How should news sites edit blogs?

Infoworld has launched a new Weblog, Tech Watch to report breaking news developments in the information technology world that every reporter at the Website can post to.

In the blog's first post, Mark Jones says one of the things that makes the Weblog unique from the rest of the publication is that "the copy desk is cut out of the loop. Goodbye production latency, and hello group editing!"

As more Web sites start using Weblogs, the question of how to edit them is increasingly going to be an issue news organizations need to confront. At Infoworld, as at many organizations, editors will proofread the items after they are posted. That may be fine for fixing typos, but it also means that no one is reading entries before they are published for accuracy and legal issues. If something libelous is published, editing it after the fact doesn't remove a site's liability. So reporters must be extra careful when operating under a model like this.

Should editors at news sites edit Weblog entries before they are published? Should they simply read them after they are published? Should they not edit them at all? What do you think?

Aug 01, 2003 | E-MAIL | SAVE | PRINT | PERMALINK | DISCUSS(1)

Discussion

1 comments about 'How should news sites edit blogs?'

I think they should be read but edited only rarely - in a more casual fashion, either before or after a new posting. Most journos are savvy enough to know what and how to post. They should be given their head for once, outside of an editor.

Posted by Mike Butcher at August 10, 2003 4:14 PM

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