Comments on: Leaving New Orleans

By: Steph K

Steph K — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:37:58 +0000

A unique challenge for corporate HR bloggers is not the debate on journalist vs. not, it’s avoiding being the PR department while still respecting your employer and providing credible information about the company. I’d be interested in your views on that.

Enjoyed the session and I did find it inspirational. Covered it on my blog here: http://bit.ly/1a3t3r , I welcome comments.

By: Laurie

Laurie — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:23:27 +0000

@HRCrout It’s not dead. You can continue. No probs.

By: HRCrout

HRCrout — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:14:35 +0000

I understand that this is a dead thread, but I feel compelled to answer Bruno. I must disagree. There are many bloggers who spew false information……racists come to mind…..who continue to have a following. All this is required for a successful blogger is that you find an audience.

By: Laurie

Laurie — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:41:25 +0000

@Tracy You are so right about the hybrid approach and how it works in some cases. I think it’s incumbent upon the blogger to clarify his/her role.

@akaBruno Good points about Colbert but I have a message for you. This comment? It’s a blog post. Throw it up on True Faith HR, ask for engagement, focus on your community, and you’re blogging.

@Corey You’re right. Journalists can blog and even bloggers, who are more ambiguous, can report news. You are so right.

@TimG You can blog about HR while employed, but you have to tell your own story.

@Rick Well I think the concept of your version of journalism is interesting, but bloggers can lose their jobs, too, if they fuck up. It’s marketplace principles and the community keeps you in line. Trust me — the community will stop coming if you fuck it up, get it wrong, or abuse the trust of your audience. Also, lying or making up facts? Can’t do it.

@Kerry Bill O’Reilly isn’t a journalist? Sean Hannity? Don’t tell my Gramma.

@MaryEllen You need to start a blog on journalism. You are so right.

@Sara Totally well written comment and I agree — & thanks for watching the webcast, yo!

@Sue “i’m a teacher with a story.” Wow, that’s totally right except I was taught by nuns. I’m smuttier than the nuns.

@HAria I love how you focus on preferences for sources. You are so right.

@HRCrout Well, that’s a strong line. Blogging, as Mary Ellen tells us, is a tool. It’s a format. A platform. Content matters.

@Julie I’d go back to work as a Human Resources pro in the media because I think that would be an interesting job. Communication, communication, communication. Profit. Strategy. Brand. Media has a huge opportunity to lead the way for America to start making money, again. They’re failing. I’d love to help turn that ship around. (I mean, without having a real job and responsibilities in HR.)

@Robert As long as I’m not Bob Novak, we’re okay.

@RMS I love that. Bloggers do add context.

@Michael Blogs are micro-news? I like that, too.

@Kerry THOMAS PAINE IN THE HOUSE, YEAH!!! Everyone google him if you don’t know who he is — Kerry is not a geek and he is important to know.

By: Kerry

Kerry — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:10:49 +0000

Michael’s comment about citizen journalists reminded me of Thomas Paine. He’s the guy who wrote the pamphlet “Common Sense” (among others), which was instrumental in generating support for what became the Revolutionary War. Pamphlets were the blogs of the 1770s, and without them, there might not have been a break from England (at least not at the time and in the manner we studied in history class).

Or maybe I’m just a ginormous history geek and you all are like, “Thomas who?”

By: Michael VanDervort

Michael VanDervort — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:58:08 +0000

In my opinion, bloggers are a sort of citizen-Journalist with the essential difference being that they write news from their perspective without the level of “authority” and “responsibility” that someone writing on behalf of the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal is expected to demonstrate.

Maybe blogs are micro-news.

By: RMSmithJr

RMSmithJr — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:23:06 +0000

What Robert said. I was thinking the same thing as I was scrolling down to here. As an intermittent blogger myself, I would hardly ever describe my blog as breaking news. I would rather have it described as breaking ideas.

That does not in anyway diminish the contribution bloggers make to media. I look to journalism for facts and context. For analysis of what it may mean, I turn to the editorial page. Bloggers add context and analysis to the facts.

By: Robert LaGow

Robert LaGow — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 20:34:02 +0000

Bloggers are more like columnists, in my mind. Not necessarily journalists in the reporter sense.

By: Mary Ellen

Mary Ellen — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:47:31 +0000

I know a lot of bloggers struggle with ethics issues. I’m happy to share my ethics rules with anyone who is interested. One example: There’s not once piece of vendor schwag in my luggage right now. When I get free books, I give them away to readers like Laurie does or to appropriate charities. Women’s shelters are happy to get books about career topics, especially resumes and interviewing, for example. I don’t think most bloggers need to be as strict as I am as a journalist, but disclosure is very, very important.

By: akaBruno

akaBruno — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:12:19 +0000

@HRCrout. I don’t buy that “Bloggers are not journalists. They are not governed by any set of rules, standards, or ethics. They can and do throw all kinds of shiz out on the net with no consequence.” There are consequences in that credibility is lost when inaccurate, false, or misleading information is posted. Bloggers who continue to post nonsense will not be followed and their blog will be viewed as inconsequential.