There’s been some interesting reaction to the job advertisements put out this week by The Guardian for the project I’m involved in.
Beatblogger isn’t a job title used much here in the UK as yet, and it’s prompted some common questions in the comments section of the initial news story about Guardian local, and elsewhere, which I thought I’d pick up here.
In addition, any potential applicants are invited to put their questions during a forum I’m taking part in about developing journalism roles which will be held next Thursday, October 22 between 1pm and 4pm at http://careers.guardian.co.uk/forums
Back to those points;
* Firstly, pay.
Although it’s normal practice for The Guardian not to state pay grades in its job ads (in common with many other news organisations), these are full-time paid positions.
* Are these bloggers, journalists?
All Media Scotland was one of those which asked if the term “beatblogger” was a new word for journalist. This is a role which has specific attributes and skills used to create a beat blog, a good definition of which is provided here by New York’s Prof Jay Rosen an extract from which states:
“Content-wise, a beat blog presents a regular flow of reporting and commentary in a focused area the beat covers; it provides links and online resources in that area, and it tracks the subject over time.”
For anyone interested in the specifics of what will be entailed, there’s detailed descriptions at the links at the bottom of the ads – this is the one for the Cardiff post, but the descriptions for Leeds and Edinburgh are just the same.
* What about experience?
This job could well appeal to experienced reporters with great contacts from traditional backgrounds but is just as likely to attract people who’ve set up community websites or blogs and have a passion for their locality. Rather than be too prescriptive about background, we’re asking people to demonstrate why they believe they would be successful in the role and how they feel equipped to cover the city.
Any potential applicants with further questions can log on to the forum debate next Thursday, October 22 between 1pm and 4pm at http://careers.guardian.co.uk/forums and it would be great to hear from any beatbloggers out there who want to share their experiences or offer any advice to potential applicants.
Dim Sum Digital 
@Sarah,
This is a question I get a lot. Simply having a blog and a beat does not make one a beatblogger. Rather, one most use social media, blogs and other Web tools to collaborate with users online, build a bigger network of sources and interact with users.
I’ve seen plenty of journalists who have blogs that I would never call beatbloggers. If you act in an old media, one-way communication way, you’re not a beatblogger. A good beatblogger greatly expands his network of sources by being social on the Web. That’s the key of beatblogging.
There are so many opportunities for us to produce better journalism and build bigger networks of sources utilizing beatblogging principles. One more point: one does not have to have a blog per se to be a beatblogger. Using social media and being social on the Web would be enough.
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That’s a great explanation Pat and a good point made about not always requiring a blog. I’ve also seen some journalists using the web and social media in a way which effectively blogs a beat. Many thanks for your contribution.
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It’ll be very interesting to see how these jobs actually develop. Very often a job can look very different in practice than it did in the job description.
But I do think that this model could very well be how journalism looks in the future.
Journalists essentially self-employed and paid on performance.
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Hi Kevin, yes I’m sure the roles will develop when the person is actually doing the job. You could well be right about journalism roles changing to self-employment but I should just re-iterate that the three jobs advertised are full-time paid positions on 12 month contracts.
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I’m curious too. In Manchester, where I live, the city is teeming with local blogs and many of them are really good – passionate, quirky, caring, well written and with a real sense that the bloggers are completely tapped into what is going on around them, whether that’s community development plans or a local campaign for or against something. Journalism comes in many shapes and sizes (and thank god or these days I might be prosecuted under the Trades Descriptions Act) – I see no reason why beatblogging couldn’t become part of local news delivery. I shall be watching developments at the Guardian with a great deal of interest.
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