So, you didn’t go to journalism school–and nobody but WordPress is going to publish your findings?
If you find a story you care about, stick with it–you’ll be doing what “real reporters” too often can’t do.
Here are some of the things that I did with the NH phone-jamming scandal:
- Create a timeline with lots of hyperlinks, to help new readers figure out what happened when.
- Create a reference page with a who’s-who list.
- Go to public court hearings and
report on what you find out. - Blog quotes from local papers or citizen opinions. That way, even if they disappear into some newspaper’s invisible archives, people can still read the copy that you’ve preserved.
- When you see something that’s wrong, blog it loud and clear.
- When you see something that’s fishy, dig into it and blog your discoveries.
Lisa Williams wants me to make the point that “blog journalism” doesn’t just mean copying stuff real journalists dig up. Here are some phone-jamming discoveries I dug up for myself with the help of Google:
- Convicted felon Chuck McGee still depends on NH Republicans for his livelihood.
- James Tobin made major donations to Republican “fixer” Tom Delay and others in the anxious run-up to his indictment.
- Was there a smoking gun in 2004 that would explain the RNC’s eagerness to keep Tobin happy by paying his legal bills?
- Should US Attorney (and Bush appointee) Thomas Colantuono have recused himself from the Tobin investigation?
Soon after my Colantuono blogpost, the senior Democrat in the House Judiciary Committee raised some of the same questions I did, and asked Gonzales to appoint a special prosecutor.
So you never know just who, out there, might be reading your blog!