Knowing Everything About Something

Jay Rosen’s idea of how new journalists should “know everything about something” relates to our group project a lot. In her article she speaks a great deal on having a niche blog which is a blog on only one thing and that is basically what this group project is. We are creating a very specific blog style website and podcast on a specific topic- phobias. When you know everything about the thing your blog is about, you are more well rounded on the subject and can be trusted much more. You are able to focus on that one topic and can be relied on for the information or updated news on your topic from the people who trust you. With our group project, by knowing everything about phobias, we will be able to produce a fluent, well rounded podcast along with a very informative website. Having all of this knowledge will also help us reach the requirements for the assignment and produce quality work. Also knowing everything about something can allow you to start small and work your way up. Niche blogs are a great way to start up your name and can eventually turn into a business with a lot of consistency and hard work. However, the more you know, the better your work will be. Although this is just a class project and we are not trying to start a business on phobias or anything of the sort,the general premise of Jay Rosen’s article is really beneficial to consider. 

Only using interviews are simply not enough for a niche blog or really any informative piece of work because it does not demonstrate your own knowledge on the topic. People will just view you as a host or something rather than actually being intelligent on the subject and providing useful and reliable research. Although interviews are a great source to include in blogs and podcasts because it brings in real life examples and outside knowledge, they are not enough to show your credibility. They are a great complement to your work and research but cannot just stand alone. You cannot expect an interview to do the best for your work as it possibly could with other forms of research. Because interviews are not enough, we used other forms of research in addition to interviews. Our group conducted our own research by sending out a survey to 65 college students. We also found research done by other people with the use of our college’s library and the internet. These were in the form of articles, books or video.