Pitching a blog

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Permalink Reply by Christopher Wink on July 11, 2008 at 5:09pm

The right community with readers might certainly lead to newer, stronger stories covering new topics. Blogs are today's best tool for creating a community of readers who have something to share. They foster sources.. they can foster sources.

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Permalink Reply by Megan Taylor on July 11, 2008 at 7:38pm

Convince your editors that you can do both. Do you have a personal blog? Start posting pop culture stuff there. Or show them posts you've made here - that will show them that you can make time for everything.

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Permalink Reply by Kate Martin on July 12, 2008 at 7:11am

Definitely practice blogging for a while if you want to have a blog. You have to remember that a good, quality blog takes time. You will have to give something up to make it good. I am in the same battle as you though. I want to have an education blog by September (the summer is moving so fast). I am not sure if my editors will let me, though, because we are down a reporter and we are likely not going to fill that position anytime soon.

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Permalink Reply by Rachel Kipp on July 13, 2008 at 6:20am

Thanks to everyone for all the input. I'm planning to bring examples from my personal blog (which is mostly about pop culture) to a meeting we set up with the editors. Kate, I agree with you that something else is going to have to give to make the blog work -- that's going to be the big sticking point with the editors. Any ideas for preparing for that particular battle?

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Permalink Reply by Kate Martin on July 13, 2008 at 6:49am

Man I wish I knew! I am in the same position as you are. I want to start an education blog by September, but we are already down a business reporter with no hope in sight of replacing him. I already struggle enough to find the time to do multimedia. I definitely would not have the time to blog if I was required to keep up the same pace.

I am keeping a running list of the topics I would blog about if given the time. However, in the past week I have not had the time to even think about adding to the list. I wish I could be more helpful.

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Permalink Reply by Rachel Kipp on July 13, 2008 at 7:08am

Just the moral support is very helpful -- several of the other reporters at my paper don't understand why I'd want to create more work for myself with a blog. I think making a list of potential blog topics is a really good idea. Hopefully, you can show them to the editors and they'll get excited.

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Permalink Reply by Meranda Watling on July 13, 2008 at 10:09am

The time is the issue. Done well, it will take time away from something else, maybe not much, but some. I'm in the same boat with Kate. I'd LOVE to keep a blog about my beat (also education), and can see a thousand things I'd put there before they land (or in most cases don't land) in print or on our site. But I'm busy enough with my daily work and other committees I'm part of that realistically the return on investment at this point probably wouldn't be worth it at this junction. Something would have to give. I talked once, briefly, with my editor about it and he thought the same about my time. And to be honest, our blogs don't get good enough play online or promotion in print to really fight that battle at this point.

That said, if I do formally pitch it, here's the things I'd be sure to have nailed down before I sat down:

• A name for the blog.
• Sample posts or at least examples of the recent topics to cover.
• A realistic schedule for when you will update, including the frequency and the amount of time per day you expect to spend. You need to keep a blog fresh to draw in readers, and a pop culture blog demands that more than a regular beat blog, which would kind of depend on the news. Also, blogs demand interaction. You will need to allocate time to respond to your comments to build that community.
• Examples of other newspapers (especially those similar to your own either the same size or within the same company) with blogs like the one you are pitching. Sadly it's easier to convince someone it can be done if you can show them it has been done. (Bonus: Finding those sites allows you to e-mail the authors and get their tips and see how much time they spend.)

Anyway, those are things to consider.

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Koehler on July 13, 2008 at 9:09am

Attached is a two-page internal memo from the Washington Post Interactive editors on starting and pitching blogs. For the most part, I'd say it hits the nail squarely on the head. Read it, internalize it.

If your pitches give evidence that you have a clear idea of what makes a blog good, what makes it valuable journalism, I'm guessing maybe they'll be more ready to give you the freedom to try. Maybe.

And I agree with Megan and others - don't wait around for editors, start your blog yourself! The practice will make you better. And you could produce a great product to show off, which is better for convincing folks to invest resources than the most elegant of abstract arguments.

Good luck!

Attachments:

• wapoblog.pdf, 310 KB

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Permalink Reply by Kate Martin on July 13, 2008 at 1:50pm

Wow great conversation so far. I really appreciate you posting that WP memo. It definitely gives me something to think about.

As much as I had wanted to do a blog this September, I really think it's not going to happen. If I am going to do a blog, I don't want to half-ass it. I want it to be great, awesome even. When and if my newspaper changes its focus to be more online-friendly, then I'll start an education blog.

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Koehler on July 13, 2008 at 7:48pm

Oh Kate, that makes me sad. Also fear if you wait for your newspaper to be more online-friendly, you may be waiting forever. But it does take time to blog well, so what can you do? There's only so much to go around.

So here's some more not entirely original thoughts on blogging, to no one in particular really.

I've edited a few blogs, and in my brief experience (all working with people my age, mind you, who have grown up with the net):
- Blogging takes significantly more time than you think. Don't let conversational style or short length fool you. Each post takes research & writing. Not all thoughts become posts. Like reporting, lots of work goes unseen.
- It's difficult to get the hang of the format: headlines, tone, images, tagging, lots of linking, and especially what to post and what not to post, staying on a topic. A rare few people just "get it." Most everybody has to learn.
- Practice is an enormous help. Set up a quick free blog on WordPress.com or somewhere. It's fine (maybe even good) to keep it private. Instead of just jotting down notes when you get ideas, make them into posts. There's a significant difference. Get a variety of others to critique you thoroughly. Everyone should understand the point of your blog -- which, again, is harder to accomplish than you may think.

BUT, all that said, at some point you'll have to say "@#%! it! We'll do it live!" and just start. Probably before you're comfortable. The medium is more organic and conversational than the dead tree formats we're used to. Every blog evolves with its audience and topic. It's stand-up, not a sit-com. There's so much you just have to figure out on stage. Planning from now until kingdom come only gets you so far. It's highly likely that: a) your start will not be nearly as good as you hoped b) you'll end up taking the blog places you never anticipated.

So don't let the desire to be awesome or our journalistic need for order, for certainty, build the barrier to entry too high.

Okay, I'll stop rambling now.

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Permalink Reply by Kate Martin on July 17, 2008 at 10:43am

You're not rambling. You have some great points. I do have my own blog that I post on when I have time. Some of my thoughts go on Twitter instead because it's just an observation and probably not worth an entire blog post.

As an aside, just Monday my paper announced it was going to ask reporters to start thinking online more (yay! I'll blog about that this weekend probably). Maybe my education blog isn't so far off after all.

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Permalink Reply by Meranda Watling on July 13, 2008 at 2:39pm

I second the thanks for posting the memo. I like that I wasn't too far off in things I'd include in a pitch. Also gives me some ideas of those I hadn't considered: competition and marketing.

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