Jim Bruggers, Conference Blogger Extraordinaire

As I was doing my post-conference roundup of coverage, I checked back with SEJ board member James Bruggers' Watchdog Earth blog. WOW! So far, I count 14 posts he did from the conference! I'm impressed.

Jim definitely represents one of the most encouraging things I saw at the SEJ conference -- talented, longtime journalists from print or broadcast media who really "get" blogging and other aspects of online, social, participatory, or conversational media. They aren't all actively participating as much as Jim is, but I rarely heard a journalist express the view that blogs and other new forms of media are a threat or inherently sinister. That's major progress.

Click the "continue reading" link below to see a list of Jim's SEJ2006 blog posts.

But first: Here's an open question to you, Jim Bruggers: How did you manage to post so frequently and so well from the conference? Literally, how did you handle this process? I'd love to see your answer in the comments below.

And now, Jim's posts...

1. Oct. 30: Travel as reality show
2. Oct. 28: Kentuckians at SEJ
3. Oct 28: Fuel cells to the rescue?
4. Oct. 28: Election questions
5. Oct. 28: Media and Climate Change
6. Oct. 27: Corporate green
7. Oct. 27: Cow pie in the sky idea? Maybe not
8. Oct. 26: Zebra mussels
9. Oct. 26: Rain Gardens
10. Oct. 26: Horsing around
11. Oct. 26: The dessert man
12. Oct. 26: Former epa official to pro industry group
13. Oct. 25: The Green State's green economy
14. Oct. 25: A guilt trip?

Comments

[James Bruggers]

Thanks Amy... I do have to say, though, that I see blogging as something of a threat to the type of investigative journalism I've been able to do in the past. I know you and talked a little about this at the conference, and I see benefits to blogging in terms of engaging a dialogue with readers, and being able to cover a wider range of topics. But every hour I'm blogging, I'm not digging through public records. And it does feel a bit like a monster that needs regular feeding.

Now, to answer your question: I almost missed my connection to Burlington with the first item, which was written in the Cleveland airport. I skipped a couple a few sessions of the conference, including the beat lunch, and the one on nukes. I posted late at night or early in the morning (before bed), then went through those items again after waking to clean them up.

I'm still struggling with my voice, though. As a straight news reporter in print, I need to be careful about venturing into opinion. And there's also a question about my audience: who is it? Is it local, regional, global? I am taken the approach that I am essentially writing for people in Kentucky and Indiana, which perhaps limits my audience.

It is fun, though. Now if I can just figure out how to get more page views without taking up much more reporting time. The technology sorta numbs my brain.

[James Bruggers]

Oh -- forgot to say that I bought the high speed internet service in my hotel room. So I'd dash back there to write and post. Might have been easier to post from sessions, live, but there are a lot of distractions at SEJ --namely, all of my SEJ friends. So the room was quiet and away from all that buzz.

[t-shirt]

T-Shirt - Forma - Tişört - Şapka - Şemsiye - Havlu - Çanta - imalat
Tekstil Promosyon
ÇANTA imalat - Seyahat - Bavul - SIRT - Bel - Plaj - Karton - Kagit - Poset - CANTA Üretici
Şapka imalat
Tekstil - Promosyon - Şapka - Yağmurluk - Atkı - Bere - Forma - İmalat - üretici - Ambalaj - Çanta
Şapka imalat
Tekstil imalat