Creating the perfect beatblog

A cutting edge beatblog, and the sites of highest interest to Beatblogging.org, are those using the two-way, social part of the Web, to cover a beat in a networked or user-assisted way.

Here we find information and newsy items, advice and ideas regularly flowing in from readers as the blog becomes a platform for extending the network of the beat outward until hundreds and thousands of people are helping to… cover the beat.

But — truth be told — there aren’t any beatblogs that get it all right. Mostly, this is due to lack of time and resources. Where one blogger spends time on original content, another blogger spends time on two-way communication with readers/commenters.

So, let’s say that it were possible to create the perfect beatblog; that time and resources aren’t an issue. And let’s say that we created this blog using only elements from existing blogs. In other words, a mash-up.

What would this blog look like?

The Creators

First of all, it’s important to note that a beatblog does not have to be run by a large media company. It can be created by a single person or a team, a pro or an amateur journalist. The idea is that the creator(s) whoever he/she/they are, are people who care deeply about regularly covering a beat and focusing on content that is not only valuable to their readers who are interested in the niche topic, but also focus on content that their readers suggest be written or covered.

In other words, the creators “get it” — all of it. From the look and feel of their blog, to its subject to their linking ethics and social media leverage — they focus on truly becoming a “beatblog” and not just a blog that “happens to have a beat.”

They would have the reporting drive of Kent Fischer, the networking savviness of Monica Guzman, the friendly, open-mindedness of Brian Stelter and the entrepreneurial spirit of Daniel Victor.

The Design

It must be stressed that design goes a long way online. As much as “Content is King,” design can really change the way readers approach your blog and interact with it.

A beatblog that really hit the nail on the head in terms of theme and design is GothamSchools. It’s a blog focused on breaking news and analysis of the NYC public schools. If you take a look at the site, you’ll find that it’s header is properly tied in with the subject — it has the New York City skyline and the image of a public school.

The rest of the page is very minimalist and straightforward, designed to look like the pages of a notebook. What is great about GothamSchools is that there is no way anyone can get lost or confused with where to find more information, how to contact the creators or what the site is about. Everything is neatly organized and tagged, exactly the way beatblogs should be.

I’ve stressed before that many beat blogs fail to provide enough transparency and contact information on their pages. This is because so many of the best beatbloggers are attached to legacy news organizations, and thus, their pages are not stand-alone sites but rather limbs of the main news site.

I think the proper way to run a beatblog is to make it it’s own Web site, with it’s own contact information and “about” page. It shouldn’t just be a link from a drop-down menu on a news organization. Of course, if it’s affiliated it should have the proper attributions and links, etc.

But making the beatblog it’s own page can make it more comfortable for readers, easier to find and easier to interact with. Just as a news site’s Twitter feed or Facebook page is separate from the organization and more personalized, so should a beatblog be.

The Strategy/Execution

Properly running a beatblog can be difficult if there are time constraints or not enough helping hands. For example, Pharmalot, a beatblog run by journalist Ed Silverman about the pharmaceutical industry, featured really good daily journalism and link journalism. It was a beatblog that doggedly covered its niche.

But it would have been much stronger if had the same community building as the DISD Blog. Pharmalot might have been the best beatblog from just a pure content perspectiveve, but it always lagged in the two-way communication department. Silverman spent so much time delivering incredible content by himself that he simply couldn’t do more two-way communication.

Then you take Alexander Russo’s District 299 blog, and it has great two-way communication but could be stronger in terms of original content.

Again, if time weren’t an issue, what would the proper mash-up look like?

