Stop with the shameless self-promotion

Posted on March 5, 2007 by Melissa Worden

I’ve mentioned before how I don’t like the “let’s talk about how great our multimedia is” blogs newspapers are starting.

I’m not a fan of this new one by USATODAY.com, either.

Read the entries here. How do they server the reader except to serve as an ad to the site’s interactive content?

Comments

5 Responses to “Stop with the shameless self-promotion”

Patrick B on March 7th, 2007 4:40 pm

Then I suppose you’re not a fan of what Roanoke’s doing with their 404 blog?
Melissa Worden on March 7th, 2007 11:50 pm

I had to chew on this a bit. Thank you for challenging me, Patrick.

I actually am big a fan of 404. Why it and not the others? Because it provides more information to the readers than repurposing content and acting as a house ad (although I took a look at it again today, and with 13 “multimedia” posts, it seems to be morphing into a “look what we did today” blog.)

I’d rather see them find another way to promote the multimedia and use 404 to continue to focus on the other four categories they write about: Editorial process, new features, technical issues and Web development.
John Jackson on March 8th, 2007 8:38 am

Hi guys,

We’ve started the experiment to do daily multimedia, in that it’s reported, shot, produced and put live every day.

Because it’s very much in flux at the moment, and there’s no set time for it to go live, we decided it was best to use 404 as the test lab for the postings. Once we transition to the second month (with a new reporter), we’ll create its separate spot. To quote former Editor Mike Riley, we’re not letting the perfect be the enemy to the good. Stay tuned.
Melissa Worden on March 8th, 2007 10:11 am

Agreed.

To innovate, you need to experiment. And in doing that, it’s not always going to be perfect.

Just my personal opinion that I don’t like those kind of blogs because they seem so self-indulgent. But since we DO have such a difficult time promoting all this content that we invest time, money and resources into, maybe (at some point) I’ll have to backtrack and say the blog is the way to go?? I’m looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

Still, I personally prefer an RSS feed for the multimedia enthusiasts, like what www.mercurynewsphoto.com does.

Otherwise, don’t use a blog; rather, make it relevant to the reader by categorizing it in the appropriate news sections.
Melissa Worden on March 8th, 2007 9:54 pm

Interestingly, I went over the washingtonpost.com’s “Behind the Lens” to see how they’re doing since I last blogged about the blog.

Latest entry is date 1/12/07.

Doh!