There’s been some interesting reaction to the job advertisements put out this week by The Guardian for the project I’m involved in.
Beatblogger isn’t a job title used much here in the UK as yet, and it’s prompted some common questions in the comments section of the initial news story about Guardian local, and elsewhere, which I thought I’d pick up here.
In addition, any potential applicants are invited to put their questions during a forum I’m taking part in about developing journalism roles which will be held next Thursday, October 22 between 1pm and 4pm at http://careers.guardian.co.uk/forums
Back to those points;
* Firstly, pay.
Although it’s normal practice for The Guardian not to state pay grades in its job ads (in common with many other news organisations), these are full-time paid positions.
* Are these bloggers, journalists?
All Media Scotland was one of those which asked if the term “beatblogger” was a new word for journalist. This is a role which has specific attributes and skills used to create a beat blog, a good definition of which is provided here by New York’s Prof Jay Rosen an extract from which states:
“Content-wise, a beat blog presents a regular flow of reporting and commentary in a focused area the beat covers; it provides links and online resources in that area, and it tracks the subject over time.”
For anyone interested in the specifics of what will be entailed, there’s detailed descriptions at the links at the bottom of the ads – this is the one for the Cardiff post, but the descriptions for Leeds and Edinburgh are just the same.
* What about experience?
This job could well appeal to experienced reporters with great contacts from traditional backgrounds but is just as likely to attract people who’ve set up community websites or blogs and have a passion for their locality. Rather than be too prescriptive about background, we’re asking people to demonstrate why they believe they would be successful in the role and how they feel equipped to cover the city.
Any potential applicants with further questions can log on to the forum debate next Thursday, October 22 between 1pm and 4pm at http://careers.guardian.co.uk/forums and it would be great to hear from any beatbloggers out there who want to share their experiences or offer any advice to potential applicants.
[...] 16, 2009 1 Leave a Comment Sarah Hartley, Guardian local launch editor, has been musing on reaction to the advert for beatbloggers in Media Guardian earlier this week. She clarifies that the posts are [...]
Beatbloggers part 4 « Between the lines
16 Oct 09 at 1:18 pm
@Sarah,
This is a question I get a lot. Simply having a blog and a beat does not make one a beatblogger. Rather, one most use social media, blogs and other Web tools to collaborate with users online, build a bigger network of sources and interact with users.
I’ve seen plenty of journalists who have blogs that I would never call beatbloggers. If you act in an old media, one-way communication way, you’re not a beatblogger. A good beatblogger greatly expands his network of sources by being social on the Web. That’s the key of beatblogging.
There are so many opportunities for us to produce better journalism and build bigger networks of sources utilizing beatblogging principles. One more point: one does not have to have a blog per se to be a beatblogger. Using social media and being social on the Web would be enough.
Patrick Thornton
16 Oct 09 at 9:13 pm
That’s a great explanation Pat and a good point made about not always requiring a blog. I’ve also seen some journalists using the web and social media in a way which effectively blogs a beat. Many thanks for your contribution.
sarahhartley
17 Oct 09 at 8:45 am
It’ll be very interesting to see how these jobs actually develop. Very often a job can look very different in practice than it did in the job description.
But I do think that this model could very well be how journalism looks in the future.
Journalists essentially self-employed and paid on performance.
Kevin Matthews
19 Oct 09 at 9:59 pm
[...] Beatblogging – what is it? "…any potential applicants are invited to put their questions during a forum I’m taking part in about developing journalism roles which will be held next Thursday, October 22 between 1pm and 4pm at http://careers.guardian.co.uk/forums." (tags: hyperlocal journalism) [...]
links for 2009-10-19 | Joanna Geary
19 Oct 09 at 10:01 pm
I’m curious too. In Manchester, where I live, the city is teeming with local blogs and many of them are really good – passionate, quirky, caring, well written and with a real sense that the bloggers are completely tapped into what is going on around them, whether that’s community development plans or a local campaign for or against something. Journalism comes in many shapes and sizes (and thank god or these days I might be prosecuted under the Trades Descriptions Act) – I see no reason why beatblogging couldn’t become part of local news delivery. I shall be watching developments at the Guardian with a great deal of interest.
Louise Bolotin
19 Oct 09 at 11:40 pm
Hi Kevin, yes I’m sure the roles will develop when the person is actually doing the job. You could well be right about journalism roles changing to self-employment but I should just re-iterate that the three jobs advertised are full-time paid positions on 12 month contracts.
sarahhartley
20 Oct 09 at 11:28 am
[...] Beatblogging – what is it? « Sarah Hartley "Beatblogger isn’t a job title used much here in the UK as yet, and it’s prompted some common questions in the comments section of the initial news story about Guardian local, and elsewhere, which I thought I’d pick up here." (tags: beatblogging blogging sarahhartley guardianlocal) [...]
links for 2009-10-20 « News, Software and All you need
20 Oct 09 at 5:17 pm
[...] Sarah Hartley, the Guardian Local launch editor, is setting up the new network of citizen journalists. An advert for the jobs has now gone online on the Guardian website so it looks like this new reporting network will be up and running by early next year as planned. [...]
Wolfstar: public relations (PR), social media and word of mouth (WOM) marketing and communications : Wolfstar
26 Oct 09 at 12:05 pm
[...] be fair to those involved, Sarah talks in more detail about exactly what the position requires on her own blog. And god knows it’s nice to see some high profile digital editorial recruitment up here, even [...]
Can you feel the beat, blogger? « Please Stand By
26 Oct 09 at 8:41 pm
[...] you answer, you will want to jump across to Sarah Hartley’s blog who answers some of the more immediate [...]
Journalism Flash Forward: Could the Guardian’s ‘beat blogging’ posts be the future of journalism « Hot Good News
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