This newspaper can't see good

But, as I said before, what they do very, very well is blogging. This probably bodes well for their future too, because as of right now their website, www.chron.com, receives more 75 million views per month.  To put it simply, they’re ahead of their competition.

If you visit the site, you’d hardly even be able to tell it belongs to a major newspaper. It looks fresh, trendy and is extremely well-organized. The keepers of the site are obviously very tech savvy. The use of twitter, gadgets, and Facebook are prominent everywhere. front page is very well-organized, and it appealing to the eye with use of pictures, video and a great flow from major to minor back to major stories, all without the headlines being overrun by ads.

What I like best about the site is the writing style. More so than other newspaper blogs, the Chronicle has embraced the web-style of writing. Its light, its witty, and the subject matter is very diverse. It’s local, its national; there is everything here for readers who live both in and outside of Texas.  The site to me doesn’t give off the air of supremacy or arrogance that you’ll find at the New York Times from example. I like it.

To be honest with you, I can’t really find a flaw in this site. I’m very impressed, and I see why www.chron.com has become the model for the industry.

The Opinionator is as the name suggest, and opinion blog. Nothing here is presented as fact by the paper, although I’d argue the sentiment backing the pieces is often reflective of the newsroom’s feelings. The Opininator is not kept by just one writer, but is instead a conglomeration of thoughts by a number of NY Times contributors. This cycling of authorship keeps the column fresh, and gives people an opportunity to enjoy different styles and areas of interest.

A particularly interesting column that’s featured regularly is The Conversation. This is a back and forth, running dialog between David Brooks and Gail Collins, two important members of the paper’s opinion section. They exchange witty thoughts on current events, most recently making light of Obama’s complete lack of an arm.

Blogs feature a lot of opinion, and that has been one of the difficulties in trying to pinpoint how they should be viewed and employed as information sources.  Here, in the Opinionator, is a blog of opinion pieces from the leader of the newspaper industry.  This is a perfect example of the two competing mediums reaching a harmonious compromise.

From ADN.com, you hit the blogs drop down menu and the Rural Alaska Blog can be found on that list. The blog is kept by Kyle Hopkins, the ADN’s rural reporter and he has titled it the “The Village.” The stories that run here come from all areas of the state, from Southeast to the North Slope, and down to the Southwest too. They feature coverage of events, people, explore lifestyles or growing social problems.

Rural Alaska

The blog not only features written pieces by Hopkins, but is packed with photos, videos, audio slideshows and reader-submitted photos that show the awe-inspiring beauty from the most remote reaches of the state. Hopkns has included links to other newspapers that cover rural AK, and other blogs with tackle similar topics.

I think this blog has a unique opportunity that many others don’t, and thats the ability to really provide a service that the paper never could. These areas of Alaska are very remote in relation to most places in the nation.  With such limited space in the print medium, it was always hard for their needs to be heard, unless the situation was peculiarly dire. Now, with this, they have a well traveled area of the state’s bigges publication, and it’s all their own.

I feel this geographic and ethnic isolation is pretty unique to Alaska, which in turn makes the lack of visibility quite unique too. This blog and the ADN have an opportunity to satiate the need, and I think thats pretty cool.

During the 2004 campaign, President George W. Bush’s service in the Texas Air National Guard came into question following the emergence of memos that purportedly said Bush had less than exemplary behavior as an airman, received preferential treatment, and was awarded his spot in the Guard to escape service in Vietnam.

President G.W. Bush as a member of the Texas Air National Guard

Now, don’t forget how important service in Vietnam was in this ’04 election. John Kerry was being touted as a war hero by the Democratic party, and his service and stances taken following the war had helped him gain ground. Bush appearing to be a “privileged coward” would have been disastrous to his reelection campaign.

At any rate, the memos arrived as CBS news, and were reported to be legit by 60 Minutes. The documents were said to be over 30 years old and were originated and sent from Bush’s commanding officer at the time, Lt. Col. Bill Burkett.

Within hours of the broadcast, the internet community was abuzz with skepticism. These bloggers were attacking supposed inconsistencies with the memos before anyone in the mass media had caught on. It should be noted that initial interest in disproving the memos was politically motivated and originated from conservative blogs. But, motive and political interest aside, the efforts have still proved valuable.

An Atlanta attorney named Harry W. MacDougald had very strong ties to the Conservative party, and questioned the documents’ typography. He said the documents were written in a Microsoft Word font that was not available or possible to mimic with a typewriter, and that the documents had been run through a copier over a dozen times in an effort to make them appear older and legitimate.

After these allegations hit the conservative blogosphere, they leaked to Deadspin, and then the AP, and then they were rampant. Wildfire. Soon other major network news shows were conducting their own investigations into the documents, Dan Rather and CBS’s choice to present them as ‘real.’

A comparison between the "old" memos and a Word document using Times New Roman font.

