New Times acknowledges loss to readers in elimination of blogs

The New York Times is eliminating or merging into other blogs the majority of their 60 existing blogs. The process has been underway for awhile.

Regardless of whether the blogs were even blogs in the first place, or just reporting on blog software, the Times acknowledges something will be lost in the process.

From Margaret Sullivan (@sulliview), the Times’ public editor, in her piece today on what’s gained and loss.

…there is no doubt a loss in this move. When you’re very interested in a single topic, it’s great to have a place that constantly aggregates news and commentary, adds new information and, in general, speaks to your passion. And because the writers of blogs often are invested in the subject – “they tend to be labors of love,” [Ian] Fisher (assistant managing editor of the Times) said – their deep interest and knowledge paid off for the reader.

Now it’s gone. These days, that kind of specificity is no longer the way The Times wants to direct its resources – at least not in the form of a blog, and all that usually comes with it: embedded content, reverse-chronological order, curation of other source material and a personal or conversational tone.

Gone is the intimacy and trust developed between reporters who blog and their readers. Gone is the engagement on social media between readers and blogging reporters that takes place with this gained intimacy and trust.

As I explained to Sullivan in a comment, many of the Times’s reporters are like rockstars to me. I’d welcome getting to know and trust them even more through blogging and social media. I’d welcome feeling more of an emotional tie to the subject of a story coming from one of those blogging reporters via either their blog or the paper.

Fisher (@fisheri) is kidding himself if he believes content is content and that a blog is just a “manufactured shell,” as he calls it. He’s wacky if he really believes readers “will recognize blog-style pieces that crop up when needed through visual cues.”

I’d suggest law firms learn from the Times. Blogging is different than content in the form or articles, alerts, or white papers. A blog inside of your website isn’t a a blog either, you’re running with the Fisher manufactured shell logic.

With a blog you hit a niche with passion and experience and as a result develop relationships and a reputation as a trusted authority.

Don’t going looking for expediency like Fisher and think you can leave clues for your audience when you are looking to build trust with them. Blog.

Image courtesy of Flickr by Susan Sermoneta