Eric Zorn has a lengthy discussion of how news organizations should approach journalists’ blogs and I think it is an excellent take on the issue.
The thing left out is that journalism is changing and changing very fast. Blogs aren’t the future of news reporting, but they may well become the future of news analysis and perhaps most importantly for news organizations, the future of tying readers to your paper or web site.
Having distinctive voices showcased is the way to tie in readers to newspapers especially. The reader letter/calls columns sort of did that in the past, but now there is a far more direct and efficient way of communicating. This is the huge mistake with the Red Eye. Instead of tieing it into the on-line version with a reciprocal relationship, the Red Eye is primarily a paper only.
The oddest thing is the Trib now has a columnist with a reciprocal relationship between print and electronic versions, but he is a part of the flagship. The Red Eye should have all of its columnists blogging and the entertainment reporting should be tied into on-line extras with every story.
That said, I’m a bit less optimistic about most reporters blogging. First, it takes time and many probably have families and the like. Second, it won’t work for everyone. Some people don’t have a writing voice that is distinctive and easy to connect with for the reader. Columnists naturally have this–or at least many do. Reading Eric Zorn’s work is like reading conversation with a friend. Royko was certainly like that and Kass is like that. Mary Schmich has that quality too. Steve Chapman does in a very different way–he’s a wonky friend. Don Wycliff certainly is conversational as Bruce Dold was before him. John McCarron and Carol Marin are more wonky friends. At the Sun-Times Debra Pickett is the most obvious personal voice along with Mark Brown.
In contrast, Novak, Steve Neal and Clarence Page are more traditional writers who offer up arguments and not the same personal relationship. Blogging wouldn’t work for them. Hell, television doesn’t work for Novak.
The point being that for a blog to work, it has to be a conversation and too much editing would get in the way of that. However, a trusted reporter/columnist already knows the rules of what they can easily say and what they can’t. If they aren’t sure, they can hold that back. I do that even on this tiny blog.