1. Clear beat: GothamSchools
2. High volume of commentary: SciGuy
3. Harvesting of comments “Here’s what you said about this…”: Come Heller High Water
4. Inquiries/questions asked to readers: Security Fix
5. Daily roundup: The Daily Wrap
6. Filtering and linking: Today in the Sky
7. Comments or e-mails from readers run as posts/used for story ideas/improve stories: Central PA NewsVote
8. Comments hosted in blog entries: Inside Ed
9. Reader blogs: Seattle PI
10. Hoisting Comments: Dallas ISD Blog
11. Live blogging: The Caucus
12. Frequent blog posts by author, i.e. several per day, updates: Glenn Greenwald
13. Contact info/Transparency/Accessibility/Brand identity: Security Fix
14. Good use of Twitter: Alex Roarty of PoliticsPA
15. Quality writing/grammar/style: Slate.com

The Results

In the end, it’s all a time and money game. There’s not enough of either. And that’s okay — for now.

Beatblogs are still in their infancy, and it’s going to take time to evolve into something powerful and profitable. It’s always important, however, to keep fresh ideas in mind and constantly try to break the mold.

Be creative. Think outside the box. Learn from the best.

Run the best damn beatblog that the Internet’s ever seen.

Leaderboard for week of 4-13-2009: Kent Fischer memorial edition

It’s not the best time to work for a newspaper: lay-offs, buy-outs, pay cuts and more

Against this backdrop, one of our favorite beatbloggers, Ed Silverman, left newspapers last year. His former employer, The Star-Ledger, may not survive the year. Another one of our favorite beatbloggers, Kent Fischer, announced that he’ll be leaving journalism too.

Fischer had survived several rounds of lay-offs, buy-outs and pay cuts at The Dallas Morning News but wondered how much more his employer could keep making big cuts, while still delivering a quality product. Fischer’s partner in crime on the DISD Blog, Tawnell Hobbs, will carry on the torch by herself. She’ll be expected to run the blog and be a major contributor to print.

Kent Fischer | The Dallas Morning News

• Fischer was one of the first beatbloggers to begin hoisting comments. He realized early on that it was important to acknowledge readers when they contributed something worthwhile to the conversation. Each week Fischer has been picking a comment of the week.
• Fischer also began accepting guest posts from community members last year. His blog is read by many insiders, and the majority of the comments left on his blog are from insiders. He wanted to tap into that network and give some of his top contributors the chance to have a bigger voice. Also, Fischer scheduled his guest posts around summer vacation, a time when education coverage is usually light. The summer is the perfect time to start discussions about bigger issues in education.
• Fischer was one of the first journalists I studied that really got that user comments add value to a news Web site. He understood that not only are comments something that attracts users, but they can also be a great place for thoughtful debate. And they can even be a place for beat reporters to discover stories.
• The comments left on the DISD Blog were usually quite good. Fischer took care to make sure a comment ghetto did not form. A strong comments community requires a journalist who is willing to cultivate a community. It takes a journalist who is not afraid to regularly enter the fray, and Fischer genuinely respected the opinions of his users.
• Fischer wasn’t afraid to try anything. He said that he regularly tried new ideas and features and saw what caught on. If something didn’t catch on, he would move on to something new. It was that ethos of experimentation that really allowed Fischer to shine.
• We’ll have more on Fischer, the lessons he learned from beatblogging and why he left journalism in a podcast later today.

Brian Krebs | The Washington Post

• Krebs was nominated this week for using his blog to provide context to a series of print stories. He explains why the stories are worth reading, what’s new about them (the topic of cyber terrorism is not new) and he provides background and context. Krebs also provides some nitty gritty details that may be too minute for the print edition. And, as always, his blog is the perfect place to provide links to resources.
• Krebs also did some quick checks on the Internet and found some compromised U.S. utilities. These companies have computers that were recently infected with bots and backdoors. His blog post does an excellent job of explaining what the threats are and how they could be harmful to U.S. citizens.
• Again, it’s the comments where this post really begins to shine. Krebs has built up a knowledgeable user community. In the comments you’ll find users asking questions about how easy it is to become infected, what precautions should be taken, etc, and you’ll find other users providing detailed answers.
• Krebs did not write the print stories he linked to, but he did provide excellent context around them. His blog post was a strong compliment to the print content his paper product.

