tech Guru
Professor, Columbia University
Graduate School of Journalism

Sites mentioned by Sree and Participants

  • SreeTips.com
  • Sree.Net/interland
    --tips on setting up websites
  • FormSite.com has Sree’s SF and LA schedules for same class
    Uses this whenever he does events. Not free. Good for event info, surveys, etc. 
  • Writely.com --  EVERYBODY should be using writely.com    “It has changed my life”. It’s an online word processor. Google bought the company.
  • snipurl.com (shortens URLs)
    • our session can be found at www.snipurl.com/mbsession
  • HotStop.com (how to get to Media Bistro sessions -- or anything anywhere)
  • PBWiki
  • Wikipedia.org -- the world's largest encyclopedia. Collaborative. Empty Nose Syndrome -- we saw Sree change it to Empty Nest Syndrome. Note that this will be changed in 2 - 24 hours. Community developed, community monitored, "self-correcting". A totally open system does have some problems; e.g., need to lock articles on controversial subjects.
    --comment: neutral, factually accurate article on Richard Nixon.
    --Sree: user community is responsible for the content.
    --question about self-promotion
    --comment on copyright issues
  • kidssafevideo.com
  • OpenOffice.org
  • Scribus.net
  • NVU.com
  • MyImager.com
  • osnews.com/story.php?news_id=7755
  • irfanview.com
  • http://www.technorati.com/
  • www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser
  • poynter.org
    --check out romenesko's blog
    --one problem is that there are no Categories. This makes it difficult to search for content.
  • AndrewSullivan.com (hook to Time magazine)
  • fishbowlnewyork.com
  • www.technorati.com/pop/blogs
    --find listing of top blogs
  • michellemalkin.com
    --traditional journalist, has reinvented herself as a blogger
  • instapundit - law professor at U. Tenn, 2 mil visitors/month
    --Sree visits everyday
    --Libertarian
    --very short blogs
    --Quotes are indented
  • littlegreenfootballs.com - Reuters photo disaster story broken here
  • powerline - broke Dan Rather story
  • tmz - competing with Access hollywood. Crime and celebrities. Mel Gibson.
  • gigaom.com - author worked for redherring, business 2.0; now a fulltime blogger
  • SEE TOP TEN UNDER GENERAL section below



 Terms/Issues/Products We Discussed
  • BLOGGING TERMS
    • Blogosphere
    • 50 mil blogs
    • 60k posts per hour
    • Blogs are penetrating mainstream media (MSM)
    • Dan Rather's term for journalist bloggers - Pajamahadeen
    • English 41% of all posting
    • Check out stats on Technorati
    • Mobblog -- this is a group blog
    • Post - publishing the blog
    • Permalink - link to the whole story (this is what you cut and paste and send to your friends)
    • Jump - the process of moving to the whole story
    • Display in "reverse chronological order"
    • CMS - Content Management System. Columbia U. is in the process of setting up a CMS.
    • Trackback - reveals how many sites have linked to a blog

  • BLOGGING
    • Pace and rhythm bring people to the site; sites need to be dynamic
    • Very easy to create, harder to draw in audience

  • Concept of stickiness
  • Web 2.0 - Check out the Wikipedia entry. Also look at O'Reilly's 2005 article with John Batelle.
  • Issue of giving up privacy in order to use Web 2.0 services: Google is a perfect example. Also corporate monitoring of email. You might want to look at PGP.com for encryption information.
  • Firefox is an open source product. Think of it as an "Online kibbutz". It's fast, secure. Has improved popup blocking. Extensions, developed from thousands of programmers around the world, available for free to Firefox user community. Example of iTunes, built in Google plus drop-down search engines. Go to getfirefox.com
    --comment: Session saver extension
    --Sree: permanent tabs extension, IE view
    --Command (Apple) button and + expands font size, - reduces
  • Open Source - new way of thinking about software
  • OpenOffice -- free office suite similar to Microsoft Office. Free multiplatform word, excel, powerpoint, access and other components. Works on multiple language platforms. Only about 70% of features on Microsoft Office, but is seemless with Office files. The Mac version is called NeoOffice. Funding comes from donations, enterprise installations, sponsorships (Sun).
  • Scribus is the Open Source equivalent of OpenOffice for Quark, PageMaker
  • NVU = Dreamweaver
  • MyImager = Photoshop

I. General
II. Hot Blogs
III. How to Make a Blog
IV. Information about Blogging
V. (Very Brief) Introduction to Podcasts

I. General

II. Hot Blogs
  1. 1.

    Engadget

  2. 2.

