Confession: I have never been the fan of the title "blogger", because I have always felt that it is too simple and that anyone can do it. Since I decided to pursue a career in journalism, I always looked for ways to get away from being branded as a blogger. In the winter of 2011, I decided to launch Stirring Straw, a New York Yankees website aimed at providing fans analysis and news.
At first it was a blog with "blogspot" in the url. I was not a fan, so eventually I decided to purchase the domain name in hopes of giving the site a bit more legitimacy. I am trying to build upon the brand and try to get to beat writer level.
The Poynter Institute's News University has put together a new module on their site to instruct students on how a journalist runs a successful blog and it kept me thinking about Stirring Straw. It starts off talking about thinking of an intended audience. The Yankees have one of the biggest fanbases in all of sports, so as the content on Stirring Straw started to pick up along with action on Twitter, those fans started to find their way to my new site.
The success and popularity of the blog took off when the minor league coverage started to be added to the site. It is tough to find another Yankees blog that looks into the minors as much as we do with a balance in the Major Leagues. The goal behind this was to look at where we could get more readers and start to attract another following to the site.
The staff at Stirring Straw is comprised of several other writers in college along with a professional baseball scout in Japan. Our Twitter page has over 500 followers and continues to grow. Once we started to tweet out minor league stats and adding a prospect's Twitter handle, they would follow us and retweet it to their fans. The tweet goes out to a much larger audience and they now have the option of following The Stirring Straw.
The goal for Stirring Straw is to ultimately be recognized as a valued news/analysis website like some sites that are picked up by media outlets like the YES Network or ESPN. The only way to get there is to continue working on the site and continue blogging, which is what the course intends to get across to the readers.
I do not think I will ever come to terms with identifying myself as a blogger until I get to the point of doing it for a larger audience. I am a fan of having a blog as another place to continue writing additional pieces and tidbits, so that is a start for me at least.
At first it was a blog with "blogspot" in the url. I was not a fan, so eventually I decided to purchase the domain name in hopes of giving the site a bit more legitimacy. I am trying to build upon the brand and try to get to beat writer level.
The Poynter Institute's News University has put together a new module on their site to instruct students on how a journalist runs a successful blog and it kept me thinking about Stirring Straw. It starts off talking about thinking of an intended audience. The Yankees have one of the biggest fanbases in all of sports, so as the content on Stirring Straw started to pick up along with action on Twitter, those fans started to find their way to my new site.
The success and popularity of the blog took off when the minor league coverage started to be added to the site. It is tough to find another Yankees blog that looks into the minors as much as we do with a balance in the Major Leagues. The goal behind this was to look at where we could get more readers and start to attract another following to the site.
The staff at Stirring Straw is comprised of several other writers in college along with a professional baseball scout in Japan. Our Twitter page has over 500 followers and continues to grow. Once we started to tweet out minor league stats and adding a prospect's Twitter handle, they would follow us and retweet it to their fans. The tweet goes out to a much larger audience and they now have the option of following The Stirring Straw.
The goal for Stirring Straw is to ultimately be recognized as a valued news/analysis website like some sites that are picked up by media outlets like the YES Network or ESPN. The only way to get there is to continue working on the site and continue blogging, which is what the course intends to get across to the readers.
I do not think I will ever come to terms with identifying myself as a blogger until I get to the point of doing it for a larger audience. I am a fan of having a blog as another place to continue writing additional pieces and tidbits, so that is a start for me at least.