The fallout was incredible at the CBS network. Many of the network’s top heads rolled as a result: News producer Mary Mapes, 60 Minutes executive producer Josh Howard, senior producer Mary Murphy and other news directors as well. Soon after, anchorman Dan Rather, the face of CBS news, resigned from his position. It’s still not clear if his stepping down was directly related to the controversy, but it’s generally accepted that one ushered in the other.

A major news network, a world-famous anchor and a US Presidential election were shook to the core by a single blogger in Atlanta, Georgia. Yes, this particular blogger was well connected, highly accomplished and educated, but nevertheless, this case showed what blogs an bloggers can be capable of. This, I’d argue, was the first and most visible instance of a blog and blogger steering US news coverage.

This man is a blowhard bafoon

Newspapers, TV stations and radio programs have a history in this country of being largely valid. People have come to respect them (to only a degree) for what they do, and it’s assumed that those in power at these institutions make sure what is printed is valid and substantiated.

This is the biggest problem with blogging. There is really no way to know, offhand, if what your reading is worthy of your trust. The majority of the blogosphere is beholding to no major media outlet, and subject to no vetting; no expert editing process takes place.

And although the popularity and social role of the blog is growing, people have yet to place their trust in them like they do with papers, and wisely so.

Here are two things to consider in a deciding whether or not a blog is legitimate enough for you to rely on in any matter of consequence.

1) Who the author is. Often times the blogger’s name is a pseudonym or they are pretty unreachable.  You want to look for a name and some journalistic or professional credentials of some consequence.

2) Site affilliation. Who is paying for the site, and do they have a motivation? While the Huffpo for example is a well written and respected site, its biased and leans left. They make that no secret, but others do. Try and look into the funding  for the site, or see what other places they are linked to.

TMZ deserves some credit for a few things however. They know who they, what their purpose is and who they’re serving. They are self aware at least. TMZ has become the primary source for celebrity gossip and rumor in American culture over the last few years. TMZ started on the net in 2005 as a joint creation of AOL and Warner Bros., and quickly exploded in popularity. By 2007, they began running that crappy companion TV show that can be seen in the nothing hours of the day on under-watched channels.

Because this is "newsworthy"

Like the Enquirer and the other rags that pollute checkout stands in seemingly every reach of Western culture, it’s been rumored that TMZ pays sources for information. This is a journalistic no-no. They’ve denied it flatly in the past, but the consensus in the industry is to take that response with a grain of salt.

For all the shit they create and abuse they take, the cover entertainment news pretty well. They’ve broken major stories in the past, and are seeming to do so with more regularity as time passes. I know for a fact that they were the first media outlet to break the news of the deaths of Brittany Murphy (Clueless fame for me) and Michael Jackson, the most visible human being ever.

If you were the first to break the news of Michael Jackson’s death, then your doing something right, regardless of how greasy you had to be to get the scoop.

The site is well designed, I must say. Entertainment news is driven by images, and scrolling through the site, the images posted claim much more space than the articles themselves. The search bar is right there for you to use, all the RSS feeds and chiclets you could want to relay the stuff to your friends are there under each post. All this is expected from a site that is run and managed by a media powerhouse.

A bank of developing stories is present, which is great and will keep people coming back multiple times a day. There’s interactive polling and discussion as well, which allows for the reader input; the magic that makes blogs what they are.

Technorati, the renowned blog-monitoring and ranking site has TMZ.com listed as the 10th most visited blog on the nets, and the #1 entertainment news destination out there. As much as I hate to say it, the site is a powerhouse and it doesn’t appear that it will be losing any clout anytime soon. Well, barring a huge lawsuit of course.

Now, enjoy the crappy TV show.

Gizmodo deals strictly in tech-related issues

Gizmodo was launched in 2002 with the goal of becoming the number one blog site dedicated to covering consumer electronics. They have achieved this goal. Gizmodo, like other Gawker sites, gives its writers a lot of freedom in their writing style. They can be very opinionated, loose, and some would say even inappropriate. The style is colloquial to the internet, and is not what you would find taught in a journalism class.

The first page you see on arrival is the user-submitted material. These posts keep with the technology theme, but were not generated by the writers of the site. This front page treatment the reading public receives fosters a great sense of accomplishment, ownership and community for readers, knowing they could submit something and have it make the cut.

Further sections include Bestmodo which is product reviews and commentary, Lifehacker, a section devoted strictly to computer-related products and issues, and Kotaku, a section that deals with video gaming.

While the site seems cluttered, there is a method to the madness. Deadspin, the number one sports blog is another piece of evidence that proves the format’s ability to network itself around the net and attract users is effective.

The site’s RSS feed boasts over 9,000 subscribers and the blog has held the #2 spot on the rankings list for over a year, and by a relatively wide margin. It should come as no surprise that a technology blog ranks so highly in measuring traffic, as the internet is a popular environment for ‘techies’ to convene and discuss the latest products.