Brian Christopherson | Lincoln Journal Star

• Life in the Red, a joint, staff blog at the Journal Star is one of the better sports blogs we’ve seen. The beat is all things Nebraska Cornhusker related, and a team of five bloggers shares the responsibility.
• One of the things we really like about this blog is the interaction. Sports fans are often a very passionate bunch and sometimes quite knowledgeable. They would love the chance to get to interact with sports writers they follow. On this seemingly simple post, Christopherson and users are discussing safeties for the Nebrasks football team. It all started with a simple post about redshirt freshman P.J. Smith and a quote from head coach Bo Pelini saying Smith could push for playing time with senior Larry Asante.
• This is the kind of little nugget of information that probably wouldn’t make a good print story. Even if it were a print story (or part of a “news an notes” kind of feature) it wouldn’t be nearly the same as doing it online. Each nugget of information gets its own blog post (good for SEO and segregating conversations to individual topics). Breaking these nuggets into individual posts increases visits and comments.
• Also, the Life in Red blog provides the perfect opportunity for beat reporters and fans to discuss minute topics like this. All of the sudden this seemingly small nugget of information becomes a launching pad for debate among writers and users.

Leaderboard for week 2-16-2009: Access edition

Good beat reporters have something that most people don’t — access.

Journalists have access to politicians, sports stars, scientists and other experts. What if journalists created more content that harnessed their ability to gain access? Is there even a business model to be created around access?

That last point will be left for others to debate and discover, but this week our first Leaderboard member shows the power of access.

Eric Berger | The Houston Chronicle

• Every month Berger has a chat with experts on a different science topic. Users are free to submit questions and the best ones are put forth to the experts. This month Berger brought in two experts on climate change to answer his users’ questions.
• Berger uses a popular live blogging technology, CoveritLive for his chats. CoveritLive allows Berger to screen questions as they come in and then broadcast the best ones for his experts to answer.
• These chats are popular when they happen live, but they also make great content once they are over. Each chat is automatically archived, allowing users to read over the questions and answers at anytime.
• These chats can also be provide fertile ground for potential blog posts and stories for Berger. His users may pose questions that Berger may not have thought of before. He can then look into those topics more indepth.

Brian Krebs | The Washington Post

• Krebs is consistently rewarded for building such a strong community around his beat. Again, Security Fix users are helping each other out by providing information on computer security. Krebs made a post about the Conflicker Worm that has been rapidly infecting Windows users, and Security Fix users provided each other with tips on how to keep their machines safe.
• He has developed a great beat blog that has useful information on a daily basis. But what really makes his blog shine is the kind of users he has gathered around it and the comments they leave. Users can  learn an awful lot from the comments left after posts. They are a treasure trove of knowledge.
• Krebs shows us why building a community is so important. Many of his blog users are very knowledgeable about computer security and many work in the IT field. Krebs has actively cultivated a community of knowledgeable users, and because he is so active in the comments section, users leave more thoughtful and civilized comments. Krebs has not allowed a comment ghetto to form.
• The community has made Security Fix into a better blog. In fact, it’s difficult to imagine Security Fix without the community that has formed around it.

Jon Ortiz | The Sacramento Bee

• This post is an excellent all-around example of beat blogging. Ortiz was alerted to the blogger he mentions in this post by one of his users. Then his users provide excellent information and insight in the comments after his post. Ortiz has a network of California state workers around his blog that can provide great insight.
• One of his readers told Ortiz to check out a post by a blogger analyzing a report by the California CIO. The blogger raised questions and interesting points about the report. Berger took the best points the blogger made and asked the government of California to respond. He then posted the unedited e-mail to his blog.
• This post is an excellent example of what happens when a beat reporters builds a network around this beat. Ortiz has a niche blog that focuses on issues surrounding state workers. Because of this, Ortiz has been able to build a much larger network of state worker sources than before he had the blog.
• Both Ortiz and Krebs also demonstrate the power of having a niche beat blog. A blog about the state of California or about the government in general would probably attract a lot of non-government workers. The State Worker, on the other hand, mostly appeals to state employees — exactly the kinds of people Ortiz wants to add to his growing network of sources.