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Here is CyberJournalist.net's annual list of the top online journalism stories of the year. This year's list is chosen by the readers, based on the most popular entries. Blog coverage of the political conventions was the most popular story, followed by bloggers posting exit polls.
FORTUNE’s current cover story includes a big piece on blogs, Why There's No Escaping the Blog. The main point of the story: Blogs are not only a new form of publishing, but also a new form of communication.
The last few posts in 22-year-old Brandon Behle’s travel blog really hit home. Brandon has been tracking his journey through Asia and now he is sharing his experience with the world.
Heather Green at BusinessWeek reports on the grassroots movement to post video blogs. She contends that vlogs are compelling in the creativity they're unleashing and the changes they could bring to the media status quo.
Following in the footsteps of text blogs, video blogs are starting to take off on the Internet. This new form of grassroots digital media is being shepherded along by groups of film makers and video buffs who started pooling publishing tips and linking to each other in earnest this year.
The New York Times (via CNET) reports on how blogs have proved a ready medium for instant news of the tsunami disaster and for collaboration over ways to help.
Business 2.0 thinks that 2005 will be the year that blogs go mainstream and nontechie Web surfers figure out how to tap into RSS feeds and collect their favorite blogs in one place.
The more sophisticated bloggers will add audio commentary and become podcasters, producing daily Web radio shows that listeners can download to their computers and iPods. The first video podcasts will appear. Some bloggers and podcasters may even figure out how to make money.
Internet.com reports on the bloggers who are quickly spreading information on the relief efforts to aid countries devastated by yesterday’s massive quake and tsunami. Some bloggers have urged their colleagues to spread the word, while others have offered to donate their earnings to the International Red Cross.
News and information about resources, aid, donations and volunteer efforts.
DM News reports that Bacon's Information will begin monitoring blogs to help PR professionals gauge the effect of blogs on business decisions and corporate reputations.
ClickZ expert and Jupiter Research analyst Gary Stein takes a look back at 2004. His favorite topic? You guessed it:
The ability to tap into consumer conversations is fantastic and powerful. Companies are falling all over themselves trying to figure out how to use the blog phenomenon to their advantage. All too often, they conclude they should use blogs to talk. Please. Brands do enough talking as it is. Use the blog space to listen.
I read (on a blog, of course) Microsoft is doing just that: It uses tools such as PubSub and Bloglines to capture consumer feedback on its products. From that insight, it culls the most appropriate and appealing bits, which go directly into the next development meeting.
PaidContent has an interesting take on the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter who was suspended for writing a pseudonymous blog titled "Rage, Anguish and Other Bad Craziness in St. Louis." Staff writer Daniel P. Finney was apparently using profanity to describe the newspaper, making comments about his co-workers and bosses, and posting about interview subjects he had covered.
John Battelle gazes into the future and ponders what has a reasonable chance of occurring in 2005 with regard to the intersection of media, technology, and search. He even goes so far as to predict that he will be involved in starting a new business in the field of media and technology.
A Fine Kettle of Fish posts 10 reasons why advertising, marketing and public relations professionals should at least consider adding a blog to their business plan.
Blogs Are Empowering:
With RSS (Really Simple Syndication), the audience decides what they want and when they want it. They have the upper hand. And by giving recipients the authority to post their own comments, it’s easy for the public – and fellow bloggers – to hold advertising, marketing and PR pros accountable for their claims. Think quid pro quo.
Props to Netflix for giving their consumers a voice. According to Hacking Netflix.com, the online DVD renter has quietly launched a new blog for their in-house reviewer. This is a real blog, with comments turned on - and he's even (bravely) asking for feedback:
This is an excellent start for Netflix, a very private company, to interact with the online community. They've been listening to us, adding RSS feeds and the much-requested Friends List feature, but it would be great to have more Netflix bloggers.
Starting in January, Neville Hobson and Shel Holtz will host a weekly podcast aimed at the communications community. “For Immediate Release: The Hobson and Holtz Report” will focus on PR issues, technology and other relevant topics. Listen to the pre-launch podcast for more on what to expect when they fully launch next month.
Blogs made the # 2 spot on Cynthia Webb’s Top 10 list of notable tech developments in 2004.
# 2. Blogs Get Real: Web logs have become so mainstream that Merriam-Webster reported that the word "blog" was the most looked-up word of 2004. Blogs started ages ago in Internet time, but what was new in 2004 was the attention they finally got from traditional media outlets. Blogs were put under the spotlight during the Republican and Democratic national conventions, but it was on Election Day that they perhaps had their biggest impact, when numerous bloggers posted early election exit poll data. "Are blogs journalism?" was a big question of 2004. Perhaps the question in future years is whether journalism itself evolves into endless blogging. Tech giants are certainly betting that the blog revolution is here to stay, with Microsoft rolling out its own blogging software. Nick Denton's Gawker Media empire, which includes the popular Wonkette, is surely a sign that the profit potential is there.
Steve Outing posts Part 2 of his report on what bloggers and traditional journalists can teach one another. On what bloggers can learn from traditional journalists:
When done without proper care and thought, blogging can be dangerous -- not only to the blogger's reputation, but to the community at large. Inaccurate blogging can damage personal reputations and worse, just as can sloppy journalism. So bloggers, please make accuracy a guiding principle, just as it is in all successful journalism.
What was hot in the blogosphere in 2004? BlogPulse scoured a year's worth of blog posts, links and trends to create a section chockful of year-in-review statistics, charts, finds and surprises.
Rex Sorgatz provides his list of the Top 26 Blogs of 2004. He contends that 2004 was a landmark year for independent publishers not so much because of Lewinsky-size scoops, but because the Internet came into its own as a medium for experiencing news events. This was the year blogs grew up and became the medium that mattered.
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