As Journalist Blogs Grow, New Hurdles Emerge

Earlier this week, the New York Times hired a 21-year-old who gained notoriety as a blogger. It isn’t a surprising development: More journalists are blogging to document breaking news, while others (as Amy Gahran notes) are posting to foster outreach, build buzz, gather feedback and post information that didn’t make it into the main story. 

This trend reflects several of the 10 new media rules recently outlined by Chip Griffin:

• Publishers are Broadcasters and Broadcasters are Publishers.
• Column Inches and Broadcast Minutes are No Longer Limited.
• The Media Now Competes with Its Own Audience.
• Niches Have Increasing Value.
• News Cycles are Dead. Information is Instantaneous.

• During a college baseball game, the NCAA ejected a Louisville newspaper reporter from the press box because he was posting in-game updates to a blog. The newspaper is considering legal action based on First Amendment grounds.
• The International Olympic Committee defends its broadcast rights, and the PGA doesn’t allow reporters to bring computers on the course.
• Some NHL teams – playing a professional sport that needs all the coverage it can get – refuse to give media credentials to bloggers.

How can this be solved? The media credentials guidelines proposed at Off Wing Opinion are a good initial step to determine who gets access, and the NCAA must loosen its policies while protecting its broadcast rights (especially for lower-profile sports that could benefit from the added attention). This grassroots coverage will only grow – regardless of whether it takes place in the press box or in the stands.