Jason and I were discussing blog design (we’re working on a new blog for [Colorado Ski Country](http://www.coloradoski.com/)) and observed that somehow, when newspapers blog, they manage to make it feel totally unbloggy. As Jason noted, “It’s like, they make the blog just an advertising delivery device — like how rice cakes are just a peanut butter delivery device.” And they don’t even add the honey to the peanut butter on the rice cake!
An example is the Ski + Ride blog. Besides the rice-cake problem, the confusion on this site is largely because it’s [Explore New England](http://www.explorenewengland.com) a joint adventure from the [Boston Globe](http://www.boston.com/news/globe), and [boston.com](http://www.boston.com/) and is copyright [The New York Times](http://www.nytimes.com/). In the 90s, we called that synergy and it didn’t work then and it’s no better now, even with Web 2.0. The site is all over the place.
Offering a blog and RSS to your readers is enormously beneficial. We talk about that all-day long to our readers, attendees, and clients. Props to Explore New England for doing so, for blogging, but in the next rev they should consider starting a separate blog that sits on its own and isn’t like a rice cake.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Jim 02.05.06 at 1:20 pm
I wish I knew you were coming to ski country sooner I would have scheduled a party!
-b- 02.05.06 at 1:25 pm
Heyt thanks! The details of our trip are just about to be announced … Definitely let’s party and meet up with us while we’re there. The dates are Feb 14 - 17th.