The most promising finding of Brodeur's new survey on journalists and blogs is that blogs are helping journalists frame their stories, identify angles and gain insight into any debate.
The discordant tone is that they aren't used much to validate information and aren't viewed as contributors to high quality --- some of this may be defensiveness by old media to new media, but I suspect much of this is what you get when everyone suddenly owns a printing press. It takes time to shake out the best from the worst and we're still doing some shaking.
The findings ring true in the newsrooms I know. Journalists are excited about blogging because they can serve and interact differently. The standard of journalism isn't necessarily at risk, but the nature of the writing is more intimate and sociable.
Among the challenges for journalists: Participating more often and doing so without losing a grip on the public service nature of the work --- in other words, keeping some maturity and rigor in the blog when it seems others are just letting fly. To the degree they can do this, journalists will find new audiences and further satisfy existing ones.
I am a new media manager with old media experience. This is a time of transformation in which innovators will win.
This blog is about changing times in journalism and news organizations. I will use it regularly to link to new research and ideas and I will supplement the blog with resources on other pages on themediamanager.com to spur the dialogue.
It is not a blog for media criticism. We have too many of those and it is fruitless to add one more.
It is also not a blog of trade secrets. We have too few of those and it is fruitless to lose one more.
Anyone looking for competitive information is wasting time. Anyone looking for collaborative information is in the right place.
I will attend to the site regularly and I am hoping that a good network of journalists and non-journalists alike will participate.
Enough preamble. Let the conversation begin.
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