Flirting with the blogs

Weblogs Almost every major Swiss
media company has expanded its online presence in recent years with weblogs
supplemented. An initial interim assessment.
This much is certain: weblogs are a
Success story on the Internet. Everyone wants to be part of it and not a
miss the Internet train again. Millions and millions of people have
decided - for whatever reason - to use the network for the first time.
actively participate in shaping the future. Using text, images or sound, they present their
View of things. Very few weblogs have anything to do with journalism.
do. The contributions are mostly subjective, facts are - if
only checked after publication.

The audience doesn't care, it puts its money where its mouth is when reading, listening and watching the
Weblogs also do not apply the same standards as with the
Reading a quality publication. What interests us is entertainment
and interactivity; the opportunity to add your own two cents.
be able to praise, criticize or, if necessary, comment on the author's contribution.
to be added.

Over the past two years, practically all of Switzerland's
major media companies and broadcasters have decided to use these
young media form into their Internet portals. In most
In some cases, editors or external authors were commissioned to
to speak freely online on a specific topic. This is how
Tagi reporter Hugo Stamm in his weblog on sectarian issues, TV talkers
Kurt Aeschbacher keeps a public diary in the classic sense
and the editors and presenters of the DRS youth radio station Virus
write straight from the horse's mouth what is going through their heads
goes.

Unlike on paper or on the airwaves, the audience can hear the statements
of the journalists. In some cases, this results in
fruitful dialogs. However, it can also happen that
Internet rioters misunderstand freedom and use inappropriate
to insulting statements. But also with
The authors' discipline sometimes leaves something to be desired. Not that
the journalists on the net pulled out their two-handed sword. On the contrary.
They remain silent. SonntagsBlick editor-in-chief Christoph Grenacher has
has not written anything down in his weblog for three months and
SF editor-in-chief Ueli Haldimann also uses the direct channel to the
audience only very rarely.

From reader to author
Another way to integrate weblogs into the online presence of a mass media
The French-speaking Swiss publishing house Edipresse is pursuing a new approach to integration. Its
The free title Le Matin Bleu offers readers the opportunity to
possibility to set up their own weblog. Who can use the
Terms and Conditions agrees that
Articles from his weblog printed free of charge in the free newspaper
quasi as a quid pro quo for the publication instrument, which Le
Matin Bleu free of charge. The offer is well received.
Within a few weeks, 4300 people have created their personal BleuBlog
opened, and the trend is rising.

The fusion of mass media with the "media of the masses" is
is the order of the day. Since the Internet has become
increasingly developed into a global publication space
the media companies are challenged: How do they achieve a
young audience that has grown up with the Internet? With
offers that meet journalistic quality standards, from the
form and the interactive possibilities to meet the needs of
of a growing multimedia generation, want to
they can now achieve this. With good prospects of success, finds
Roger Fischer from the Zurich-based weblog provider Kaywa. The bottom line is
that additional online content - whether from authors or the
audience - which increases the attractiveness of a medium
fundamentally increased.

Nick Lüthi