What are some of the best practices that aspiring citizen journalists should consider when creating Web content? This presentation reviews some of the basics.

1. Best Practices in Blogging
Presentation courtesy of

2. Are Bloggers Journalists?
• 52% of bloggers consider themselves to be
journalists
• 20% of bloggers derive the majority of their
income from their blog work
• But are bloggers the same as journalists?
Source: 2010 PRWeek/PR Newswire Media Survey

3. Is It Journalism?
• Most have not “trained” to be journalists
– 57% of bloggers include links to original sources
either “sometimes” or “often.”
– 56% of bloggers spend extra time trying to verify
facts they want to include in a post either
“sometimes” or “often.”
SOURCE: PEW INSTITUTE 2006 SURVEY

4. Opinion & Ideology
• Blogging is often personal in nature and told
from a definite point of view
• “Traditional journalism” is different

5. Traditional Journalism
• “Fair and balanced” reporting is the goal
• Despite limitations of time and resources, we
strive to gather and present facts in an
unbiased way

6. It’s not about “You”
• Challenge your own assumptions and those of
your readers
• Logic, intellect and research should prevail
over emotion, gut instinct and personal belief
systems

7. Bias
• Bias in the news and blogging can take many
forms
– Word choices
– Image choices
– Omission of information
– Selection of sources
– Story framing & context

8. Word Choices
• Whether intentional or not, the words you
choose may reveal your personal views
• Stay neutral and stick to the facts
• Interactive Exercise:
– Word Choices
– Headline Choices

9. Image Choices
• What graphic or image should accompany
your story?
• Can you think of examples where the image
captures something different than the
physical reality of the event?
• Interactive Exercise: Image Choices

10. Omission of Information
• Who sets the mainstream media news
agenda?
• What gets covered or ignored?
• Interactive Exercise: Omissions

11. Selection of Sources
• Should you exclude a viewpoint to reinforce
your own agenda or belief?
• Interactive Exercise: Sources

12. Story Framing & Context
• On the Web, the earliest reports are often
amplified by others
• Stories are “framed” and contextualized by
the journalist (but also by others)
• Interactive Exercise: Story Framing

13. Examples: The Aggregators
• Drudge Report
– Conservative in nature
– Monica Lewinsky/Bill
Clinton Scandal
• Huffington Post
– Liberal response to
Drudge Report

14. The Aggregators
• Beyond news, there are
several popular
aggregate blog sites for
specific areas of interest
• Examples:
– Technorati.com
– BoingBoing.net

15. “Crowdsourcing”
• “Crowdsourcing” is a new trend in online
journalism that has many supporters and
skeptics

16. What is “Crowdsourcing?”
• A collaborative form of reporting
• Each contributor researches and contributes a
component to the overall piece
• The actual story may or may not be written by a
collaborator
• Content is usually overseen by a centralized editor

17. “Pro-Am” Journalism
• Crowdsourcing is often referred to as “pro-am
journalism”
– A combination of both professional and amateur
contributions

18. More Resources
• University of Michigan’s News Bias Explored
• Pew Research’s State of the News Media
Report
• PRWeek/PR Newswire Media Survey