Information about Media that you won't get anywhere else.....: Calling all Bloggers

This Thursday the Delcotimes will be hosting a blogging event at their office in Primos. The idea is to share like minded stories with area bloggers and discuss where we think local/hyper news is going. If you'd like to find out more about this, please join us. It starts at 6pm 1/12.

In preparation for Thursday's event, I got to thinking that I've never really explained this blog, why I do it and things I've observed. So, here's a couple FAQ's of the typical questions I get, along with my thoughts and answers.

How'd this blog start?

I've been blogging on and off since 2004, so I was always familiar with it. When I ran for office a few years ago I started a blog to voice my campaign. Back then nobody really understood blogs, at least not the mainstream. It quickly generated a following after the campaign and evolved from there. I soon kicked around a few names, one of which was "Media PA News,"but finally came to "All Things Media." That's why my twitter @mediapanews and youtube channels are named mediapanews.....I never changed them.
So, if you won the election what would happen to ATM?

It's not a matter of wanting to discontinue, I'd have to as an elected official. I think it's misleading to do otherwise and to have comments as an elected official on top of posts that were done prior...It wouldn't make sense. I would, however, blog under a something like www.councilmanwhatever.com. I posted my displeasure about this with mediapanews.com. Truthfully, Kent is a outstanding writer and he should continue, just under different format.
How much money does this blog make?

ZERO, in fact I spend a few hundred dollars for hosting, URL, equipment, and even t-shirts. This whole thing is driven by pure enthusiasm. If you start a blog, make sure you have the passion to sustain it.
Where do you get your content?

There's no shortage. It may come from emails, texts, daily observations or people I talk to on the street. Everyone wants to share something, sometimes it's more than I want to know. If I had more time I could do a lot more posts. Some posts I've had queued up for months, but just haven't published.
What's your policy on posts and comments?

Believe it or not, writing is not one of my favorite things to do so you won't find many posts more than 2 or 3 paragraphs long. Secondly, I don't think people would read much more than a few paragraphs no matter how interesting. Attention span is hard to keep on the internet. As for comments, I very rarely reply to "Anonymous" comments. If i do, it is to generally communicate a time or place.
How do you and the readers deal with controversial posts?

I've been called racist, Nazi, stupid, ignorant, uneducated and every other expletive you can think of. I've been cussed out in public, blogged about, trashed in papers, grabbed, poked in the chest and egged. On the other hand, I've received some of the nicest compliments you can imagine. I'm not writing about arts and crafts here, so I know what I'm in for. I don't take it personal.

The two most controversial posts, perhaps in all of Media blogging history, were my posts on Media Theatre and when Pete Alyanakian became Council President.
What posts receive the most hits?

Tragically, it's tragedy. The Houtman park suicide had people freaked out before we knew the reason of death. I was the one who asked for a statement from council via this blog, but I should have handled that differently. Local politics, severe weather and state st. events get a lot of attention too.
What do you like to write most about?

I like reporting on severe weather (snow storms, power outages) but I really enjoy recognizing people and events that make Media a better place.
Would you be open to guest writers?

Nah, not really. It's easy enough to start your own blog, which I would encourage someone to do before posting here.
Where do you spend online time when not on ATM?

I like local news sites. I wish someone did a blog about Marcus Hook as there's a developing story there. In fact, I visited the town and interviewed a few people to do a article, but didn't get time to finish it. I like the delcotimes.com too. Editor, Phil Heron has done a lot to get the community involved in blogging.
Stats?

This blog is almost 2.5 years old with well over 200,000 visitors, 733 posts and hundreds of comments. On popular stories, I've gotten over 1,000 visitors in a day.
Do you read other blogs?

I can't say that I do, but I like C-City Blogger. A blog about Chester, PA.
What's next for this Blog?

I'd like to do more video and try to cover live events. With help, ATM was the first blog to cover a Media election live. We used a program call "Cover It" which worked very well. I also tried to cover this year's Media Ball Drop with live video, but it didn't turn out too well.
Where will this blog and blogging be in 5 years?

Whether this blog is here, replaced by another or made into something else; I'm not sure. I am sure that this type of reporting (aka hypernews) is here to stay and will only expand. It's partly due to the technology, but mostly due to the content a town like Media has and the audience that's interested in learning more about it.