Activity Lesson Plans

Chapter 20: The Impact of Technology

Title
How are blogs changing journalism?

Introduction
Although web logs, or blogs, have been around for several years, blogrolls have more recently been having a big impact on journalism. In this activity students will review blogging basics, find out about the current state of the blogosphere, and explore the effects of blogging on the news media.

Lesson Description
Students will visit several Web sites in this lesson. The first two sites they will visit (About.com's Web Logs Glossary and (Answers.com) provide basic information about web logs. The next site they visit ("The State of Blogging") will provide current statistical data about web logs. The last sites they will visit ("When Everyone's a Journalist" and "When Bloggers Make News") discusses ways that blogging is impacting the news media. Students will answer questions related to definitions, statistics, or readings found on those sites.

Instructional Objectives

Students will become familiar with web logs and related terms.

Students will be able to filter and assess statistical data.

Students will become aware of the effects of blogging on the news media.

Students will be able to effectively navigate Web sites.

Student Web Activity Answers

Possible answer: A web log, or blog, is a Web site that lists diary-like entries or posts chronologically. These posts usually contain links to other sites and include a short summary of the referenced sites. Blogs are usually updated by an individual or a group of individuals who are interested in the web log's topic. This information was gleaned from both About.com and Answers.com.

Possible answers: According to About.com, a blogroll is a collection of links to other web logs; they are found in nearly all web logs. Answers.com has an almost identical definition: "A blogroll is a collection of links to other web logs. Blogrolls are found on most web logs."

Possible answers: According to About.com, permalink is the common term referring to the permanent link of a particular blog entry or post. A permalink enables easy referencing. It is often denoted with the symbol #. Permalinks may also be found either in the title, the date/time stamp, or a link graphic in the blog entry.

According to Answers.com, "a permalink is a type of URL designed to refer to a specific information item (often a news story or web log item) and to remain unchanged permanently or at least for a lengthy period of time.

Answer: According to Pew, 27% of American Internet users say they read blogs. This amounts to approximately 32 million Americans.

Answer: 38%

Answer: "These results come from two nationwide telephone surveys conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project: One was in the field between November 4 and November 22, 2004, and involved interviews with 1,324 Internet users. It has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points. The other was conducted between November 23 and November 30, 2004 involved interviews with 537 internet users. That has a margin of error of plus or minus five percentage points." Some student answers will vary.

Possible answer: More and more people have access to the relatively low-cost technologies used to create blogs or web publications.

Answer: According to Gillmor, ensuring accuracy and credibility is the biggest challenge to democratizing the news.

Possible answers: According to Wall Street Journal staff reporter Jessica Mintz, bloggers were the first to question the credibility of documents used in CBS's "60 Minutes" episode about President Bush's National Guard service; bloggers listed exit poll results that led many to believe John Kerry was winning the presidential election for much of Election Day; and some bloggers were paid by the political candidates they wrote about. Also, according to Carl Sessions Stepp, AJR senior editor and Professor of Journalism at the University of Maryland, bloggers led to Senator Trent Lott's resignation as Senate majority leader.

Possible answer: Both cite opinions about an issue or several issues.

Possible answer: According to Jarvis, blog readers often respond instantaneously to mistakes, and it is in the blogger's best interest to correct mistakes as soon as possible in order to retain a credible reputation. Reader feedback keeps bloggers accountable.

Answer: Yes.

Answer: Student answers will vary.