Beat Blogging

I was unable to attend the lecture by Katherine Fong; however I did take a look at Beatblogging.org to learn a little bit about the practice. The idea is to determine how valid and influential social networking and other web based tools can be in contributing to a reporters beat. Beat bloggers have been successful at getting their readers to help them further a story.

I find that Beat bloggers are even more important at the community level. It is an interesting idea that every day people can help contribute to the news. It shows how the web helps bring people together and deliver information.

On latimes.com there is a story about homeowners that are being scammed by individuals claiming to be bank officials and saying that they can stop their houses from being foreclosed. This article is an example of a story that could benefit from beat blogging. If citizens banned together they could spread the word of warning preventing others from being a victim. In addition, it is an example of a way that social networks and web tools can be used to stop criminal activity. If the news spread about the scam, those behind the scam may stop.

If citizens continue to actively participate in the news it will be more likely for news corporations to target their audience. You have to know who your public is in order to provide them with the information that they want and need. Beat blogging is a really good way for the public to get involved and stay engaged with the news.