Reporters Read Your Blog Comments

This is at least the second time that I was mentioned in the mainstream media where journalists read blog comments to look for sources to cite.

If you see a hot story spreading don't be afraid to jump on it, especially if you have specific details related to the story, or your view is counter to the popular view. Journalists want sources, numbers, and to appear unbiased.

Published: June 22, 2007 by Aaron Wall in blogs

Comments

Matt
June 22, 2007 - 6:30pm

"or your view is counter to the popular view"

Too easy!! I'm trying to leave as many conservative comments on liberal postings as I can....maybe I'll get some traffic out of it. :)

Ryan
June 22, 2007 - 6:52pm

This is not uncommon. I was once contacted by the WSJ after leaving a comment on Matt Cutts Blog.

Ed
June 22, 2007 - 7:25pm

look F**k Reporters its REAL people who are truly interested in your post read your blogs that are the best reporters, people in general can't help but spread a quality post becuase there are truly interested in it.

June 22, 2007 - 10:29pm

The point of the post was that reporters are proxies for public interest...if reporters are fishing through comments then most likely so are a lot of other people...it is like Hawaii SEO said about getting to hang out with Jim Boykin.

Matt L
June 23, 2007 - 5:19am

of course, those comments need to be made on a blog that gives the reporter a way to find us. Guess I need to stop signing my blog comments with a generic first name, last initial - bad branding.

Adam Jusko
June 23, 2007 - 5:24am

Just got a call from a reporter at a large paper this week based on a blog comment. Will be interested to see if/when he writes about our conversation.

Timothy Fish
June 23, 2007 - 9:51pm

It should be no surprise that the mainstream media would be paying attention to comments in blogs. The news media is looking for any kind of information that may be considered important. It is a competitive business, so they will not turn their nose up at anything. There are two reasons why people leave comments on blogs. One is that they feel the need to say something and the other is that they are pushing something. Often, as is the case with this comment, it involves both. I am currently pushing my latest book called "Searching for Mom" which is about a girl who goes in search of a mother for her and a wife for her Dad. I am also pushing my book "Church Website Design." Both are available on Amazon.com. My goal is to get information to people who need it. That is the same goal that the news media has, so we would expect to see a partnership between those who post comments and those who report the news.

Chuck
June 23, 2007 - 10:44pm

I left a negative comment about Fastclick on Shoemoney's blog a few months back and was called by a reported a few days later who said he was doing a story. I didn't want to participate, so I don't remember where he said he was from. But you BET reporters read blogs. That's where half the news is happening!

Hawaii SEO
June 22, 2007 - 10:40am

Yeah... Andy Greenberg from Forbes called and wanted to interview me about the Google Supplemental Results and associated FUD. I was flattered but I'm not an expert in that area so I didn't want to be interviewed.

Also... (I'm not exactly on the SEO "A-List")

I asked; So... How did you find me?

He said he found me via the comments I made on Jim Boykin's blog. (I leave a comment on almost every post)

You, Graywolf and Jim Boykin were mentioned in that article. (Condemned to Google Hell - 04.30.07)

enc
June 22, 2007 - 10:57am

Well yes, maybe Google is a good guy, but some people think it's not: http://www.privacyinternational.org/article.shtml?cmd[347]=x-347-553961

Hawaii SEO
June 22, 2007 - 11:02am

Even more important than reporters reading your comments... The blogger reads them.

For example: After a year of commenting on Jim's blog... He invited me to spend a day with him and Christoph Cemper at Yosemite national park.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cemper/sets/72157594236865931/

Of course... That was never the goal... I just enjoy his blog and like to contribute to the conversation whenever I can.

I have a lot to learn and Jim's willing to teach. Jim is a great guy! Who cares about reporters?

Patung
June 22, 2007 - 11:09am

Comments can make a site, on mine the content is just basically news stories, probably not wildly interesting, but they get a lot of comments, and some of them are very good quality. I've gotten links before I think largely based on the comments on a post.

Halfdeck
June 22, 2007 - 3:29pm

I'd rewrite the title to "Reporter read your comments on high traffic blogs."

Comments on low visibility blogs are worth gold because people are leaving comments inspite of the fact that they know their words won't ever be read.

Comments on highly visible blogs are often a waste of space. I get email notifications on Jim Boykin's blogs - alot of them are like "hey, great post, thanks." "Wow, I completely agree with you Jim"...

Barry
June 22, 2007 - 3:53pm

I've got a hot story, well, not really, but I've given SEO Book a nod in a SEO lyrics contest at http://www.searchenginepeople.com/contest/the-real-search-guru-the-real-...

Some people have pointed out the lyrics are not complimentary but it wasn't meant that way, the lines
"Yeah, I probably got a couple of ads with no click-through
But I’m just going through what I learned from SEO-Book"

Were meant to mean I don't know why I'm not getting click through as I've done all the steps, but you can decide for yourself.

I couldn't find a contact you page, but I think you said you took away your contact details because everybody was bugging you in a previous blog.

Cheers anyway and if you want to vote, make sure it's 5 stars :)

Douglas Karr
June 22, 2007 - 4:23pm

I recently did an interview on NPR from a comment I left on another website. It's true!

Andres
June 22, 2007 - 4:29pm

Hi, I would like to submit for editorial review a study we conducted on behaviour and attitude of French Canadians when searching on the web to SEOBook Blog:

http://skooiz-en.blogspot.com/2007/06/skooiz-unveils-study-on-behaviour-...

Anyone knows who should I reach ?

AR

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