Newspaper interviews blogger. (me)

[brainshrub]

For those of you who are subscribing to the DU Journal "Brainshrub - Best. Journal. Ever!" (BBJE!) here is your first SEO tip:

It pays to let the local press know who you are.

For example, last week a local journalist was doing a story on blogging and the first amendment. We talked at great length about the role of blogging in journalism. Today the Asheville Citizen-Times ran the story and mentioned my name, and blog, several times:

Free speech alive and well in the 'blogosphere'

“What blogs do is they open the public square again. That’s their strength,” said Paul -V- of Asheville, who writes the political blog Brainshrub. “The weakness of blogs is it’s still to be determined whether blogs can cause serious social change.”

-V- was a journalism student but says he became disillusioned with journalism. -V- says he can get away with a lot more on his blog than a journalist.

“My problem with the mainstream media isn’t that they are biased. It’s that they pretend that they are not. That’s what frustrates me,” -V- said.

<snip>

-V- says bloggers have their own set of protocols, what he called “a new set of firewalls.”

“It’s a self-regulating system,” he said. He adds blogging is interactive, and anyone who disagrees can post their own thoughts or start their own blog.

And blogs can play a role in broader journalism, breaking news stories, according to -V-.

“The ‘blogosphere’ allows citizens to influence the mainstream media the same way public relations flacks influence (the media),” -V- said

So how do you get the press to know who you are so when they have a question they call you?

Admittedly, luck plays a small role here. But you can up your chances by regularly sending press releases about stories you are proud of to the local media. Reporters no longer ignore press-releases from bloggers. (Trust me on this.)

Also, be extra-nice to the mail-clerk and lower-rung employees of news organizations. ;)

If you do get interviewed, the key to talking to journalists is to get to the point quickly. Only get into the funny anecdotes after you've made your key points first.

Be respectful of the reporters time. Her job is not to publicize you: It's to write a story before the deadline that her readers will appreciate.

PS: Just in case you're curious, I removed my last for this post and replaced it with "-V-". They used my real last name in the paper.

Peace,

Paul -V-
www.brainshrub.com

[TomInTib]

1. k&r. Way to go, Paul.

We can bitch and moan on DU all we want. And it will stay right here.

Or we can get it to the press.

That is the real engine, even at the local level.

Great tips.