Rita Pushes Blogs, Rich Maps to Forefront

Iria · Sep 23, 2005, 11:27 PM

(09-23) 14:00 PDT (AP) -- As Hurricane Rita approached, editors at the Houston Chronicle decided to experiment: They hand-picked about a dozen Web diarists and asked them to post regular dispatches on the newspaper's online blog — all without any editorial intervention.

"One of the benefits to blogs is that they tend to be more personal, they tend to provide more the emotional feel of an event," said Dwight Silverman, the Chronicle's interactive journalism editor. "In traditional reporting you put on your poker face and do your writing. ... It's not supposed to be the writer's emotions."

The Chronicle set up a second blog for its own staff writers — this one edited — to post anecdotes and other info before they appeared in any stories, print or online. And science writer Eric Berger devoted his regular blog, SciGuy, to the storm.

Besides the Chronicle's blogs, Web surfers were able to get firsthand accounts Friday through podcasts and photographs. They could track the storm using Google-powered maps. And they could find housing and other emergency information from government and private Web sites.
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Read More / Source: SFGate

Sep 23, 2005, 11:27 PM	#1
Iria DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 7,275 Rep Power: 89	Rita Pushes Blogs, Rich Maps to Forefront (09-23) 14:00 PDT (AP) -- As Hurricane Rita approached, editors at the Houston Chronicle decided to experiment: They hand-picked about a dozen Web diarists and asked them to post regular dispatches on the newspaper's online blog — all without any editorial intervention. "One of the benefits to blogs is that they tend to be more personal, they tend to provide more the emotional feel of an event," said Dwight Silverman, the Chronicle's interactive journalism editor. "In traditional reporting you put on your poker face and do your writing. ... It's not supposed to be the writer's emotions." The Chronicle set up a second blog for its own staff writers — this one edited — to post anecdotes and other info before they appeared in any stories, print or online. And science writer Eric Berger devoted his regular blog, SciGuy, to the storm. Besides the Chronicle's blogs, Web surfers were able to get firsthand accounts Friday through podcasts and photographs. They could track the storm using Google-powered maps. And they could find housing and other emergency information from government and private Web sites. __________ Read More / Source: SFGate