Wednesday, August 30, 2006
To blog or not to blog
It's fun to compare and contrast two cities that are both in my job territory and that are roughly the same size: Tacoma and Spokane. As you might imagine, they have some similarities, and they have a lot of differences.
Having worked in newspapers myself, I naturally check out the newspaper blogs. The readers in Spokane seem very engaged with their newspaper; I can't exactly say that for my neighbors in Tacoma. Take note, for example, of these blogs that are part of the Spokesman-Review's "transparent newsroom" initiative: http://www.spokesmanreview.com/blogs/editors/ and http://www.spokesmanreview.com/blogs/briefing/
If you take a look at these pages, and look for reader comments, you will see a lot of interaction between the Spokane paper and its readers.
Now, on the other hand, The News Tribune has a blog that features reports and comments from its editors. If you read this blog, you get the sense that Tacoma is deserted. http://blogs.thenewstribune.com/editors/ Some of the editors' posts even ask direct question of the readers, and you hear only the sound of crickets chirping. Where are the readers?
My guess is that Spokane has been at it a bit longer, because I think the people of Tacoma (and Lakewood, etc...) also want to get involved in their daily newspaper. So if you are techie enough to post information on the Net, I would encourage you to post some comments and ask questions on this page, or at least keep an eye on it and encourage The News Tribune to be interactive. If you are not the kind of person who posts comments, that's fine too. I am going to try to find a couple of places to post myself on that page. If we expect newspapers to survive and thrive, we have to enjoy them as an interactive experience. So consider keeping an eye on The News Tribune's blogs; you can find a full list of them at http://www.thenewstribune.com/blogs/
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It's fun to compare and contrast two cities that are both in my job territory and that are roughly the same size: Tacoma and Spokane. As you might imagine, they have some similarities, and they have a lot of differences.
Having worked in newspapers myself, I naturally check out the newspaper blogs. The readers in Spokane seem very engaged with their newspaper; I can't exactly say that for my neighbors in Tacoma. Take note, for example, of these blogs that are part of the Spokesman-Review's "transparent newsroom" initiative: http://www.spokesmanreview.com/blogs/editors/ and http://www.spokesmanreview.com/blogs/briefing/
If you take a look at these pages, and look for reader comments, you will see a lot of interaction between the Spokane paper and its readers.
Now, on the other hand, The News Tribune has a blog that features reports and comments from its editors. If you read this blog, you get the sense that Tacoma is deserted. http://blogs.thenewstribune.com/editors/ Some of the editors' posts even ask direct question of the readers, and you hear only the sound of crickets chirping. Where are the readers?
My guess is that Spokane has been at it a bit longer, because I think the people of Tacoma (and Lakewood, etc...) also want to get involved in their daily newspaper. So if you are techie enough to post information on the Net, I would encourage you to post some comments and ask questions on this page, or at least keep an eye on it and encourage The News Tribune to be interactive. If you are not the kind of person who posts comments, that's fine too. I am going to try to find a couple of places to post myself on that page. If we expect newspapers to survive and thrive, we have to enjoy them as an interactive experience. So consider keeping an eye on The News Tribune's blogs; you can find a full list of them at http://www.thenewstribune.com/blogs/
