Using the Principles of Journalism in Writing your Blog By Conroy Julian Blogging gives everyone more for less

but incorporating it with good principles of Journalism will help one to hit his target. This is so whether you are blogg ing for a firm promoting a product or if you are involved in social marketing. The blog is a website with lots of content, readers are allowed to add content, and readers invariably subscribe to interesting blogs. The real purpose of the blog however must be rooted in the best practices of good communication for it t o effective. So the blog is an interactive and dynamic website which is being updated continu ally over time. It is a great improvement on the old static website. It is not u nusual for someone to visit a company s website which shows much promise, but after a couple of visits one sees no change. It therefore becomes dull and boring and cannot hold your attention. Blogging solves this problem as writers with passio n for a subject will constantly write on that subject, adding content week after week without getting weary. The blogging process has been facilitated by creative website developers who des ign dynamic sites such as Face Book, Twitter or Type Pad which free up the conte nt producers or writers to do what they do best. They can now concentrate on pro perly researching their content, writing it, adding the appropriate pictures, qu otes sound and video by just a click of the mouse. They no longer have master co ncepts such; as hypertext mark-up language, HTML, Style Sheets, Structured Query Language, SQL, Java Script and Cascading Styles Sheets, CSS.etc. The result is that these blog sites overtime are filled with rich and interesting content mak ing the rounds into search engines. Allowing readers to add content to a blog is at the heart of the blogging genera tion. The adding of content to the website by members of the audience shows that feedb ack is a built-in feature of blogging. In this, the real information age, what would communication be without feedback? It would endorse the old hyperdermic ne edle approach where the audience is expected to be influenced by the message wit hout question or comment. This is in contrast to the blogging approach which is non-linear, iterative and flexible. The result is that one learns as much from the feedback as one learns from the blog itself. Recently, a newly elected Member of Parliament blogged, suggesting some names th at Jamaica could be called when it becomes a republic. All the suggested names include the word, republic, names were suggested such as: The Democratic Republic of amaica, The People s Republic of Jamaica, The Jamaica Republic, and many more. One reader suggested that the name should not be changed because Jamaica is a brand. I suggested that there is no need to change the name because a country can be a republic without that word being written in its name. In support, I stated t h at I have never heard about the Republic of the United States. One reader counte red that the official name for the United States is; The Federal Republic of the United States of America. When I double checked, I found that the USA can be de scribed as a federal republic but that its official name remains the United Stat es of America. The instantaneous nature of the feedback certainly clarifies the communication process as the blogger is assured that the blog is being read and that it has impact on someone in a special way. Subscription is all about the readers of a blog telling the blogger that he/she has interesting content and would like to access that content in the future. Th e traditional approach to subscription by newspapers, magazines, or cable televi sion, is driven by a much more effective demand by the user of the content. This is so because the readers are willing to pay in advance for content not deliver ed, or in some cases created. In the context of the web, an arrangement by whic h permission is granted to an online service can be described as subscription. T he ubiquitous nature of the internet however, has led to an exponential increase

in content creators providing outputs of varied quality. As a result many blog gers are now willing to give their service free of cost in order to breakthrough in a market to control hearts and minds. In the long run those who have honed and mix the traditional skills of writing, re-writing revision and presentation with the new media environment will have a distinctive advantage. This is so esp ecially when questions of accuracy, validity, reliability, objectivity fairness and balance are thrown into the mix. Since bloggers are essentially content creators for the internet, which is a pla tform which supports script, audio and video, the writing styles ought to reflec t this reality. Writing for the traditional mass media of radio, television and print has distinctive approaches. These approaches are related to how the lead or the opening sentences are written, how the story is structured, the sentence structure and word choice. The challenge for the blogger is to know when to use what approach in order to make the communication effective. In the final analysis, it is of paramount importance for the blogger to keep in mind the goal and objectives of the blog. Is it designed to sell goods and servi ces, to inform, educate and entertain, or to sustain or change behavior? Is it s upposed to focus on the fact, as in the case of a news report or the presentatio n of research findings? Is the focus on opinion, as in the case of a newspaper editorials or talk show hosts on radio, television or the internet? Finally, the same standard of care that is expected from the traditional approac h to publishing must also be taken by professionals using new media. All of the above are necessary if one plans to grow a sustainable business. Otherwise, you may go for the instant impact of sensationalism which cannot withstand the test of time, In other words, we all need to create and reflect the issues completely with credibility. In the long run, success means more coverage for less money, greater reach and audience penetration and self actualization for the passionate blogger.