Why blogging matters
[I sent this note to the Courant reader representative after it published a story today confirming New Britain High School's probation status. This note speaks for itself -- but I hope the broader message resonates. Blogging can make a difference. On Independence Day what better demonstration of our great rights is there then the right of free speech? Not enough New Britain residents are using the tools available to them to engage one another and their elected leaders in discussion about the future of this city. Had this been taking place, New Britain residents may have learned of NBHS's pending probation status during budget deliberations. New Britain bloggers could have prompted the city to take action now, not later, to avoid this. ]
Dear Courant Reader Representative:
On our blog, http://www.nbblogs.com/, Elisa Hutcoe Krochmalnyckyj, who co-authors this site, recently broke a significant story, reporting that New Britain High School had been placed on probation. She had this story before the actual vote by the accreditation association. Her reporting and comment raises interesting questions. Community officials were clearly aware of the threat of probation but did not disclose it. Neither The Herald or The Courant reported on it. The public needed to know that this threat was looming. Disclosure may have made a difference during recently completed city budget deliberations.
Elisa and I are former Herald reporters living outside of New Britain and we know the importance of this story. But the reason for our blog is to encourage New Britain residents to write about the city and their neighborhoods and engage and question their elected officials.
What should be the relationship between bloggers and newspapers? It can be very strong. A newspaper is an authoritative, trusted voice; its reporters have the access and the skills to discover information and assess its credibility. Bloggers don't see themselves as competitors to newspapers. They will link to your stories, drive traffic to your Web site, and add in new detail and comment. They can make newspapers a far richer experience.
Bloggers can help renew interest in local news and that helps newspapers.
The efforts of bloggers can also help fix a serious problem with newspaper coverage. I started at The Herald in 1981 and prior to that worked as a stringer for The Courant. I remember the deep reporting benches both newspapers had in these local communities. But the need of our local communities for news and comment has not changed. Today, I run dcblogs.com, the blogging aggregation site for the Washington DC Metro area. I don't make any money off this. I have a full time reporting job. I do it because I love community journalism and want to help foster it by providing some very simple tools for connecting a blogging community and fostering its development. My friend, Thomas Fausel, a former New Britain resident, runs http://www.ctweblogs.com/ for this same reason. Elisa, Tom and I all all believe in the future, the importance and necessity of blogging.
Elisa should have gotten credit for her work from the Courant in its story:
http://www.courant.com/news/local/nb/hc-nebschool0704.artjul04,0,2137623.story
By doing so, The Courant may have sent a message to other bloggers in the community: their work matters. And other bloggers were involved. The NB school board chief commented on the issue on this blog: http://www.spazeboy.net/2007/07/nbhs-accreditation-update/ The fact that the school board chief commented on a local blog tells me something.
If the Courant credits blogs for their work it will encourage other local bloggers and earn their thanks. It's only fair. Providing credit is standard practice among most professional news organizations.
Bloggers are among your most faithful and attentative readers.
Regards,
Patrick Thibodeau
Dear Courant Reader Representative:
On our blog, http://www.nbblogs.com/, Elisa Hutcoe Krochmalnyckyj, who co-authors this site, recently broke a significant story, reporting that New Britain High School had been placed on probation. She had this story before the actual vote by the accreditation association. Her reporting and comment raises interesting questions. Community officials were clearly aware of the threat of probation but did not disclose it. Neither The Herald or The Courant reported on it. The public needed to know that this threat was looming. Disclosure may have made a difference during recently completed city budget deliberations.
Elisa and I are former Herald reporters living outside of New Britain and we know the importance of this story. But the reason for our blog is to encourage New Britain residents to write about the city and their neighborhoods and engage and question their elected officials.
What should be the relationship between bloggers and newspapers? It can be very strong. A newspaper is an authoritative, trusted voice; its reporters have the access and the skills to discover information and assess its credibility. Bloggers don't see themselves as competitors to newspapers. They will link to your stories, drive traffic to your Web site, and add in new detail and comment. They can make newspapers a far richer experience.
Bloggers can help renew interest in local news and that helps newspapers.
The efforts of bloggers can also help fix a serious problem with newspaper coverage. I started at The Herald in 1981 and prior to that worked as a stringer for The Courant. I remember the deep reporting benches both newspapers had in these local communities. But the need of our local communities for news and comment has not changed. Today, I run dcblogs.com, the blogging aggregation site for the Washington DC Metro area. I don't make any money off this. I have a full time reporting job. I do it because I love community journalism and want to help foster it by providing some very simple tools for connecting a blogging community and fostering its development. My friend, Thomas Fausel, a former New Britain resident, runs http://www.ctweblogs.com/ for this same reason. Elisa, Tom and I all all believe in the future, the importance and necessity of blogging.
Elisa should have gotten credit for her work from the Courant in its story:
http://www.courant.com/news/local/nb/hc-nebschool0704.artjul04,0,2137623.story
By doing so, The Courant may have sent a message to other bloggers in the community: their work matters. And other bloggers were involved. The NB school board chief commented on the issue on this blog: http://www.spazeboy.net/2007/07/nbhs-accreditation-update/ The fact that the school board chief commented on a local blog tells me something.
If the Courant credits blogs for their work it will encourage other local bloggers and earn their thanks. It's only fair. Providing credit is standard practice among most professional news organizations.
Bloggers are among your most faithful and attentative readers.
Regards,
Patrick Thibodeau
posted by kob at
8:17 AM
1 Comments:
Patrick and Elisa,
You're doing a hell of a job here, and I didn't even know the Courant had picked up the story until I read this post.
You are exactly right about the bloggers' relationship with traditional media outlets like the Courant. I cannot hope to compete with any newspaper, but I can hope that if I were to do the kind of original and important reporting that this blog has done on the NBHS accreditation story that I might receive a nod for it.
Thanks to you both for all you do!
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