To blog or not to blog?

I am now back in the fold of academia.  Our Thursday afternoon assignment is to set up a blog and answer the question: ‘what is the point of a journalism student having a blog?’

For me, it is a no-brainer.  As journalists we tell stories about the world around us.  We want people to know what we know.  We want to inform, educate, engage in conversations.  For this, we need readers, and we need readers beyond the reach of local or national papers if we are lucky enough to work for them.  When I blog, anyone who reads English can reach me and I can reach them.  It is not only a way for me to showcase my talents, such as they are, but also a way to practice journalism outside of the mainstream.  If I’m lucky people will stumble across my posts.  I can improve the chances of this by using keywords or linking to other websites and encouraging others to link to Starkadder.

Over the summer, Starkadder provided an arena in which I could hone my news instincts and be disciplined about writing regularly.  For others, blogging offers the opportunity to write about things that fall outside of their usual remit.  Although I haven’t got round to it yet, blogging is an excellent way to demonstrate one’s all-round brilliance as a multimedia journalist (embedding video, audio etc).  One day, I will reach these heights.  In the mean time, making sure that you fulfil the lofty ideals of journalism in your blog is great practice for the real world.  If I ever join the real world.  If there are any jobs left when I graduate next September.  Fingers crossed, eh?