DTH and blogs
I think it’s a great idea that the Daily Tar Heel decided to profile blogs on the front page of Wednesdays paper. (Although it was quite possibly the least read paper of the year due to the break) Pointing out that UNC gives every student free webspace is a great idea since so few students I’ve talked to even know this existed. Best thing was, they even quoted our own Professor Jones:
“Blogs are their own steroids, they can be just as good or bad as anything.” — Journalism professor Paul Jones (I also direct ibiblio.org, a digital archive run jointly by UNC-CH and the Center for the Public Domain.)
However, it needs to be pointed out that they really didn’t go indepth on anything and the story was kind of a filler. But they tried. A for effort.
I thought it was interesting how the writer tried to adopt a blog format, with comments inserted throughout. I wondered, however, if these were comments made to a blog, or answers to interview questions… Either way, I’m not sure the format worked, although it was bold. The writer came across as a little lazy, because the quotes weren’t integrated into the rest of the story. Ah well. I’m sure someone else would disagree.
Comment by robin — November 29, 2005 @ 2:28 am
i agree. I think that the article deserves A for effort in trying to bring in a bit of new technology. I did, however, feel that the article could have been much more effective if given a little more time and effort.
Comment by Catherine — November 29, 2005 @ 6:08 am
I think I actually said that “Blogs are like diaries (or journals) on steriods…” but who can be sure ;->
Comment by Administrator — November 29, 2005 @ 1:41 pm
I didn’t think the original quote made much sense, to be honest. Stupid reporters.
“Blogs are their own steroids…” What does that mean?
Comment by robin — November 30, 2005 @ 4:44 am
We had a lot of discussion about this article within the DTH, too. It’s interesting to hear what people outside of the newsroom think about our attempts at alternative story forms and creativity. I guess we kind of missed (at least part of) our audience on this one.
Comment by Erin — November 30, 2005 @ 3:28 pm