If the Gray Lady Could Blog...

The question du jour is if the NY Times had weblogs, what would they do, who would do the blogging, and how would it further the Times tradition of being the worldwide paper of record? The Times is called The Gray Lady, so the question is what if the Gray Lady could blog?

For background listen to Chris Lydon's interview with Len Apcar from the Times. It makes an interesting contrast to the Adam Curry and Jay Rosen interviews. I think you should listen to all three together.

Technology weblogs 

It's a no-brainer that weblogs staffed by competent technologists run under the Times banner could dramatically improve not only the editorial coverage, but also by increasing the circulation of accurate and timely information about technology, help the technology practice and business get back on track. There was a time when technology reporting was exciting. Today the excitement is happening in the weblog world. By working together, both sides could be elevated. I'm sure other areas could be similarly improved.

Note: I'm talking about technologists writing the weblog, not being covered by non-technologist reporters. That's a fundamental difference. In the weblog world we don't string together soundbites to create a "story" -- we continually cover an area, and comment on developments over time. And we like experts who are good at explaining things. Readers get to know the experts, learn how to triangulate. Instead of faceless reporters, individual points of view develop. Your weblogs support the technology reporters by giving them regular access to more sources. But you have to share those sources with other reporters, other bloggers, and your readers. But this is good if your mission is to help inform your readers.

A blog to cover the campaign blogs 

I'd start a Times blog to cover the campaign weblogs. I had numerous discussions with professional political bloggers (amazing that such a thing exists) at our weblog conference at Harvard, and I learned a lot and I'm figuring a lot of stuff out. There's a place for a Scripting News-style weblog that ties them all together. They're not doing it for themselves, and I don't think they know how to do it and even if candidates start covering each other, there's a need for coverage from a disinterested source.

I need a blog-of-blogs to quickly get up to speed every morning on what's going on, on the campaign blogs. As the 2004 campaign progresses, and as local races start using weblogs, there's going to be a lot more to follow. Of course its been proven that you need blogs (and aggregators) to follow blogs. The Times might as well get the ad revenue from the various campaigns. And what a fantastic opportunity to elevate the campaign for voters who want their vote to mean something. These are exactly the kind of people who turn to the Times for information.

Fast breaking news 

If you want to understand the central role weblogs can play in fast stories, look at the coverage of 9-11 on the day itself. I believed that someday we'd be having this conversation so I took a screen shot of the Times home page at 7:21AM. During the day we moved faster than the Times. We can mobilize very quickly in situations like that. We had hundreds of eyes, cellphones and digital cameras on the scene, on rooftops in Broooklyn and New Jersey and uptown. And bloggers, far away from NY (I was in Calif) coordinating. And we now have people in the Pentagon, and soon the White House and in all branches of government, education, law, you name it. The role of a great publication like the Times, if it moves now, will be to enhance the coordination, and distribute information -- the same business it's in today, but scaled up to the level that's now possible when we have so many people networked.

Reverse the flow 

Another thing the Times can do to leverage weblogs is to start running content from the weblog world in the paper. Open the doors, let us in. We're not writing letters to the editor as my friend Martin is so fond of saying. I am an expert in many of the areas that you cover, ones that are right at the leading edge of what you do. When we knock on the door, why not take it seriously?

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