Now that's a blog...

Art Golab from the Chicago Sun-Times spoke at DePaul tonight. He gave a real interesting talk.

He spoke about computer-assisted reporting, databases, and interactivity, and the importance of the Web in the future of newspapers. "Online will help us survive a little bit longer," he worded it. Gee, almost sounds like he thinks newspapers will be gone someday! Not exactly encouraging.

But, he did show us some really cool interactive/online stuff. He says that's definitely the future. And something interesting...he says computer/online knowledge isn't as important as good journalistic instincts. He says young people everywhere know computers well enough to work with them, but good journalism/good reporting is hard to come by, and that's key - not all have mastered that. Never heard it that way before.

One thing he showed us is a blog by Lynn Sweet from the Sun-Times. Now that's a blog, he said! And it is. I was really impressed. She follows politics and mostly Barack Obama's candidacy. Golab said, "if you're wondering where Obama is at any given time, check in at her blog, it's probably in there" - because she updates it frequently, often multiple times a day. She does photos, video, the whole thing. It is very impressive. He says being able to maintain a good blog, like Sweet's, is a useful skill for young people to master.