Fundamentals of Interactive Journalism

Click here to watch a video of the Stewart/Colbert election coverage and how they did (or didn’t) pull an Anderson Cooper the other night.

For all of you interactive geniuses out there with your bloggin’ and all that twitter-ness, you might want to subscribe to Stephen Colbert’s Simul-tube.  It’s on the syllabus for Interactive II.

P.S. Any tech-savvy folks know how to embed this type of video in a post?

Here are just a couple questions that are irking to surface when it comes to blogging. 

1. What does it take to make a successful blog? 
2. Should it be lengthy to get a point across or just keep it short and simple?
3. Why should it matter if no one isn’t posting comments on the blog?
4. Should I post blogs that cause controversy?
5. Should I carefully choose the content that I post?
6. Where else should I go to give my blog exposure beyond the school’s blog?
7. Why am I blogging? 
8. What am I blogging?
9. Do I really like to blog or should I vlog?
10. Can I handle the backlash on a blog I posted? 
11. What if I violated copyright issues without knowing it? (Ah Ha!)
12. What about spamming?

How do you guys and gals feel when you are blogging?

I’ve been giving a lot of thought lately to what makes for a successful blog. In class this week, we discussed various approaches to tackling the challenges of finding one’s voice and building a following: The blending of the personal with the public; instinct with craft; journalism with individuality. How much of my world do I really want to share? Does anyone care or really have the time for another voice? What, exactly, is my product, my brand?

So many questions and so many blogs to cite for examples of one approach or another. For those of you who are struggling with these questions, I offer advice that I am trying to take myself: In order to create and maintain a successful blog, the blogging must be an honest and natural extension of the world you inhabit. Rinse and repeat that thought over and over again.

(more…)