Blogging training and trends

I’ve been conducting training for sports journalists at a local daily newspaper (one of the biggest in South Africa), training the journalists to manage and run their own blogs. I’ve been hugely encouraged by their enthusiasm for this ever growing trend (Technorati says more than 70 million blogs being tracked), but also surprised by the fact that none of them have their own blogs already – and even more surprised that this is the first step towards blogging by the newspaper.

I understand the reservations that management have about blogging – there are legal, ethical and editorial issues which have to be carefully managed, and I understand the reservations by the journalists – it is more work for little reward (perhaps a pat on the back). But, the advantages definitely out weight the concerns. I think the biggest advantage is being able to create a community of like-minded people talking and debating about a central topic (in this case sport). Blogs which come out of news organizations create a space for their readers and journalists to interact in a way that they never have before, that is fantastic. These kinds of blogs also allow journalists space to be opinionated, maybe even obnoxious about a topic they know a lot about, something they cant do in their regular reporting – this is something the journalists have particularly enjoyed and I hope will be the encouraging and motivating factor for them to keep at it.

I’m looking forward to watching the blogs grow and I know if they put in the time and effort they could be some of the best sports blogs in the world!