By Megan Greve

Blogs are everywhere. At least 112.8 million blogs currently exist, and new ones sprout up every second. Blogs cover everything from politics to celebrity gossip to caring for your cockatoo. In essence, blogs have become an inescapable part of our existence. Everyone is talking about them, and it seems as if everyone is using them.

The question for journalists is not whether to use blogs but how to use blogs.

Although some companies already have them set up, blogging can be beneficial for journalists even if they have to strike out on their own. Alumna Ellie Behling’s (BSJ ’07) feels her blog, even though it is separate from her work as associate editor at Plansponsor magazine, helps her network with other journalists and gives her another outlet to add to her résumé.

“I think that a journalist really should be blogging,” Behling says. “I think it’s a great way to market yourself or to cover topics you aren’t covering. I think it’s a great thing to do even if your company isn’t blogging or in addition to the publication you work for.”

Blogs also can be useful tools for disseminating and collecting information as well as connecting with readers.

Using the User

This reader connection can prove invaluable when searching for future story ideas and sources. The idea of “crowd sourcing,” or communicating directly with the audience to gauge what it considers newsworthy, has exploded in the blogging era. Readers can tell journalists what they want to know about, and journalists will know they have an audience for their stories. Crowd sourcing also can be utilized when looking for sources for a story.

“A lot of times people want to see what our jobs are like,” says alumnus Chris Littman (BSJ ’05), sports writer for the Cincinnati Enquirer. “They want to see our personalities. In a straight news story you’re not going to put how you got a story. You just write the story. But the blog kind of gives you an opportunity to explain things a little more, background on how we go about doing our jobs, even what our lives are like. Some people really like that. They want to kind of see a more personal aspect to it.”

Despite the benefits of blogging, one major pitfall affects journalists and has been at the heart of the blogger v. journalist debate: standards.

“We’re not Joe Blow at Blogger.com,” Littman explains about journalists using blogs. “We do have different standards.”

Ethical Dilemmas

Blogs allow journalists to get news out to the public quickly, but sometimes that becomes problematic. When information is thrown on a blog without being fact checked first or when opinions are posted on a blog but presented as fact, problems arise.

“You still have to ask yourself, ‘If this went into the newspaper, would we be facing some ethical questions? Is it libelous?’” Littman says. “I mean obviously it’s more relaxed, but you can’t make it so relaxed that you forget about all your journalistic standards.”
           
Cyberjournalist.net has set up a code of ethics for bloggers based on the ethics code used by the Society of Professional Journalists. The blogger code has three basic parts: Be honest and fair, minimize harm, and be accountable. Behling says she stresses this when writing for her own blog, even though she has more liberties because it isn’t for a company.

“One ethical thing is to not do reporting you don’t have the resources to do because that’s not fair to journalism and your readers,” Behling says.“I know I don’t have the tools to do investigative journalism on my blog. To do it without having those tools would be unethical to me.”

Behling also says she tries to use balanced links as much as possible and knows to avoid using quotes she doesn’t have permission to use.

“I don’t use a lot of people [on the blog] because although I’ve heard people say interesting things, I would never put them in there without asking first,” she explains. “And when I interview someone for a magazine feature I can’t just throw them into my blog without saying, ‘Can I use you for a blog?’”

Although some argue that bloggers should not have a code of ethics, any blogger that wants his or her blog to be accepted journalistically certainly should follow specific guidelines. Standards are the best way for journalists to set themselves and their blogging work apart from citizen bloggers posting their own opinions. When people are looking for real answers from fair sources, standards are why they will turn to a journalist’s blog rather than someone else’s.

Getting Started

Behling says the biggest step when starting a blog is just beginning.

“I thought it would be a lot scarier than it really is,” Behling says.

When starting a blog, Littman says to be cautious, at least in the beginning. He says eventually a blogger will come to know what his or her readers want and expect, and will come to know what to post and what to leave alone. A blogger’s own sense of style will be important in this process and in the process of making a good blog.
           
“I think the more you start to do it, the more you get a feel for it and what you want to do with it,” Littman says. “The blogs I think are good, the ones that get the most feedback, are the ones who make it with their own style. They’re developing and adding new things and figuring out where they want to take it.”

With time and practice, anyone can become blog savvy.

“You start doing it, and before you know it you experiment, and you are a pro and completely comfortable at it,” Behling says. 

Ready to start? Some media companies already have blogs set up that eager journalists can join. Blogger.com also is an option, and the following links provide a good jumping-off point:

• Getting started with Blogger

• YouTube video about starting a blog on Blogger

• BloggerHelp channel on YouTube