Assignment #3

Religion Blog (Dallas Morning News)
Plenty of interesting tidbits, and veteran writer Jeffrey Weiss keeps his topic lively, when it could normally get dry. But this blog has problems indicative of most blogs: very little related content. It's almost as if all of the DMN's blogs are in their own little world. They blog away each day, but very few print stories include a tease to the blog for readers to weigh. Yes, there are comment sections, but a blog should add to content, not be an entirely separate entity. If it becomes that, it replaces the newspaper. And nobody likes cannibalism.

Square Pegs (Pegasus News)
Same problem here, but Mike Orren's entries are perfect for blogs: short, to-the-point, and filled with links. If they expand out, they'll need blogs for specific topics. He's pretty all-over-the-map here. But again, where are the links to stories on the site? It's here that Orren updates readers on changes to the site, a good idea, especially for frequent visitors. To improve, this blog needs to be better categorized. It's too much of a hodgepodge.

Naked Politics (Miami Herald)
Now we're talking. Timely, constantly updated with pertinent information, and augments the print stories, rather than overtaking them. Much like the Herald's website itself, the layout is a little bland, but at least the content's there. It's well-categorized, and features good use of video, something the other two blogs I checked today barely attempted.

Unfair Park (Dallas Observer)
One thing a good blog needs: a great title. And the Observer blog certainly has that. But it's also an excellent example of what blogging can be: in-depth, insightful, and entertaining. Now that the Village Voice has syndicated all their film reviews, it gives Robert Wilonsky a chance to show his news-writing talent beyond being a cranky film critic.