Against Your Own: When blood isn't thicker than party affiliation

Community-specific blogs tend to have an apparent political slant. For instance, readers don't usually turn to blogs sponsored by Latinos to gain balanced insight on issues like immigration reform. But where do the alliances of such blogs lie when two prominent members of the same community are pit against each other?

In an article published on The Root, a blog dedicated to exploring the issues of African Americans, an article entitled, "The GOP's Nutty Negro," illustrates the intricacies these online communities, especially those centered around ethnicity and religious background, tend to tackle. The article explores comments made by Alan Keye's, whose appointment as the Republican Party's first black Chairmen has garnished controversy from Democrats who criticized the choice as a lackluster attempt by the GOP to showcase the party's diversity. The article criticizes Keye's for making outlandish claims against the validity of Obama's election.

And although the blog exercises the liberty to use controversial words like "Negro" in their articles and headlines, author Lawrence Bobo makes no attempt to reach across the ideological table in an act of black solidarity, calling Keye's "a dispecable lunatic."

The fact that the publication defends President Obama is no surprise. But their all out attack on fellow African American, Alan Keye's illustrates that the community blog is rooted in is more than just Africanness but also political affiliation and shared ideology; it proves that it is not just an online publication aimed at "providing news to a variety of black perspectives," but an online publication aimed at providing news to the majority of black [democratic] perspectives.

Local Blogs in Print Test the Future of Newspapers

If your favorite blog was printed with advertisements and handed out for free, would you be more inclined to read it? Joshua Karps thinks so. Creator and inventor of the The Printed Blog, Karps published the first edition of the blog in Chicago and San Francisco last January. Claire Cain Miller of the New York Times wrote an article discussing the potential success and failure of Karps's idea.

According to Miller's article, the The Printed Blog is currently printed weekly in two metropolitan cities, yet Karps plans on expanding the company to print twice a day in cities across America. Run solely by volunteers, the blog is printed on cheap 11'' by 17'' paper and paid solely through advertisement. Eventually, Karps plans on allowing subscribers to pick and choose which blogs they wanted published on delivered to their house.

Yet is this model sustainable in the long-term or is it a quick fix for the failing newspaper industry? Where is the market? Where is the need? David Cohen, founder of Silicon Valley Newspapers believes he has the answer.

"There's a huge readership that wants the local news, and local businesses tend to increase their advertising in bad times because they have to capture people's attention," he told the New York Times.

Hyper-local news is also a new phenomena, like blogs, changing the face of journalism. Last Tuesday, Barry Bar, creator of the Coastsider, a new website covering Half Moon Bay and surrounding newspapers, spoke to my Digital Journalism class and discussed the success of his online publication. The online edition competed against, and sometimes beat, local metropolitan newspapers for stories. The era of citizen journalism is here and, in some communities, very strong.

So receiving your news from such avenues of citizen journalism in print is only a natural progression, no? Only time will tell.

Do Layouts Help with Legitimacy?

When I browse my google results for whatever I may be looking for, I stop and analyze the websites layout. Before I read even one word to figure out if the site contains the content I need, I look for professionalism - the layout, the graphics, the feel of of the site - ultimately, I'm looking to know: "is this website legitimate?" and I usually answer that question before reading a single word. 

BBC.com recently revamped their website incorporating altering green black blue and white color scheme. The layout is simple, easy to use and graphics and photography driven. When I visit the site, I know what story is leading the day and navigating the boxes. Although the stories don't include the lead - or the first few lines of the story - I find it easy to manage. And the jaunty analogue clock in the top right corner provides the English branding the BBC is famous for. 

Each time I access the New York Times online, it feels like a newspaper has just landed on the doorsteps of my desktop. The top half of the narrow and long page resembles the above-the-fold front page of almost every popular newspaper in America. Text reigns supreme here as if it say "we have a lot to say and it's all really important!" But in a medium where space is virtually infinite, cramming text in columns and around photographs seems simply to remind readers, "hey, this is the New York Times."

But the most popular news blog, The Huffington Post, seems to find a happy medium while maintaining its own brand and look. With images being the attention grabber for viewers, the website acknowledges that the majority of online consumers consume pictures, and consume them well. But the site has something to say about text. In the true blog fashion, fonts and font sizes collides into each other with no real purpose or organization. Although full of character, I don't think it is the best way to convey legitimacy. And the fact that it takes me a whole 2 minutes to scroll all the way through the several pictures to the bottom does not prove friendly to those with low connection speeds.

Legitimacy is key online. When any Tom, Dick, Harry can buy some server space and publish any information he feels necessary, layout and professionalism is the one opportunity news agencies can tell the world, "Hey, we're different! We're legit! Look how much time, effort, and money we put in our layout!"