Taking Note

Everyday 80 000 new blogs are created. Blogs about fashion, politics, spinach and a whole array of other topics. On the 27th of September this year, Please Note The Following was one of the 80 000 blogs created that day, but it's mission was slighty different to that of most other blogs. Its creators wanted to give readers a behind the scenes glimpse into the world of student journalism by establighing a fresh and funky yet slightly serious blogging forum.

The blog layout is very minimalistic. The blue, teal and white colouring is reminiscent of an insurance company waiting room which certainly does not add a young and exciting edge to the blog. It also has a notable lack of gadgets. For a blog dealing with journalism as its subject matter, it would have been helpful for the creators to allow for RSS feeds from various news and journalism sites.

As far as content is concerned the blog does succeed in living up to its initial purpose. The content manages to strike a good balance between the serious and the off-the-wall which helps to attract readers whilst still making them aware of significant information. Seeing as the content is produced by four different individuals, the blog lacks a sense of coherence and there is a variety of distinctly different writing styles.

Although the blog does add to the discussion around journalism, it does not strike me as being a crucial element of the debate. The blog creators would have to improve on their presentation of the blog and they would have to develop an authentic journalistic stance in order for readers to take note of what they have to say.