Blog Reviews

Here are a few reviews of the journalistic blog sites that Kodi recommended. The sites are judged on (i) the content, (ii) how and whether the blog differs from traditional reporting, (iii) who the target audience is, and (iv) how effective it is.

1. Mindy McAdams Blog - Teaching Online Journalism
Content: Online journalism showcasing and critiquing
Difference: McAdams' blog is a collection of online journalism examples from across the web that is accompanied by her insightful journalistic criticism. Effectively, it is a journalist's take on online journalism.
Audience: University students, journalists, media enthusiasts.
Effectiveness: Very effective. McAdams scours the web for the most interesting examples of online journalism and offers educated opinions of them.

2. Paul Bradshaw's Online Journalism Blog
Content: Exploration and research of online journalism
Difference: The blog is a tour through current topics in online journalism with Paul Bradshaw as the guide. He doesn't do as much critiquing, per se, as McAdams, but keeps a knowledgeable and level-headed commentary of the journalism he highlights.
Audience: New online journalists, potential online journalists
Effectiveness: Somewhat. Bradshaw's blog doesn't contain (in my opinion) the caliber of interesting content that McAdams' does. However, it does provide clearer looks at some of the trends facing online journalism.

3. Adrian Holovaty's Blog
Content: Holovaty's online journalism creations and musings of a young journalist.
Difference: The blog has a much more personal touch than the previous two. Part of the blog is indeed journalism (Holotavy has written for the Washington Post, for example), while some posts are strictly personal content.
Audience: Aspiring journalists, amateur musicians, YouTube connoisseurs.
Effectiveness: Quite. Holovaty mixes his personal interests in with genuine journalism to create a personal mash that is interesting to navigate. Some bias may come from the fact that I am myself an aspiring journalist who shares his love for acoustic guitar.

4. Buzzmachine - Jeff Jarvis' Blog
Content: Journalistic information, news and criticism from an experienced journalist.
Difference: Jarvis' Blog is a collection of media news with a personal spin that maintains a somewhat-professional tone. Jarvis is a media man who writes about media, but does so from an accessible standpoint.
Audience: Journalists, media-savvy citizens
Effectiveness: Above average. Jarvis' blog is indeed journalism, and his enlightened perspective offers an interesting vantage point on the events he writes about.

5. Andrew Sullivan - The Daily Dish
Content: Sullivan's ("of no party or clique") take on the best of what happened in the world.
Difference: Sullivan certainly doesn't "create" journalism in the traditional sense; rather, he organizes it according to his personal preference. In the blogging spirit, the news he selects for his site is somewhat of a glimpse into his own psyche. But that's not to say he doesn't work hard - he posts dozens of times each day, from early in the morning to late each night.
Audience: Eclectic mix of like-minded scatterbrains and people searching for interesting news
Effectiveness: In a weird way, somewhat. Though Sullivan doesn't much comment on the sites he blogs, his dedication to the effort seems encouraging -- he spends all day scouring the news so you don't have to.