The initial media interest in blogs during the fall has cooled off. In spite of coinciding with the run-up to the US election, the number of articles in Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish and Danish media decreased in October. Question is if this is a temporary dent in the curve (I think so).
A logical media life cycle for a phenomenon like blogs would include at least four steps.
1. Underground – not on the radar screen of traditional media.
2. Novelty – blogs in themselves are considered news. News stories would include descriptions of blogs, “how to”-articles, pros and cons etc.
3. Mainstream – people know what it is. News stories would include successful cases and descriptions, what are blogs good for, further developments etc.
4. Commodity – blogs are taken for granted and becomes part of the “normal” flow of news.
This life cycle is different for different kinds of media. For example, IT trade press has been writing about blogs for a long time, but dailies and business press have written substantially less. Considering that most people in Sweden still haven’t heard about blogs, I am convinced that blogs are still in the novelty stage of the news life cycle.
What media are covering blogs (# of articles so far in 2004)?
Sweden:
1. IDG (37)
2. Computer Sweden (32)
3. Svenska Dagbladet (16)
Norway:
1. IT-Avisen (51)
2. Dagbladet (20)
3. Dagens Næringsliv (print edition) / Propaganda / TV2 Nettavisen (10)
Finland:
1. Digitoday Finland (21)
2. ITviikko (13)
3. Tietoviikko Online (9)
Denmark:
1. Berlingske Tidende (9)
2. Politiken (8)
3. Computerworld Online (7)