    Boing Boing: A Directory of Wonderful Things

  3. 3.

    老徐 徐静蕾 新浪BLOG

  4. 4.

    Gizmodo, The Gadget Guide

  5. 5.

    The Huffington Post

    CLASS=photo
  6. 6.

    Daily Kos: State of the Nation

  7. 7.

    Techcrunch

    CLASS=photo
  8. 8.

    PostSecret

    PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard.

    CLASS=photo
  9. 9.

    Lifehacker, the Productivity and Software Guide

  10. 10.

    Crooks and Liars








sreetips.com > tips > Figuring Out Blogs & Whatever's Next
Last updated: Sept 11, 2006

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Figuring Out Blogs and Whatever's Next
The best blogs for and by journalists and how you can join the blogging revolution as a reader and/or creator of blogs. Also: Podcasting, wikis, RSS and whatever's next

Links from a two-hour workshop by Sreenath Sreenivasan
Columbia New Media Professor & WABC-TV Tech Guru
BLOGGING FOR JOURNALISTS blog: http://bloggingforjournalists.blogsome.com
NEW TO SREE blog: http://www.sreetips.com/new
BETTER GOOGLING: http://www.sreetips.com/google.html

There is much confusion about blogs, bloggers and blogging. Is this the end of journalism as we know it? Or is it just another small step in the evolution of media? What about photoblogging, videoblogging, podcasting RSS and whatever's next? Answers to these questions and more in this, fast, fun, two-hour workshop - adapted for each audience.

TOPICS COVERED BY THE WORKSHOP:

    *
      Blog basics
    *
      What's to love and what's to hate about blogs
    *
      The best blogs FOR media pros
    *
      The best blogs BY media pros
    *
      Blogs that are changing America and the world
    *
      Blogs that are overhyped & a waste of time
    *
      How to read blogs without drowning in too much info
    *
      How to create a blog
    *
      How to bring traffic to your blog
    *
      How to make money with a blog
    *
      Why journalists should be blogging
    *
      Why journalists should NOT be blogging
    *
      NEXT: photoblogging, videoblogging, podcasting, wikis, RSS, XML

       
Recent blog covers of major magazines; BW cover here.

SOME - JUST SOME - BLOGS TO CHECK OUT
 

LISTS OF BLOGS, RANKINGS & SEARCHING BLOGS

    * 2006 Bloggies
    * Blogging About Blogs
    * About.com Weblogs
    * NYT Guide to Blogs
    * Dan Sifry's "State of the Blogosphere" stats (doubling in size every six months for 42 months+)
    * Technorati+Technorati 100 - search blogs + the "Billboard chart" of blogs
    * Linkology: NY Mag explains the Technorati top 50
    * SEARCH THE BLOGOSPHERE: Daypop | Sphere | Google Blog Search
    * Blogdex - tracks "most contagious" information
    * Feedmap - find blogs on a map
    * Blogdigger - find local blogs - also see NYCbloggers.com
    * Blogs to Riches: The Have and Have-nots of the Blogging Boom - NY Mag Feb. 2006 cover story
    * see Further Reading section below

CONSERVATIVE

    * Instapundit - Glenn Reynolds, law professor, University of Tenessee, Knoxville
    * Andrew Sullivan - a mainstream journalist blogs (now on Time.com)
    * PowerLine - the folks who helped bring down Dan Rather
    * Hugh Hewitt - radio talk show host and author
    * Best of The Web Today - bloggish material from James Taranto from OpinionJournal.com (WSJ edit page)


LIBERAL

    * Daily Kos (rhymes with "rose") - Markos Moulitsas Zúniga
    * The Huffington Post - "delivering news & opinion since May 9, 2005"
    * Talking Points Memo - Joshua Micah Marshall
    * Political Animal - Kevin Drum, formerly CalPundit, now on WashingtonMonthly.com
    * Altercation - Eric Alterman

