Web Reviews

Houston Chronicles
www.chron.com


Out of all the newspaper Web sites I’ve visited, Chron.com is the first to have a section for blogs in the main navigation bar.

There are a number of interesting blogging happening here. There is one on the latest medical developments. Another blog helps readers with their computer problems. Perhaps as a gesture to the large Mexican population in the Houston area, there is a space titled “Soccer Y Futból.” It bills itself as a bilingual soccer blog. There is even a blog on the Enron trial, which by judging from the coverage on the site is a huge story that has engulfed the Houston area.

Chron.com showcases blogs from its readers in what it calls “Chron.Commons.” It’s their version of citizen journalism that allow readers an outlet for their newsgathering. You will however have to submit a proposal to the newspaper and wait for their approval in order to start a blog on the site. This makes Chron.com look a bit picky and exclusive.

The blogs page has photos of the authors and a bit of information on what each blog is about. But once you click on the link, it goes all text from beginning to end. I think it’s important to have photos or links to photos or audio/visuals. This appears to be common weak link among blogs on newspaper Web sites—not many visuals.

I think Houston Chronicles believes blogging is important for its readers since a blog link is in the main navigation. But I think there is room for further refinement in terms of more pictures, graphics and by building on making citizen journalism more accessible to the general public.

If the blog offering isn’t going to be any better than the other newspaper sites are doing, then Chron.com should bury the link to its blogs like other sites have done.


Atlanta Journal Constitution
www.ajc.com

It seems like Atlanta Journal Constitution reporters and columnists really like to share. Share their thoughts on the local schools. Share their thoughts about crime and of course share thoughts about their favorite sports teams. There is a lot of hot air coming from this site.

I would say AJC.com has more blog activity than other newspaper Web site I’ve visited so far because there is such a wide array of topics to that might be of interest to readers.

There isn’t a link in the navigation bar to the blogs but “AJC blogs” appears under “Editor’s pick" which is pretty high up on the page. One click takes you to an endless canvas of opinions on just about any issue you could think of, including women issues, podcasting and shopping.

I first came across the blogging nature of AJC when I stopped by to get superb coverage of the death of Coretta Scott King. I found a page called “Breaking News.” It was dedicated to live coverage of the funeral.

There were reporters stationed at the church, a local parking lot, along the highways and at the King Center. And the format had a blog feel to it. The reporters’ entries were conversational, relayed what they saw and heard at the scene and even gave advice for people who were trying to get to the funeral.

The blogs are very text heavy. I think it could use a bit more pictures or graphics. Even a photo of the person blogging would help break the monotony that easily sets in. Another helpful tip would be to have a link in the opinion section to the blogs since blogging is mainly known for opinion.



NBC4 (WRC-TV Channel 4)
www.nbc4.com



After reviewing blogging on two newspaper Web sites, I thought I’d check out a local television station’s effort at blogging.

I visit NBC4.com often enough to know the site just started blogging a month ago, just around the same time it reengineered its homepage. There were instances when a reporter would put up their personal thoughts on a story on the site, but it didn’t remotely resemble anything considered blogging.

But there is still much to be desired if one expects to come to this site and get compelling blogs from the NBC affiliate. Although it appears to be the only TV station in the D.C. area that is attempting to blog, there really isn’t much to brag about.
Unlike most newspapers that showcase blogging on their sites, it appears that NBC4.com wants visitors to search for it. There is no link in the main navigation bar or one a bit lower on the page. Unless you know what you are looking for, you will not find it here.

One glimmer of hope came under a bar that read “NBC4 Specialists.” There I found the blog of their sports reporter/anchor who is blogging from the Olympics in Torino Italy. In her most recent entry, she reveals she might have a thing for their Italian driver who wore a sweatshirt with the words Fairfax on it. “I don't know what Italy's Fairfax is like, but if Nick Bello lives there, it might be a good place to visit. : ),” she wrote. Her blog is full of pictures with text, something the newspaper bloggers can learn to do.

Since NBC4 just starting blogging on its new website, perhaps it will get better. As with most TV news Web sites, video/images continues to be the focus. But it would be great to see reporters like D.C. political reporter Tom Sherwood and crime reporter Pat Collins blog about what the viewers don’t get to see in 1:20.



MSNBC
www.msnbc.com

Where the local NBC station is lacking in blogging, it’s much larger big sister Web site MSNBC.com more than makes up the for the shortfall.

The site is the main domain for everything NBC news, including “Dateline,” “Nightly News,” “The Today Show” and the cable news outlet by the same name. Blogging is big on this site. It’s no wonder since blogging, especially political blogging out in the blogosphere, has help fuel the rise of opinion shows on cable news networks like this one.

Again since video is a big part of TV news sites, it’s no surprise that there is a video blog from the Olympics that is prominently placed near the top of the site.

MSNBC.com has a section called Blog, Etc. It is listed in the navigation bar as well as at the bottom of the page with sub-headlines from featured bloggers. Most of the blogging on MSNBC is done by various hosts of shows on the network like Keith Olbermann, Chris Matthews and Dan Abrams. They have cute blog names like “Bloggerman,” “Hardblogger” and “Sidebar.” Their blogs give them an outlet to respond to bloggers in the blogosphere who have written something about them or their shows as well as vent on show guests or news events.

But not all the blogging here is an outlet for their talent, there is a really cool citizen journalism component of the blog section that allows anyone to write and post pictures about events happening in their lives.

Highlighted in the CJ section is Hurricane Katrina evacuee Mindy Nunez. She recently went back to see her devastated home in Aribi Louisiana. “I am a 25-year old single female and I am now staying with my parents, whose home was also destroyed, in a trailer on the Westbank of New Orleans,” she writes.

What gets a lot of attention here is the blog of NBC News anchor Brian Williams. It’s linked on the Web site as well as in the “Nightly News” section. It’s often promoted on the news program and even the anchor tells viewers to take a look.
I would say that the family Web sites of MSNBC has definitely embraced blogging as another way to communicate with viewers. Hopefully some of that tenacity will rub off on its smaller affiliates.