E-Media Tidbits

rockymountainnews.com The Rocky Mountain News' new Capitol blog needs a little work.

They're trying. I know they're trying. And I realize they've only just gotten started. But right off the bat the Rocky is missing some really obvious blog stuff here that makes it look like they just don't really "get" blogs yet. So far, this project seems like more of the same -- impersonal, traditional news stories.

Fortunately, the Rocky could quickly implement some easy fixes for these basic problems:

1. Style: Loosen up! All this blog's writing so far is in the third person. These posts might as well be short articles written for print, which makes you wonder why blog at all? Blogs generally work better -- because they're easier to write and read -- when they're in first person. The conventional fiction that the reporter doesn't exist totally falls flat in this medium.

Try writing some first-person posts. It's only scary at first, and it'll make this project more fun and compelling. Try bringing your readers into the process of your work covering the legislature.

2. Bylines In most of the posts to this blog, you don't know who is writing because apparently their blogging tool or layout doesn't provide bylines. (One reporter, Alan Gathright, has been typing his own bylines into the body of his posts.) That's not just a problem for reporters who want credit for their blogging work -- it also makes the blog seem that much more impersonal, and therefore less compelling. It should be trivial to tweak this blog's layout to automatically provide a byline for each post.

3. Links! Links! Links! I haven't yet seen a hyperlink in any post to this blog. Regardless of the cause of this oversight, it makes it look like the Rocky (or at least these bloggers) either don't understand or don't care about the value of connecting to sources, Rocky stories, other blogs, forums, and other sites. How about at least linking to the bills being discussed, or to the Web sites of the legislators named? Without links, a blog looks naked and dull.

4. Where's your feed? So far this blog does not have its own RSS feed. If the Rocky is serious about engaging local political junkies with this blog, it absolutely must offer a feed. Your feed should never be an afterthought -- for many regular blog readers, it's the primary way they stay connected to you. That feed also should be submitted to all the major feed aggregators like Google Blog Search and Technorati.

Also, don't make people plow through a cluttered, lengthy feed page to find your blog's feed. Your feed link should appear prominently right on the main blog page. Even better, you can use your feed to automatically generate timely optional e-mail alerts for the blog -- giving your readers more options and your blog greater reach.

5. Pictures. I assume these Capitol bloggers have cell phones -- probably camera phones. Use them! Sometimes quickly posting a cell phone photo can be easier and more fun, compelling, or meaningful than yet another blob of text. And if the Rocky's blogging tool doesn't make it easy to post from a cell phone, try hooking it up via Utterz.

Why not give more Coloradoans a sense of what day-to-day life in the Capitol is like? What do lobbyists look like when they're getting ready to pounce on a legislator? Who's really paying attention (or even present) during key speeches or votes? Who are some of the more colorful characters?

6. Conversation. This blog does allow comments. Once it gets interesting enough, people will start leaving comments there. But the Rocky can jump start the conversation by asking for comments in posts -- which can be as simple as ending posts with and open question plus "What do you think? Please comment below."

Once people do start commenting, respond! Even if you only take a moment to acknowledge a few of the comments here and there, it helps give people a reason to read your blog. Plus, when it's clear that your care enough about what your blog readers think to converse with them, that promotes more constructive conversation. Being conversational doesn't necessarily have to take much time or effort, if you make it part of your existing process rather than treating it as an extra burden.

...Good luck with this blog, Rocky!