The Importance of Blogging

Baltatzis’s article discusses the importance of innovation journalism, why journalism is a vital part of a democratic society, how blogging is an innovative concept for journalists and its significance, and how magazines and newspapers should use blogging to develop a shared experience with their readers.

The article states that journalism is vital in a democratic society because it provides social, political or economic ideas in society. Together, journalism and the free press enable people to participate in their interests and have an active voice in powerful ideas. Blogging is a way to combine journalism and the free press because it approaches and empowers readers and creates deeper relationships with them.

Baltatzis defines a blog as “a publishing innovation, a digital newswire that, due to the proliferation of the Internet, low production and distribution costs, ease of use and really simple syndication (RSS), creates a new and powerful push-pull publishing concept. As such, it changes the power structures in journalism, giving yesterday’s readers the option of being today’s journalists and tomorrow’s preferred news aggregators.” Blogging is a concept where publishing text on the web is combined with its syndication and the blogosphere is a marketplace of ideas.

The article also states why it is significant for journalists to blog, by saying that “the blogosphere is a huge source to tap, using services like Technorati.com (a blog search engine) and Googlenews, for new ideas, arguments and leads to new stories and for follow-ups on stories on other sites.” Blogging also allows journalists to publish things online at all times of the day, keeping their stories and information current and newsworthy. It is important for journalists to blog so that they can properly follow up with their stories, by continuously adding content and up-to-date information. Journalists should also blog to build their legitimacy in targeted communities and societies, and it can help establish forums for dialogue among participants, expanding their audience and strengthening their bonds to their readers. Most importantly, blogs are innovating journalism by allowing journalists to “present a tool for analyzing trends and current events faster.” By being able to update all the time, readers can receive the most current information and blogs will become essential ways to find out information about societies and communities.

- Jessica I.