"Confessions of a student blogger" by Brian Stetler

Stetler, Brian. "Confessions of a student blogger." Society of Professional Journalists 94.6 (2006): 31-32. 16 May 2009. (link)

Brian Stetler, a mass communication student, began a blog called Cable Newser in the middle of his freshman year at Townsend University, where he published posts on cable news channels.  Stetler never imagined his readership would soar as it did, and in 2004, he was featured in The New York Times, landing him a job with a media networking company called mediabistro.com.  Stetler owes the success of his blog, which is now called TVNewser, to “applying [his] interest in the news and [his] passion for journalism to a new publishing tool” (31). 

Where is Stetler now?  He graduated from Townsend University in 2007 and joined The New York Times as a staff reporter in the business section.  Stetler adamantly encourages university students to begin and maintain a quality blog.  For the average student, blogging can provide an active portfolio of his or her work; for journalism students, writing about something they are passionate about will help them to develop and become well educated in that area; they will cultivate a unique “voice” of their own for their writing; they will produce potential clips; and they will be applying “journalism skills to a brand new platform of publishing (31).”  Through the regular use of a blog, a writer can skillfully develop an awareness of audience, which is what Stetlan views as one of the most important factors in a career as a successful journalist.