Co-creator and most visible member, Arianna Huffington

The site was launched in 2005 by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer and Joseph Peretti. The trio set out with the goal of creating a liberal counterpart to the Drudge Report, a conservative news site which had been experiencing great success. Since its launch, the “Huffpo” has eclipsed the Drudge Report by a substantial margin, generating nearly 3-times as much traffic.

The site is very well designed, and uses the TypePad service and Six Apart, a sort of internet marketing firm that uses social networking sites to further the reach of its clients. At the top of the blog is a menu system of categories not unike a newspaper, with different areas of news from business, technology, style, politics and opinion. The Digg, Twitter and their cousin programs are also featured just below the masthead.

The site prominently uses video to supplement its stories. They’ve invested in something called vlogging, short for video blogging. In this practice, contributors upload video and post it online. This is a rather revolutionary step, as they were the first major site to embrace the practice.

It works too. scrolling through the front page, your struck by how many images and videos are uploaded to the site. This is great in driving traffic. Visual cues abound and keep the reader engrossed. The comment boards are lively with discussion. It’s estimated that users make over 1 million comments per month.

But, any reader must take the Huffpo with a grain of salt. It is, after all, a politically biased organization. They are there as a device and branch of the Democratic Party, not as an impartial news organization. They are news, but not wholly accurate news. That being said, they are worthy of discussion due to the power they wield in the market.

Contributors to the site include Nancy Pelosi, John Kerry, Michael Moore and other prominent leftist politicians and advocates.

The Huffpo has grown extremely large and extremely powerful in a very short period of time. Now that they have achieved the megalithic status that they have, funding is pouring into the site. In 2008, they were awarded $15 million dollars to bolster their ‘reporting’ ranks and supplement their journalistic efforts. It appears that the Huffpo will remain the dominant player in the blogosphere.

The blog is well read by both common folk and members of the mainstream sports media alike. In fact, Doug Gottlieb, Brian Kenny and Scott Van Pelt, all of ESPN, frequently discuss topics that arise on the. TBL has broken some big stories, but they are best known for their lively and well-versed commenter boards.

TBL founder Jason McIntyre

The site was started in 2006 by a former sports writer, and has since developed into a collective work from 6 prominent sport bloggers: Stephen Douglas, Tyler Duffy, Andy Horonzy, Tim Ryan, David Lessa in addition to creator Jason McIntyre.

Today the site gets upwards of 2 million views per month. The site got it’s “big break” when it landed an interview of sportswriter Jason Whitlock, then of ESPN and now of the Kansas City Star. Whitlock trashed his ESPN colleagues, and was summarily fired for his remarks. TBL received a nice bump in notoriety.

The format of the site is very straightforward, using the WordPress service, one of the net’s most common platforms for blogging . Stories are clearly delineated and organized well, with the chiclets for Digg, Twitter, etc. located just underneath each heading. RSS feed buttons are seemingly everywhere. The recent post lists are there and prominent, mores so than on other sites.

But, like I mentioned before, the real good stuff that comes from this site is found in the comment boards after each story. The site has a dedicated and vocal following. The debate and knowledge shown on the boards has been praised by mainstream media both on radio and television. TBL has a reputation as being the most accessible of the main sports blogs out there, reason being its simple formatting and variety of articles.

Started in 2008, they have over 34,000 subscribers; a massive number. In addition to that, through social bookmarking and networking sites they have an additional audience of over 37,000 more regular readers. This is amazing given the brief life of the site and such a narrow mission.

There is no development in baseball that deals with player transactions that Trade Rumors misses. Not a single one. There is no deal to minor, no development too obscure. They are always on point. When you hit the main page, the first thing you’ll notice is the catchy masthead, the easily large, self-explanatory menu bar, and the extra large RSS feed and bookmarking chiclets in the top right, exactly where they should be.

From there on out, its just reporting of rumors, transactions and analysis derived from the movements of the day. Any baseball fan should be aware of the site so that they can stay abreast of what’s happening in the game.  Their post search feature is simple to use and easy to find, and their recent lists are just as apparent. To cater to their readers, they offer the option of signing up for feeds that deal with specific teams so you get your squad’s news delivered to you, without having to sift through the news from the 29 organizations. This is a great editorial choice.

The most esteemed baseball writers around America know and love the Rumors site.

More so than any other blog, Trade Rumors has a sterling reputation with the mainstream news media. Peter Gammons, ESPN analyst and arguably America’s premier baseball writer has praised Trade Rumors for their accuracy and tenacity in reporting the game. Trade Rumors is almost never omitted from a baseball-themed show on EPSN Radio, and major columnists and their respective papers around the country use Rumors as a credible source.

Simply put, they do everything right, and exist as the gold standard for sports blogging on the internet.