PureBlogging

Good timing on a new study from Bulldog Reporter that looks at online access of news. 24-hour availability still tops in media relations practices it says.

Mike Sachoff reported on the study at WebProNews, saying:

About a quarter of journalists still do not cover blogs, but more than 29 percent regularly read five or more blogs to research topics, compared with about 25 percent a year ago. Nearly three-quarters follow at least one blog regularly, compared to 70 percent a year ago.

Nearly 19 percent of journalists receive five or more RSS feeds of news services, blogs, podcasts or videocasts every week, compared with only 16 percent a year ago, and about 44 percent receive at least one regular RSS feed.

Some interesting findings in times where citizen journalism and even social media are often criticized and dubbed illegitimate. You even have the relevancy of blogs coming into question (although, many tend to think this argument is bogus).

It is good to see that the number of journalists embracing blogs and social media appears to be on the rise.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Wired has posted an article by Paul Boutin, which talks about blogs not being the useful medium they once were, and how networks like Twitter and Facebook are taking their place. I disagree. That’s not to say that such networks don’t have their place, but taking the place of blogs? I don’t think so. A quote from the article:

Writing a weblog today isn’t the bright idea it was four years ago. The blogosphere, once a freshwater oasis of folksy self-expression and clever thought, has been flooded by a tsunami of paid bilge. Cut-rate journalists and underground marketing campaigns now drown out the authentic voices of amateur wordsmiths. It’s almost impossible to get noticed, except by hecklers. And why bother? The time it takes to craft sharp, witty blog prose is better spent expressing yourself on Flickr, Facebook, or Twitter.

It may take some effort and some content worth reading to get notices, but if anything, it just pushes bloggers to strive for excellence, which in my opinion is not a bad thing. In response to that article, Dwight Silverman at chron.com in a post called “Are Blogs Obsolete?” writes:

This type of nonsense surfaces every few months from folks who think that, just because blogging is no longer the latest shiny-shiny, it’s no longer relevant. That’s shallow and silly.

Like any other publishing medium, blogging is a tool for getting information to other people. The fact that other ways of doing it have come along doesn’t mean blogging doesn’t belong in your toolbox. It’s still an effective way to communicate ideas, news, images, video, audio. It remains a simple and powerful way to not only share your thoughts, but point others to valuable info and insights elsewhere on the Web.

I couldn’t have said it better myself. Blogs are not obsolete. You know why? Because I still read them everyday. I still write for them nearly everyday. And so do countless others (that probably includes you). If you ask me, blogs are more relevant than they’ve ever been, because they are more mainstream than they have ever been.  Thoughts?

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Let’s continue with the “Blogs on…” series, our little series of “getting to know you” posts, which were intended to give my readers a little insight on the stuff I read in various categories, and likewise for readers to share some of their favorites in the comments as well.

I started out with blogs on blogging, then blogs on movies and blogs on music. Now, let’s move on to blogs on sports.

Also, just so this post doesn’t seem totally off topic, I should mention that blogs in all industries can often provide insight into good blogging strategies, whether it be in the are of design, marketing, or writing. Even if you have a blog about making money online, you can learn things from blogs about movies, football, or pottery. I think you get my point.

Deadspin – Deadspin has a variety of writers, but the posts tend to combine current events in sports ith a bit of humor, making for some enjoyable reading for sports fans.

Intentional Foul – Like Deadspin, there is usually a more humorous angle to the posts here, and they cover a variety of sports. It’s not the place to go for breaking headlines, but for some humorous commentary and pictures, they deliver.

ProFootballTalk – I like PFT a lot, mostly because NFL football is really the only sport I truly get excited about (ok, I like NCAA football too). It’s not that I don’t like other sports, but none of them appeal to me in the way that pro football does. It’s the only sport that I’ll actually plan elements of my life around. Let’s put it that way. PFT has breaking NFL news all the time. I often see stories there before even ESPN. If you’re an NFL fan, it’s a must-subscribe.

There you have it. What are your favorite sports blogs?

Popularity: 5% [?]

Flock is a web browser, which is built on Mozilla Firefox, and it has just left beta. The draw to Flock as opposed to other browsers is its social integration, which includes that for MySpace, Facebook, Digg, YouTube, Flickr, Picasa, Photobucket and Twitter. Mike Sachoff talks a bit about it here.

what’s probably most intersting to bloggers though, is that Flock also includes a built-in blog editor, which is compatible with TypePad, Blogger, WordPress, Blogsome, LiveJournal, and Xanga (Flock recommends WordPress, TypePad or Blogger).

According to Flock:

Once configured, Flock remembers your username and password for one or more blog accounts. To confirm that your account information has been saved, open the accounts and services menu by clicking on the Display Accounts and Services button in the top bar. The button is represented by a picture of a key. If the account was added successfully, the account will appear in the My Accounts section of the Accounts and Services sidebar.

Your browser can also automatically publish blog posts to a notification service, such as Technorati. A notification service alerts people when you post a new blog.

I haven’t used Flock yet, but I have to admit it sounds kind of cool. They have more details about the blogging capabilities here.

What are your thoughts on Flock? Anybody used it for blogging?

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WordPress Creators Acquire PollDaddy – Polls (with a number of features) will become easier to integrate into WordPress blogs now that Automattic has acquired PollDaddy.

How To Launch A Successful Blog In The First 90 Days – Self explanatory – broken down into what should be done in 15-day and 30-day segments.

The 25 Basic Styles of Blogging … And When To Use Each One – A slideshow with a different slide dedicated to each style.

13 Tips to Recession Proof Your Blog – Again, self-explanatory – And it’s from Darren Rowse, so that should help too.

The 7 Most Dangerous Countries for Bloggers – An interesting look at where blogging is getting people put in jail.

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Blog action day is a day out of the year where bloggers are called upon to discuss important topics to spread awareness. This year, that topic is poverty. The aim is to trigger a “global discussion.”

Blog Action Day 2008 Poverty from Blog Action Day on Vimeo.

At the Blog Action Day Website, they say, “Every blogger has a unique voice, audience and perspective. By speaking to their readers on topic about an important issue we can discuss global issues like poverty in a new and hugely multi-faceted way. And from discussion springs action.”

They highlight examples of what different types of blogs can do to participate:

- A Design Blog might analyse a set of charity posters and how they convey their message.

- A Tech Blog might look at pro-poor technologies and projects.

- A Political Blog might examine the relevant agendas of leading candidates.

- A Sports Blog might look at recent charity activities of a major sports franchise.

Since we are a blog about blogging, I think the fact that I’m writing about Blog Action Day itself should suffice. That said, I still welcome comments regarding the issue at hand – Poverty. Or you can discuss the significance of Blog Action Day itself.

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