1. Blogs & News Final Project; Stephen Hackett 12.09.2008

2. Blogs & News Basics: What is a blog? Sounds like a deli sandwich, but I don’t want to eat it. The term “blog” comes from “weblog,” which was first coined in 1997. The shortened version was thought up in 1999. The origins of blogs are rooted in the very earliest form of communication (of non-informational material) on the World Wide Web – Newsgroups. Newsgroups were basically discussion boards that were moderated and grouped by topic. As Newsgroups were at the height of their popularity, some users were branching out and posting personal entries- using the Internet as a daily journal. These sites quickly became more popular than topic-based discussion boards. Justin Hall is widely regarded as the first blogger. These days, blogs abound, and can be easily setup and maintained and be written by just about anyone. Some follow the “online journal” idea, while others are topic-based. Sources: Wikipedia, Highlighted URLs

3. Blogs & News Question #1: How do you setup a blog? I don’t have a HTML guy. Blogs can be very easily setup. Some sites like Blogger.com or WordPress.com offer users free accounts, storage space, and templates. Users just have to add content- all the hard work is done. For the slightly more adventuresome, there are several platforms users can install on servers and have their own domains. MovableType , Wordpress and Drupal are the most popular. These platforms require some knowledge of HTML, CSS and in some cases PHP, but online documentation is extensive, and most platforms have user-based discussion boards for other issues. The benefit of such platforms is that users can customize the look and feel of their blogs. All blogging platforms offer RSS, commenting, archiving and the ability to edit previously-posted updates. Sources: Wikipedia, Highlighted URLs

4. Blogs & News Question #2: Is this like social media? Sounds like a party. With code and stuff. In the past five years, “social media” has been shifting the focus away from blogs. Social media is tricky to define, but is characterized by these things: • Mobility • Interaction between writers, readers and users • Multi-media: Photos, videos and more As a general rule, social media is more flexible than blogs- instead of one writer, there are many. The most common examples are Facebook , MySpace and Twitter . The first two allow users to post photos, text and more on their own pages, and comments on others’ pages. Twitter is far simpler: users get 140 characters to update the world on their status, share an interesting link, or respond to someone else's updates, or “tweets.” Micro-blogging for the masses. Sources: Highlighted URLs

6. Blogs & News Question #4: How have blogs changed reporting news? Dan Rather via RSS? Source: ProBlogger.net, The Huffington Post CNN.com & nytimes.com uses blogs to collect stories based on topics:

7. Blogs & News Question #4: How have blogs changed reporting news? Dan Rather via RSS? “ Traditional” news outlets are trying to use the Web, blogging, and social media to dispense news to their readers and viewers. Every major news outlet uses RSS on their home pages, most have Twitter accounts, and most are on Facebook is some way. The drive behind this trend is to meet people where they are- if they are already looking at a RSS Reader or Twitter page, why not have news content?

12. Blogs & News Question #8: Have mobile devices changed blogging? Is that a blog in your pocket? Sources: Highlighted URL, my iPhone With the release of the iPhone and other smartphones that pack a browser, people can update their sites from anywhere. Wordpress has made news by writing an iPhone application for their suite of blogging software. Partnered with the built-in web browser, bloggers can do their thing without a computer.

13. Blogs & News Question #9: Is blogging risky? Being at home seems safe enough… Source: Committee to Protect Journalists With the lines between blogging and new coverage blurring, many bloggers find themselves on the front lines of breaking news stories. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists , 125 journalists are in prison around the world. Of those, 45% did the bulk of their reporting online. There are several reasons for this. Some reporters feel safer working online, but the truth is that Internet-based communication can be easily traced. Also, web sites can be easily accessed anywhere by anybody, while the impact of a “traditional” story, such as in a newspaper, is more localized.

14. Source: Committee to Protect Journalists Source: Committee to Protect Journalists Types of Reporting Jailed Journalist Took Part In Before Being Arrested.