I just left the S.C. newsplex after participating (in a very small way) in their experiment photoblogging the South Carolina primary.

I encourage everyone to check the site for some excellent up-to-the-minute photographs from the entire day of the South Carolina primary. I originally planned to take photos myself of the primary, but after finding out about this project, I called off my plans.

I wanted to add these thoughts to the primary page because it highlights one area where trad media can play a role in this blogging thing. Thoughts:

1. Top-down execution: the newsplex experiment maintained a traditional top-down command structure, with directors at the newsplex accepting submissions from the journalism students out in the field. This is one MAJOR difference between the “professional” approach and the decentralized approach of the Command Post. I don’t think this is necessarily a better approach, but it’s different, and something that we could never provide at the Command Post. Main reason: dedicated manpower.

2. Photophones performed well. I admit that I’m somewhat skeptical of the utility of photophones in regular journalism, but they showed their utility in the hands of these groups of students. The key was that there was more than one reporter on hand to assist with getting photo caption information.

3. Objectivity was the key. One of the strengths of the Command Post is the attempt to maintain an objective approach to posting news items. This was also the strength of the newsplex experiment. The student journalists and the handlers at Newsplex never tried to interject “analysis” into the equation.

4. Outperforming traditional media. The photophone groups posted photographs that traditional media did not have and probably would not have taken. Reason: I think this is because of the fact that the reporters were students and not “insiders” in the political reporting profession. So their choice of subject matter differed from what you saw on the TV news programs covering the event.

5. A professional blogging news organization could thrive in the right situations. If someone could put the thing together and pay the staff (big ifs, I know), a professional blogging organization could fly. The key things that would make it work would be training journalists to work from a “blog mentality,” where quick posts and links are the stock-and-trade. Again, I think the Command Post provides a good inkling of the way more traditional news organizations could approach news events.