Die neuste Kolumne von Steve Outing bei Editor&Publisher befasst sich mit Blogs und Newssites:

Blogs Have a Place on News Web Sites

I hope you're not sick of Weblogs (AKA blogs) yet, because they're not a fad that will go away soon. Blogs, it is becoming obvious to me, are where much of the innovation in online content is taking place.

Let's dig deeper into the intersection of Weblogs and journalism. (Not all blogs can appropriately be called "journalism," though many can.) Because if your news Web site isn't publishing blogs of some sort, you are, like, so 1990s. It's past time to get with it.

Outing sieht auch in Moblogs eine grosse Zukunft. Und sieht in Weblogs auch die Möglichkeit, ein jüngeres Publikum anzusprechen:

Chances are, if you say "blog" to a group of people in their teens or 20s, most of them will know what the word means. The percent in-the-know of an older group almost certainly will be lower. So some news sites -- most notably Lawrence.com -- are using blogs as a ploy to attract a younger demographic.

Outing präsentiert weiter auch verschiedene Einsatzmöglichkeiten von Weblogs: The Vertical Blog, The Inner-Workings Blog und the Action-Line" Blog. Aber auch das Konzept der "non-professional Writers" wird angesprochen:

The concept of community members writing for professional news organizations is hardly new. Blogging actually makes it easier for community members, because of the nature of the format. Blogs -- typically consisting of a series of short items -- take less time to write than traditional columns. So the bartender, the veterinarian, the child psychologist, the taxi driver, or the park ranger can more easily work a blog into their lives -- and offer online readers something worthwhile.

Hier zur vollständigen Kolumne von Steve Outing.