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Blogging

Blogs are one of the newest forms of journalism. Although many people think of blogs as online, public diaries where individuals share thoughts and information about an issue of interest to them, news publications will often have their own blog that staff writers post on. Blogging is a way for news organizations to be more transparent, interactive and engage with their audience. Whether students blog as individuals or as part of a student media team, blogging is a great way for young journalists to practice writing and to create a web presence for themselves.

Some blog topics for students to consider might be school sports, the process of making a school publication or yearbook, school or community events, movies, books, fashion or an issue in the news that’s important to students. The bloggers regularly update the website with original posts or by sharing relevant content from other places on the Web. There are many tools available for blogging:

  • Blogger is a great resource for beginning journalists who are starting their first blog and offers the Blogger Getting Started Guide. It’s easy to use, so set up your own account and start writing!
  • Weebly allows teachers to create their own blog for a class and fosters interaction between teacher and students through blogs. Students maintain their own blog while commenting on their teacher’s and each other’s. Weebly inculcates regular usage of social media that journalists have become so dependent on and creates familiarity with blogging, another important journalistic tool.
  • Tumblr and WordPress are slightly more difficult to use, but they have larger readership. Tumblr focuses primarily on image sharing, but there is a place for text on Tumblr as well. WordPress is a content management system that allows its users to create a website from top to bottom, as opposed to a simple blog. But WordPress does have a blog option, as well.

Assignment
Everyone

  • Read pages 333-341 in Student Journalism and Media Literacy.
  • Read the Nieman Reports: Blogs and Journalism Need Each Other.
  • Share on ASNEChat.org how you could incorporate blogging into your student news media program.

Supplemental Resources