PC Mag has a list of its 100 favorite blogs, and it’s a must check out for anyone who blogs and wants to become better.

Often the best way to improve at something is to study the best, and you can’t do much better then this list. Yes, many of these bloggers and blogs may not fit the beat blogging profile, but they are all outstanding blogs. Good blogging — let alone beat blogging — is quite a bit different than being a good newspaper reporter.

I would strongly recommend checking out non-news blogs as well. Inspiration doesn’t have to come from fellow journalists.

These blogs highlight a few fundamental truths of good blogging:

• Post variety — The best bloggers mix things up. Some posts are long, some are short, some are lists, some are polls and some are just photos with a little description. There are more options than just those, but you get the point. Newspaper writing can often be formulaic and designed to fill news holes. Blogging is nothing like that. If the best way to get your point across is to make a bulleted list than do that. Never try to make your content be something it isn’t.
• Interaction — The best bloggers interact, and interaction is a must for beat blogging. The biggest strength of the Internet is that it is two way. People can e-mail you, send you direct messages on Twitter, post comments on your blog, respond to your Seesmic videos and more. The best beat bloggers realize that their audience knows more than they do, and they harness that collective wisdom. 
• Be yourself — While blogging is different than writing for a newspaper, it doesn’t mean you should force yourself to be something you aren’t. I often see journalists new to blogging trying to be casual, write in first person, inject opinions and do other things they aren’t allowed to for a newspaper story. The problem is that it often feels forced. If you’re more comfortable writing in a third-person, objective style, than do it. You don’t have to be casual to be a good blogger. You don’t have to write in the first person from time to time to be a good blogger. You just have to be good at blogging and that means being yourself. I let the content dictate how I write. In time, most journalists will find their blogging voices, but my best advice is to drop all preconceived notions as to what blogging is and isn’t. 
• Visual aids — Good bloggers do more than just write. They also post other, more visual content. This could be photos, videos, charts, etc. Digital photo and video cameras are really cheap these days, and there is plenty of Creative Commons-licensed content available to use. Sites like Swivel make it incredibly easy to create gorgeous charts and graphs. And never, ever create a post about something visual (like a YouTube video) without at least linking to said content. This is the Web.
• User interface — Most of the most popular blogs are easy to navigate and are often visually appealing. A great design is entirely optional, but having a site that is easy to get around is a must. Less is often more. And a killer search engine is a must. If I know something is on your site and I can’t find it via your search engine than you’re doing something wrong. 

Hat tip to Will Sullivan for bringing this list to my attention on Delicious.