We Want Media

Peter Mucha of The Philadelphia Inquirer provides readers with live, first-hand accounts of events on his blog “Live From …” on Philly.com. He is able to post to his blog from nearly anywhere to give his readers up-to-the-minute news from the front lines. Check out his blog on the Inquirer site here. Here are some of his insights on the blogosphere and how it has had an impact on The Inquirer:

1. What is the most surprising thing you’ve learned from blogging?

The most surprising thing I've learned from blogging? Not sure. I've had lots of surprises. Maybe I should turn this around, and say what I've learned.

Traffic is tough to get, and it's very dependent on who comes to the website hosting you, if you're lucky enough to have one. Philly.com’s visitors are mostly interested in sports, so writing about sports, and getting links off the sports pages really boosts the hits. Last March my old blog, Early Word , got 220,000 hits mostly by having daily links to rumors about football moves.

Humor, though, wasn't supereffective with this audience. I think it's because the online audience is in a rush. They're sneaking peeks at work (our traffic is mostly midday weekdays), and they're looking for news about this specific trade or score or signing.

I'm doing an experiment in live blogging now (or was until we had this big server/software switch that has me re-creating pages for a few weeks), and the biggest surprise for me, is that, well, I can actually do it. I take photos and write and get it up immediately on Net, all while walking around ... through the Mint, at a Phillies ticket sale, at a school for a Donovan McNabb appearance, at a political rally. I rigged up a kind of platform for my laptop. Two clicks and carabineers hook this mesh shelf to my belt, a strap connected to the far corners goes around my neck. Pretty weird, but actually works. I get lots of comments.

On my own, I do this blog called www.stealmyideasplease.com , and I've learned, well, the book Google Hacks is wrong: Just because you build a big website (I have a couple of hundred posts) and are careful about using lots of keywords doesn't mean people will find you. You can't just write. You have to go out there, visit other sites, link to them, make friends, do a little link name-dropping. Gotta get publicity, and reciprocal links. Even then, as is clear, you can't just be a solo show. Everybody wants a piece of the limelight, so I probably should create more of a forum where everybody can show off their own ideas.

2. How has blogging benefited The Inquirer?

It's opened some minds about other ways to practice journalism.

Stories I've found have made their way into print -- sometimes reported by me, more often by other writers in better position to follow through ...

Our best blogs have also gotten more hits online than almost any news stories do. (Sports always does well.) I think that's because blogs, like podcasts and video and chats, all add a sense of discovery for people. Even if Blogger A isn't all that much better than Columnist B, there's a gee-whiz snowball effect for the Website ... people never know what they'll find here. That's less true of the newspaper.

Helps writers connect more with readers ... and look at stories in new ways.

The biggest surprise of working online? That so many busy journalists will eagerly give it a try. We ask our staffers who'd like to blog, or do an audio interview, or host a Q&A. It's refreshing and bodes well for wherever it is journalism is headed.

Also, check out Mr. Mucha’s personal blog, which you can find here

UPDATE: Here's another cool site to check out. Mr. Mucha explores the future of newspapers in the digital age. Mucha says papers can survive -- they just have to be willing to try some new techniques.