actually i know nothing about journalism (except that wikipedia page i just linked to). but as i was washing my hands in the bathroom thinking over the second half of the blogging conference, i wish there had been a session dealing explicitly with “what journalism is.”

journalists know, or think they know, but most bloggers (with the exception of anton and ed and dan) really don’t. and i think we could actually benefit from knowing more about what journalists do. i’m envisioning the need for a book entitled “journalism for bloggers.” i think this would help. at least i would find it interesting because i believe it’s along the lines of what i would like to do more of.

and so i presume (and maybe others have already pontificated on this topic) that what we currently think of as journalism and what we currently think of as blogging are merging. the economic equation suggests that this will have greater reprecussions on journalism than it will on blogging. there will always be a continuum, salwarts on either end holding out against the change, but i see a tall bell curve in the commingled future of journalism and blogging.

update from the news:

• The Blogs Must Be Crazy (Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal)
• Bloggers challenge traditional media (Ted Vaden, Raleigh News and Observer)

i was thinking today that i wish i could remember how long i’ve been hitting the trails off of estes.

then just now i happened to be adding titles to some of my old posts and stumbled upon a dated description of my second mountain biking venture.

the serendipity is worth noting. had i not been doing substantial blog maintenance, i would never have thought that my blog contained that information (or went back that far).

i’ve wagered that google does the same thing to the body of all (or most) information. before google, most people would have never thought to look up something trivial or esoteric. the cost would have exceeded the benefit. now a whole culture exists around seeking out that esoterica.

what my blog is missing is a search box. it acts as backup memory, yes, but it’s like a black box without a retrieval interface. then again, google owns blogger. i doubt i’ll have to wait long.