Live Blogging

Jorn Barger coined the term “weblog” in 1997. It was a term that he used to express the different links he found interesting that were “logged” on his website. Eventually the term was shortened to “blog” and now the definition reflects the way it is used today.

Blog – “A website with regular entries, commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order”.

Blogging is a doorway for online journalism. It is a medium or a channel that changed the ways of journalism. More people are able to consider themselves senders of information; as opposed to the masses being receivers in the past.

There are many different popular blogging platforms that can be used today like: Blogger, WordPress, Live Journal … etc. These platforms give individuals the opportunity to make their own accounts and start sharing whatever their hearts desire.

Since blogging is done online, and at a more personal level, there are differences to the way it is done (as opposed to news websites, print writing, and anything else that isn’t blogging…). There are also the effects that blogging has on journalism today. It is important for current journalists and aspiring journalists to keep these differences and changes in mind at all times.

If you can imagine it, you can write about it

The different topics bloggers are allowed to write about are endless. Anything that comes to mind is an option for the writer to cover.

People create blogs to cover the wide range of interests that they have. Their interests could be anything from bobby pins to cats to the mechanics behind roller coasters. There is also a wide range of categories like: Cooking – Adventure – Travel – Writing – Art – Mechanics – and more. The limits are endless.

Informal writing style

Blogging takes a more informal and personal writing style. As opposed to news websites, print writing, and so on.

Prioritizing the most recent post

Blogs are usually displayed in reverse-chronological order (as stated in the definition above).

For example, news websites prioritize the most important articles according ot the editors.

Live blogging relationships between journalists and citizens

Thanks to the internet, live blogging is considered a main source of news and networking. Today, journalists who blog on line (or anyone really) is able to interact with others; including eyewitnesses, people with more information on the topic, or anyone else that can add to the post. Relationships between the audience and the writers have increased, as more opportunities to exchange information are present.

Citizen Journalists

People are the center of a lot of information today. They are found gathering information, commenting on articles, sharing things to people on their own personal accounts, and more.

Blogging is a way that citizen journalists are able to distribute their own expression.

Sources

Again, the Internet offers a wide range of sources for the writer. This could be linked to the previous point, because now the writer has access to eyewitnesses, but also more information from other countries. There are new voices, opinions, angles, and more to be considered – from all over the world!

Journalists + Live Blogging

Traditional journalists are restricted to a linear form of sharing information. The transition to live blogging changed that linear form, and now journalists are found expressing “instant witnessing”.

According to Director of POLIS, Charlie Beckett, “ [Journalism] does more than aggregate content. It is a platform for journalists to add material that otherwise would never be published.”

Journalists are not able to express the events they are covering as well as the excitement behind them. The audience is able to gain information and a feel for the atmosphere of the event through journalistic live blogging.

There are many renowned blogs on the internet, among them are The Guardian. It has been popularly believed that live blogs undermine traditional journalistic values; however, according to The Guardian audiences that is not the case. In fact, t is the opposite. They believe that the live blog reinforces traditional journalism. Based on a study conducted with the readers of The Guardian, it was said that overall they enjoyed the neutral tone of the live blog. They felt as though live blogs contained more facts and statements, giving them the opportunity to come up with their own conclusions on the issues.

It is important to keep in mind that there are also many challenges to keep in mind when it comes to live blogging. For example, maintaining standards online while considering the proof and facts of the articles written. It is a challenge because there are many “eyewitness” materials. This needs to be double checked and attributed correctly while making sure that the sources are not exploited in any way.

Due to the changes in the way journalism works, aspiring journalists are going to need more than good practice. They’ll need to know how to apply what they learn online while understanding the impact of social media. For it creates a human network.

Main Source: Lie Blogging and Social Media Curation: Challenges and Opportunities for Journalism - by Einar Thorsen