Britni Petersen's Comm 361/Online Journalism Blog

In the 2nd chapter of Journalism Next, Mark Briggs discusses the important elements of blogging as well as the secrets to a successful blog.

At the beginning of the chapter, Briggs says, “For college journalists, blogging means learning a new content-management system, building an audience for your writing and reporting, and cultivating a collaborative community once you have the audience.”

But, before embarking on one’s own blogging journey, Briggs recommends doing a little research first.

Furthermore, Briggs makes a great point by saying, “You have to read blogs in order to write an effective blog,”

Reading other blogs gives new bloggers ideas about what works, what doesn’t work, and what is missing in a blog.

A good site for looking at different kinds of blogs, according to Briggs, is Technorati.com. It also gives you a list of the top 100 blogs on the Web.

Now, when the research is done, it’s time to start blogging.

Briggs emphasizes the importance of starting out with a goal and determining what the blog will be about. From a journalistic view, it’s best to write about something that you have good authority on, or more importantly something that you are passionate about.

After determining a goal, Briggs talks about  finding a title (1-3 words preferably) for your blog, picking a theme, customizing the theme, adding widgets and adding an RSS feed.

To a blogger, the RSS feed is very beneficial. The wealth of information it provides is great writing material.

After the set up and construction of a blog, the next step is establishing effective content and organization.

“One lesson any journalist learns through blogging is what its like to feel the power and responsibility of being a publisher,” says Briggs.

This responsibility includes organizing ideas, keeping the writing simple and clear (not just trying to impress), showing some personality, utilizing photos, linking, and establishing a community.

Soon after all of this is being done, one might wonder… “What is the secret to a successful blog?”

Well, Briggs can some up it up in one word: interactivity.

At the end of the chapter, Briggs goes into detail about the importance of interactivity and establishing a community in order to drive traffic and gain exposure. His tips include posting 5-6 times a week, allowing comments and discussions on one’s own posts, commenting on other blogs, and linking other blogs in one’s own posts.

These days, anyone can be his or her own publisher.

But, that means it’s important (particularly for journalists) to know the most effective Web writing skills for communicating online.

That’s why Briggs wants us to understand that the future of online journalism is here, and it’s time to get prepared.