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Here are some items related to weblogs and blogging that caught my attention over the past month.

TOP OF THIS LIST: Jay Rosen on BloggerCon III. On Nov. 6 there was a very interesting conference at Stanford Univ. – the third Bloggercon conference. I really wish I’d gone, but I’m glad NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen was there. It takes him a while in this redux article to get to the point, but he does nail it nicely. Excerpts:

“…a good number of participants–the majority, in fact–seem to think they are attending a tech conference. …BloggerCon is not a tech conference because blogging is not fundamentally for “techies,” it is for citizens, for everyone, by which we mean a good blogger could be anyone.”

“…When the tech industry is the base line for discussion, these people are called users, because that is how they stand toward the technology. But blogging is about how people stand toward their democracy, toward the public square, toward the First Amendment. Suddenly, when they start to blog, or comment at weblogs, they become producers of argument, of information, of social criticism and civic connection– producers of media in the same online space as Big Media. And if freedom of the press belongs to those who own one, bloggers own one.”

Read the rest of this list..

1. James Farmer’s blog threatened: On Nov. 2, James Farmer, author of the excellent online learning blog Incorporated Subversion, followup posting indicated that his blog would survive, although the deeper explanation of the university’s position frankly confused me. I wish Farmer luck, and so far his blog is still being updated. But other academic bloggers should beware of this incident. (Thanks to Weblogg-Ed for this link.)
2. Forbes: Blogs out, wikis in: See Extreme Blogging by Matt Rand, Dec. 15. This article is interesting, but it contains a serious overdose of gee-whiz. I love wikis too – I read them often and contribute to them. However, the fact is that to the average nontechnical internet user, wikis are still rather ugly and clunky to use. If you can get past that, they are entrancing. But a lot of people still won’t get past that. Also, I don’t think that wikis will supplant blogs. The two channels are eminently complimentary. (Thanks to Shel Holtz for this link.)
3. Journos and Bloggers: Can Both Survive?, by Staci Kramer, Online Journalism Review, Nov. 12. She asks – and answers – the right questions. Excerpt: “How can bloggers be treated as a community or act collectively and retain individuality? Why do many journalists and bloggers persist in seeing the world through either-or eyes instead of complementing each other? How can the blogging community avoid being pigeonholed based on the highly publicized work of a few bloggers, particularly in the political arena? Can more journalists learn to see the differences between bloggers and the wide range of purposes for blogs?”
4. Media Bloggers Association: This is a fairly new group for bloggers who cover “news/political media.” I’m not sure whether I’d qualify since I cover a bunch of other stuff as well as journalism, but I’m going to try. I like that one of their requirements is “Playing well with others.” I’ve pretty much had it with negativity lately. Wish me luck.
5. What is a Business Blog? On Nov. 10 Wayne Hurlbert pulled together a good list of business blog types and strategies. From Radiant Marketing Group
6. Free Corporate Blogging Primer from CorporateBlogging.info: Fredrik Wackå explains all the basics, including how to do a good business blog in 14 steps. (Thanks to Steve Rubel for this link.)
7. Kids are blogging, too: Check out this blog by Girly Girl. The stories are pretty cool.
8. Traveling the Too-Much-Information Highway, by Heather Hunter, New York Times, Nov. 14. Ah, the complications blogging can introduce to the dating scene. (Thanks to Catherine Dold for this link.)