Washington Post considerations for starting new blogs revealed
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The Washington City Paper posted a memo outlining the Washington Post’s blog standards for what works and what doesn’t. Download the pdf or check out the full text at Adrian Monck’s site.
What interests me most about the Post’s process in creating a new blog is the org’s 9-point checklist, which I assume is given to newspaper people looking to start up a new blog.
Here’s the list (question explanations included in pdf):
- What’s the blog’s topic or what event will it cover?
- What’s the competition, and how will your blog win?
- How will your blog supplement what appears in print and online?
- How often will it be updated, and at what time(s) of day?
- Who will write your blog?
- Who will edit your blog?
- Who will moderate comments on your blog?
- How and where will your blog be promoted?
- What names and “taglines†do you propose for your blog?
The only question I have issue with is “what’s the competition and how will your blog win?” Blogging should be viewed as a conversation, in which writers look to engage other people who cover similar topics.
I suggest changing the question to “Who else is blogging your niche, what do they do well, and how are you different?” That way, writers can get familiar with others in their same topic, what’s being said elsewhere and can know where they can comment to be a part of what is already being said.
The list could be a great tool to help writers consider the nature of blogging before starting to post.
What else should news writers consider before starting a new blog?
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November 21st, 2007 at 2:35 am
Shawn,
On your addition, it really depends what the writer’s goal is. The Washington post is obviously expecting their writer’s to be journalists - covering the topic extensively, and being the news source for that particular topic.
With that in mind, it is imperative that they do a better job at reporting the news than anyone else.
Obviously, we (you and I) feel that most topics will be extensively covered, and even experienced bloggers and journalists will find the competition harder and harder.
Therefore, the goal of media - both online and off should be to facilitate the conversation that people want to have.
This is much more valuable to consumers, and is alot easier to do.
November 21st, 2007 at 8:56 am
Good points David. I think the reason some newspaper blogs struggle is because they view blogging as competition and reporting in the traditional sense of needing to get the scoop or being the first to report something. That’s all great. I still think about getting the scoop on something, but I think what web readers are most interested in is the best analysis and finding out what a story means to them. News bloggers could use blogs to give analysis as companion pieces to their stories even.
But I digress, as I’ve never worked for the WaPo and don’t know how these questions are really used, I can only be armchair critical. This is a great list they put together. I am curious to know how WaPo uses answers in gauging how a new blog will perform.
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