Ryan's Writings…at Mason

The second chapter of Mark Briggs’s guide to digital journalism delves into the wonders of the blog.

Briggs finds blogs to be like beat reporting for print; the bloggers are passionate about what they write and they love their blogs.

Briggs even made a point that now, instead of aiming to be on the front paper an organization’s newspaper, journalists are aiming to be the most-viewed blog on their organization’s website.

Blogging has so many more bells and whistles than print, but that’s what makes it so much more useful. Instead of reading about how you can find out more on http://www.whatever, you can actually be transported to that site with just one click — or touch on your iPad or mobile device.

By bolding words and linking useful sites and pages that pertain to whatever it is you are writing about, you are expanding the possibilities for the reader and making things much more accessible for them.

And after all, don’t journalists write for their readers?

Blogging makes this possible in ways we couldn’t have imagined 30 years ago, and now journalists and writers are able to have relationships with their readers.

Readers can comment on posts and pages and offer their own suggestions and opinions, which makes blogging interactive for the writer and reader in that they can directly communicate with each other.

Briggs says that “every college journalist should have a blog,” however, I believe that anyone with a passion for writing should have a blog.

If you want to be published, blogging is the way to go.