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY BASHERS

    * Oxblog - Americans in Oxford
       --Sree loves this - "Trying to live up to the hype since 2002"
    * Kausfiles - Mickey Kaus
    * Wonkette - DC gossip
    * Gawker - NY gossip  
    * Defamer - LA gossip

BUSINESS

    * Footnoted - company filings and more
    * AdRants - advertising
    * CitizenJoe - nonpartisan look at business and government
    * The Walk-Through - NYT real estate group blog
    * Off the Runway - WashPost fashion editor Robin Givhan
    * Working Parents - BW group blog
    * BW's Blogspotting - BusinessWeek's take
    * Yahoo! Business Blogs directory - 100+ business blogs

BLOGS ABOUT THE MEDIA

    * Romenesko - Poynter's must-visit site
    * BuzzMachine - Jeff Jarvis
    * TVNewser - tracking TV news
    * Eat The Press - new blog about media from HuffPo
    * CJR Daily - a journalism magazine goes high-tech
    * MediaBistro Daily News Feed - daily roundup
    * PaidContent.org - tracking what people are paying for
    * Lost Remote - convergence of TV and tech
    * Newshounds - "we watch Fox you don't have to" (newshounds.us)
    * MRC Cyber Alerts - "documenting, exposing and neutralizing liberal media bias"

JOURNALISM & MSM BLOGS

    * Cyberjournalist's list of journalists who blog - largest collection of J-bloggers
    * Newspaper blogs (from NYU's Blue Plate Special):
      Best blogging newspapers | State of blogging at 100 biggest newspapers | Bosses who blog
    * Magazine blogs
      Ms. Magazine | National Review (see Blog Row) | Time | Newsweek | Scientific American
    * TV blogs
      ABC News | CBS News | NBC News | CNN | Fox News
       --Brian Williams
    * Radio blogs
      NPR | WNYC

TECHNOLOGY/SCIENCE BLOGS

    * Engadget & Gizmodo - technology
    * LifeHack.org | LifeHacker.com - productivity and techie tips
    * Boing Boing - "wonderful things"
    * Cyberjournalist.net - Jon Dube on online journalism
    * Mike's eJournal - Mike Wendland keeping track of tech
    * Sivacracy - digital & copyright issues group blog
    * The Loom - Carl Zimmer on "life, past and future"
    * Keeping up with search engines - list of search blogs, including official Google, MSN & Yahoo blogs

ENTERTAINMENT BLOGS

    * Deadline Hollywood Daily - Nikke Finke, famous Hollywood reporter, now writing a blog.
    * The Hollywood Reporter: Reel Pop (online video) | Risky Biz | Past Deadline
    * Cinematical - all about movies
    * The Digital Music Blog - all about digital music

SOME BLOGS & BLOGGISH SITES I READ

    * Drudge Report - the original blogger?
       --Sree reads this everyday. WSJ says Matt Drudge makes $800k a year. 13.7m page views/day
       --comment: Drudge Reference Desk. RefDesk.com  Run by Matt's father. Colon Powell said that this is his fave site.
    * GlobalVoicesOnline - Harvard project to find best of international blogs
       --one of the most innovative blogs online. All in English, but blogs from around the world.
    * ALDaily.com - Arts & Letters Daily
       --must read for arts journalists. "Drudge report for the ivory tower"
    * Bada-Bing blog - The Sopranos
    * SliceNY - "America's favorite pizza blog"
    * Gothamist - also Boston | Chicago | London | LA | San Francisco | Seattle | Toronto | Washington DC and more
    * Armchair Generalist - Pentagon employee's blog
    * Diary of a Flight Attendant - er, fired flight attendant
    * SepiaMutiny | Ultrabrown - group blogs by second-generation South Asian Americans
    * The Dullest Blog in the World

BLOGS STARTED BY ATTENDEES OF THIS WORKSHOP

    * CultureGrrl - Lee Rosenbaum's "cultural commentary with attitude"
    * Filmiholic - Maria Giovanna tracks all the Bollywood movies she watches in a summer
    * Living With Microbes - Jessica Snyder Sachs preps for her book
    * Pundit Mom - Joanne Bamberger, political mom, on politics, culture, law
    * SCD Journal - a blog about the "specific carbohydrate diet" and intestinal diseases
    * Amitava Kumar - the well-known academic and writer has a blog as eclectic as himself
    * LiveMoney - from SmartMoney.com
      Your blog here!

