The Blogging Issue

Heralded by some as the next wave in journalism and dismissed by others as a C-SPAN for cranks, weblogs -or blogs, as they have come to be known- have become a medium and a community unto themselves within the larger medium of the web. These online diaries have mushroomed from the hobby of a few tech-savvy individuals into a hugely popular, do-it-yourself media movement on the Net.

ReadMe's third issue explores the influence that these digital diaries have had on Web culture and journalism. Christina Capobianco and Meeta Shah explore how weblogs have helped college students tackle their problems through self-discovery. Kirk Peterson explains how online diaries have served as forum of group therapy for dealing with the pain and confusion brought on by the events of September 11. Matthew Zeidman, in his profile of Blissqueen's blog, Sounding, speaking, shining, burning… explains how blogs offer us a chance to view the Net through the eyes of idiosyncratic and opinionated individuals. Diana Espinoza and Juan Antonio Pastor investigate how the mainstream media is being challenged by the opinions churned out daily via these online journals. Ruta Rimas explores the opportunities that blogs can offer magazines that have been unable to thrive as print publications. On a different note, Ryoji Yamada explores the way in which Chapon.org has used the blog format to create an online space where Japanese and American cultures can intermix. Genevieve Ranieri describes how weblogs have helped fill the void that mainstream media publications have created when it comes to websites directed towards women. And finally, Craig Roush explores how female blogger Sarah B. Quigley has kept her readers entertained by writing fictionalized, third-person accounts of her life adventures.

Although some online media critics have decried blogging as just another passing Internet fad, the influence of this emergent phenomenon is visible in retractions published by mainstream media outlets as a result of errors flagged by watchful bloggers. In theory, at least, blogs hold forth the possibility of a more populist media, a new, new journalism that proves that corporate media does not have a monopoly on the way we view the world.

Posted: 12.06.02, (Issue 3).

In :
The Medium and the Message.

Instapundit.com and the Rise of Online Opinion Journalism

Blogging has been both dismissed as yet another Internet fad and heralded as a force that could transform journalism and the nature of the online community. The popularity of blogs such as Instapundit.com, however, has made one thing clear: mainstream media's established punditocracy is no longer at the forefront of opinion making.

by Juan Pastor
Posted: 11.18.02, (Issue 3).

In :
The Medium and the Message.

Weblogs: A More Democratic Medium?

Increasingly, people are turning to the Internet as a public forum. But will access to the world's biggest soapbox give rise to mindless opinion-mongering, or is it our last best hope for a more democratic media?

By Diana Espinosa
Posted: 12.06.02, (Issue 3).

Life, Love, and Lobster Rolls

In a city with countless stories to tell and countless blogs to tell them, is there anything left to say? Blissqueen thinks so. In Sounding, speaking, shining, burning...., the pseudonymous blogger chronicles her love life, reflects on her mother's death, and shares her close encounters with lobster rolls, never letting us forget what's truly important in life.

By Matthew Zeidman
Posted: 12.06.02, (Issue 3).

Bright Blogs: Beacon for Women

Weblogs fill the void left by mainstream websites geared towards women.

by Genevieve Ranieri
Posted: 12.06.02, (Issue 3).

More Bounce-Back than a Rubber Ball:
After Alt.culture magazine

BoingBoing loses its print home, it finds a new domain on the Web.

by Ruta Rimas
Posted: 12.06.02, (Issue 3).

Rachellucas.com: Blogging Against the Tide of Mainstream Media

Sept. 11 shocked thousands of opinionated individuals into publishing their thoughts and ideas on the Web. Rachellucas.com is just one example of this new wave of homespun punditry that is captivating the minds of casual websurfers and Web experts alike.

by Kirk Peterson
Posted: 12.06.02, (Issue 3).

Blogging Your Way To Self-Discovery

College students are trading the therapist's couch for the computer desktop. The path to finding themselves just might lie in a weblog, some say.

by Christina Capobianco
Posted: 12.06.02, (Issue 3).

Strangers in a Strange Land

Weblogs enable students adrift in the big city to create communities (if only virtual ones) online.

By Meeta Shah
Posted: 12.06.02, (Issue 3).

Intercultural Interface

Using a blog format, Chanpon.org creates an online culture that intermixes Japanese and American cultural characteristics.

By Ryoji Yamada
Posted: 12.06.02, (Issue 3).

Pay No Attention to That Woman Behind the Blog

By writing fictionalized, third person accounts of her life's adventures, blogger Sarah B. Quigley entertains readers and keeps her privacy.

By Craig Roush
Posted: 12.06.02, (Issue 3).

Revenge of the Nerds: Slashdot.org

Posted: 12.06.02, (Issue 3).