Today's Wall Street Journal looks at the issue of newspaper-sponsored (or not) blogs and the reporters that write them. The story's anecdote is SiliconBeat by Mike Bazeley and Matt Marshall of the San Jose Mercury News
Topics covered include newspapers' responsibility for reporters' postings in their blogs; the use of anonymous sources; 'sanity checking' posts with other reporters before publishing (not a bad idea and something we here at PAN do prior to our posting on PRSpeak); and how newspapers are turning to blogs to compete for reader attention.
Of particular regional note for PAN, the article reports that The Boston Globe will soon allow its reporters to blog
From the article: "Now, more newspapers are warming to the idea of offering official reporter-written blogs. The Boston Globe is considering official blogs following the Mercury News's model. At the Dallas Morning News, more than 20 sports reporters contribute to a blog on the paper's Web site. Their posts must be screened by editors, but a spokesman said that requirement might be dropped."
I think everyone in the PR industry would welcome this trend. Just look at how well its working for Heather Green and Stephen Baker over at blogspotting.