BLOGS I RUN

    * New To Sree - useful and/or fun sites I find during my web travels
    * Blogging For Journalists - sites about journalists and whether they should blog
    * Daily Plan-It - My Dean of Students blog at Columbia's J-school


YOUR TURN

FREE BLOGGING SOFTWARE

    * Blogger
    * LiveJournal
    * MSN Spaces
    * Blogster
    * Blogsome - only free one with categories (sample blog I run: Dean of Students)

PAID BLOGGING SOFTWARE

    * TypePad
    * MovableType - also a free personal edition

PHOTOBLOGGING, VIDEOBLOGGING, PODCASTING

    * Photoblogging: Fotolog | Flickr
    * Videologging: Videoblogging basics
      Videoblogger map - find vlogs around the world
    * Podcasting basics
    * OurMedia.org - free storage and bandwidth for photos, video and text. "Forever."

KEEPING UP WITH BLOGS / BLOG AGGREGATORS / RSS / XML

    * Bloglines
    * Pubsub
    * SharpReader
    * MyYahoo
    * RSS 101 for Journalists - by Jon Dube


HOW-TOs - build your own blogs, raise traffic, etc.

BASICS/GETTING STARTED

    * Zoundry: Introduction to blogging
    * Microsoft: 7 tips for getting started with business blogs
    * SimonWorld: Everything you wanted to know about blogging but were afraid to ask
    * Dave Pollard's tips FOR bloggers - a growing collection of tips

BUILDING TRAFFIC

    * Tips from Blogger about promoting your blog (several unique to Blogger, but others are generic)
    * Blog Herald tips on building blog traffic (tips for newbies and others)
    * Paul Stamatiou's how to boost your blog traffic
    * Ezine Articles' 16 ways to drive traffice to your blog
    * WebProNews: How to build traffic to your blog

MAKING MONEY

    * WashPost: How to make money off your blog
    * Google AdSense to run ads easily on your blog
    * WiredNews: How to almost live on blogging
    * Microsoft's 5 tips on how to make money off your blog
    * Adding a tip jar to your blog: general tips | TypePad

FURTHER READING & GUIDES:

    * Poynter: What Journalists Can Learn from Bloggers
      By Steve Outing
    * SPJ Quill: Blogging and how it has affected the media
      By Peter Beeson
    * PC Mag: Understanding & Reading a Blog
      By John Dvorak
    * Who's There, Seth Goldin's Incomplete Guide to Blogs and the New Web
      A useful, free, ebook (PDF) that's a good introduction to blogs and blogging. It focuses on what Goldin, an author with several blogs,
      calls "viral" blogs - blogs about ideas of all kinds and how anyone can have his or her ideas read widely.
    * The Blog-only Media Diet
      A 2004 experiment, covered by Steve Outing
    * Blogs the Famous Media Reads
      Lists of blogs read by traditional journalists, compiled by Howard Mortman
    * Why I Blog
      Poynter writing coach Chip Scanlan on his new blog, "The Mechanic & The Muse"
    * Guide to Searching Blogs
      By Jon Dube
    * The Changing Media Landscape
      A Columbia panel
    * Epic 2014 / Googlezon
      A look at the media in the year 2014. Scary stuff
    * Changing Media Landscape / Issues in Online News
      List of links, articles from Sree's Columbia's 10-week course
    * Kerry choice of Edwards as VP was not broken by traditional media

sreetips.com > tips > figuring out blogs and whatever's next


 III. How to make a blog
Go to blogger.com and create an account
Create your first blog (write and publish)
"really boring speaker. where did my money go?" example

How do you make a blog more interesting?
--change text, add images, add links

How do you manage comments?
--tools embedded in blogging software

use youtube.com to add video, flikr.com to add photos


 IV. Key Information about Blogging
Tagging -- this makes blogs searchable. Make sure you tag your blogs if you want people to access your site.

How do you increase traffic?

Making money (check out the making money section
Easiest way is to link to an adserver
Use tip jars

RSS and XML
What it is? A way to get your content out to the world. People subscribe to your blog, delivering your content to their RSS/XML reader.


V. (Very brief) Introduction to Podcasting
check out podcasts.yahoo.com
check out iTunes