Blogging news stories as they unfold is one of the most exciting and controversial applications of technology that bloggers have discovered. One thing that makes the blogosphere so active is the fact that it is possible to update a blog instantaneously, so the news on blogs tends to be more current than the news in the paper, or
on television. Unlike news delivered by these other media, news that appears on blogs does not have to travel through a series of editors and administrators before it reaches the public eye. This has some
advantages, and some distinct disadvantages.

One of the most notable cases of news hitting a blog before appearing in other media took place in July 2005 when terrorism struck London. As passengers were evacuated from a subway car near an explosion, one man took several photographs of the scene with his cellular phone, and within an hour these images were
posted online. First-person accounts of the catastrophe began appearing on blogs soon after these photos appeared, and people all over the world learned about the events in London by reading the words and seeing the photos posted by bloggers.

The fact that these stories and images were being spread directly by individuals operating without the added filter of a reporter helped to make the crisis feel very immediate to people across the globe. When it comes to blogging, news often appears in a very personal context.
This has the potential to be the beginning of an exciting new era of reporting, one that takes “New Journalism” to it’s logical next step by putting the power to shape how the news is written and read directly into the hands of the public.

Many bloggers and cultural commentators who are champions of the weblog movement feel that this growing trend of individuals who getting their news from blogs is a good thing, because it makes the flow of information more democratic. By decentralizing the control of news, blogs allow more voices to enter the field of debate about important current events. However, many people are adamantly opposed to the use of blogs as news outlets, and there are plenty of
good arguments on this side of the debate. Unlike newspapers or television stations, few blogs have fact-checkers, and there is little attention paid to journalistic accountability on many blogs. This can lead to the rapid spread of misinformation, and more than one falsehood has taken the blogosphere by storm. The questions about whether blogging news as it happens is ethical or not are very complicated, but no matter where you stand on the topic of current events blogs you are almost sure to agree that this movement has the potential to revolutionize how modern people get their news.

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My first black Friday experience went fairly smoothly. A heck of a lot better than the Wal-Mart worker who was run over by hundreds of shoppers. Girlfriend picked me up at about 12:30 P.M. and we drove to Summit Mall. After meandering around the parking lot because their were no spaces, we happened to get lucky and found one. Considering we were all hungry and I don’t like shopping on an empty stomach, we stopped by the food court. Boy was this place packed. We almost couldn’t find a table!

Once the food was consumed, then came the shopping. My main goal was to try and purchase Mario Kart for the Nintendo Wii. GameStop, FYE, and BestBuy all came up short. It looks like the Wii Fit and Mario Kart sold out at every store. So even though I didn’t get my Mario Kart, I decided to purchase RockBand for the Wii. It was only $109.00 and based on playing the game on display at BestBuy, will be a blast to play. I also purchased a rugged mouse pad which I’ve needed for quite some time. Now my laser mouse isn’t such a pain to work with considering I was using a wooden surface prior to the pad.

All in all, I didn’t go crazy by spending a load of cash and I managed to live to the tell the tale. I still can’t get over the fact that someone died because they were trampled by people running into the store but then again, half of me is not surprised. Hope your black Friday was a safe and enjoyable one.

What a great time that was had by all on episode 31 of WordPress Weekly where Keith and I had the chance to interview Lisa Sabin Wilson for about an hour and a half. We talked about her work with WordPress for dummies, the second edition of the book and all things WordPress, especially the design aspects. Listen to episode 31 and let me know what you think.