Blogging For Journalists / from SreeTips.com

This four-hour "Blogging For Journalists" session is a new type of workshop by Sree - see the others at SreeTips.com. The first edition was at Columbia, Wed., May 10, 2006, with Peter Rojas of engadget as our blogstar guest - we had more than 70 attendees, with some as far away as DC and Atlanta. The second edition was at Columbia, Tues, June 13, 2006, with Jen Chung of Gothamist as our blogstar guest - we had 100+ attendees.   Watch for more events or let sree@sree.net know if you want to schedule a similar session for you group.

Comment from attendee Phelps Hawkins of Mission Media: "It was an excellent workshop, utterly worth our time, money, and effort, with wonderful refreshments, in a lovely setting, and a terrific, knowledgeable host/guide."
E-mail: sree@sree.net

AGENDA FOR BLOGGING WORKSHOP
5:15 p.m. - Registration + optional: setting up your laptop, connecting to WiFi, etc.
6:05 p.m. - Welcome: Alice Pifer, director of professional development
6:10 p.m. - Sree Sreenivasan introduces program

UNDERSTANDING BLOGS 

• Blog basics and stats, state of the blogosphere
• Meet a Blogstar - Jen Chung of Gothamist.com
  
• Blog tour - a look at interesting blogs

7:20 p.m.
YOUR TURN

• Quick blog exercise
• The big difference: Change of pace and rhythm
• Coming up with an idea
• What are you going to say?
• Who are your readers?
• Blog software options

8:30 p.m.
LET’S BLOG

• Time to work on your blog idea
  Volunteer helpers will be on hand to work with small groups
  Those not creating a blog watch others to see the process or discuss their own ideas with Sree

9:35 p.m.
TYING IT ALL TOGETHER & NEXT STEPS

• Building traffic
• Making money
• Next steps
• Q&A
• Feedback

Ends at 10 p.m.

WorldPress.org has an article that looks at the state of blogging around the world and includes some interesting trivia about the origin of the word blog and related matters. It also highlights threats to free speech and citizen journalism.

     A bulletin from France’s Reporters Without Borders (May 3) presented a foreboding look into the possible future repression of bloggers’ freedom of expression: "Dictators would seem powerless faced with this explosion of online material. How could they monitor the e-mails of China’s 130 million users or censor the messages posted by Iran’s 70,000 bloggers? The enemies of the Internet have unfortunately shown their determination and skill in doing just that. Censorship of the Web is growing and is now done on every continent. Traditional ‘predators of press freedom’ - Belarus, Burma, Cuba, Iran, Libya, the Maldives, Nepal, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam - all censor the Internet now. In 2003, only China, Vietnam and the Maldives had imprisoned cyber-dissidents. Now more countries do.

Full item: http://www.worldpress.org/2373.cfm

Hat tip: Julia Levy