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Grassroots journalism in US has much to teach UK

Posted: 13/01/05 By: Jemima Kiss
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American journalists are leaving UK hacks for dust in the blogging world, creating influential and lucrative online publications that build invaluable contacts, says Big Blog Company associate Jackie Danicki.

Awareness of blogging is much higher in the US, said Ms Danicki, and many leading journalists have become well known for their own blogs. However, she believes UK journalists have a window of opportunity to benefit from the increasing interest in blogging.

The Big Blog Company expanded their 'bootcamp' sessions for journalists to the US this week after running a series of free discussion and training sessions in London recently.

What is a blog?

"A blog is a page of information in reverse chronological order comprised of separate posts.

"These aren't necessarily full articles or essays, but posts with permanent, individual links that can be published as if they were a standalone publication.

"The writing style has to be informal, like a conversation. Slick marketing or PR speak turns people off."

Jackie Danicki, the Big Blog Company

"You'd be hard-pressed to find an American journalist who isn't reading blogs on a regular basis, regardless of whether or not they keep one," Ms Danicki told dotJournalism.

"American journalists are more sophisticated in their knowledge of blogs, but there's room for improved understanding of how to make the medium work for them, and how to best utilise technologies like RSS, so that's what we're trying to help them do."

The popularity and awareness of blogging in the US can partly be explained by cultural differences, she said. The American tradition of talk radio encourages people to speak their mind, and blogs give an ideal platform for people who want to rant.

For journalists, there are many more benefits.

"Journalists often ask why they should write a blog for free, but money is not the only currency. They will get attention and build loyalty," she said.

The Big Blog Company created a blog for freelance journalist Stephen Pollard, who recently published a biography of former home secretary David Blunkett.

He has found blogging a liberating experience and said his site allows him to write about whatever he wants – not just the subjects that his commissioning editors require.

Belle de Jour attracted a great deal of interest for her blog about life as a London prostitute, although many people speculated whether the elusive author might be a fictional writer rather than a journalist. Belle was eventually offered a book deal on the strength of her blog.

French journalist Clotilde Dusoulier's culinary blog also led to a book deal, as well as offers of hosting a TV cookery show and in-store cookery demonstrations in the US.

Ms Danicki praised Guardian Umlimited for its use of blogs, but very few UK news organisations have followed suit. Those journalists that do publish blogs mostly do so independently from their employer.

Readers feel an affinity and connection with their favourite blogs, and Ms Danicki believes that journalism will inevitably take on the best elements of blogging.

As a starting point she said news organisations need to understand how weblogs really work, and then select and train the right people for the job before introducing blogs to the site.

"It's like raising a child - you have to let them out into the world making sure they have all the information they need to make good decisions," said Ms Danicki.

"Much of that is about common sense - not giving away trade secrets, and not libelling anyone."

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