"Must-post-to-the-blog." I’ve been telling myself that every day since starting at the Fin over a week ago. Finally the non-posting guilt has got me, and here I am.

How’s it going? Great. Busy? Uh-huh. Working from 9am till 7pm every day. Haven’t done these hours since I first started work. And so, when you’re racing home to see your little daughter before she sleeps, blogging is of course the last thing on your mind. And then the new day starts again.

And so life on a daily newspaper is a blur. I honestly don’t know where the time goes. But it’s exciting. I’m back in the editorial saddle, building up my contacts, learning about the myriad of workflow processes one must master on a newspaper, and getting to know my new colleagues. I’m having a ball.

Another upside of working here is that it’s sharpened my focus on what blogs matter. I’ve removed a number of blogs from my Bloglines subs list because they were interesting, but not compelling. Time really does matter, and I’ve been ruthless on cutting out RSS subs that don’t deliver. Given that I also have access to tons of wire copy here, RSS feeds from many trade publications around the globe had to go because wire services too often beat them to the punch. So no point me reading the same wire story four times. Sad, but true.

What else? I’ve got a view over Darling Harbour, an easy bus commute across the Harbour Bridge every day, and subsequently plenty of time to listen to podcasts.

So that’s it for the moment. No promises on my next post. "Getting up to speed," is consuming more time than I thought, so that will be my priority for at least the short term.

Meanwhile, if you want to catch up or drop me a line, email me at mjones AT afr DOT com DOT au 

I’ve left the building already, but it’s satisfying to read that ITJourno now understands what I was on about. You might recall I attacked ITJ for questioning the value of podcasting.

Here’s the latest (sub req for IT journos only) on media convergence from ITJ’s Epitome column:

Epitome very much believes that journalism, like seemingly everything in this world, is on the path of convergence.

Digital media will mean that journalists will produce print, audio and video editorial, leaving it up to the consumer to decide how he or she wishes to consume a story. Media sites designed to take advantage of broadband and eventually digital paper will obliterate the limitations of today’s familiar media formats.

Want to see the way the world is heading? Look to Computerworld. Epitome talked about the Computerworld Live podcasting launch a few weeks back and we’ve got to say that for a bunch of print guys, the CW crew are doing a great job of producing something truly unique. Personally, we reckon the podcast could be a bit snappier, some of the segments and interviews tend to drag on, and we personally like the program best when it gets into analysis mode rather than just re-hashing stories from the book.

Also at the time that we first referenced Computerworld Live, we questioned whether IT execs would bother investing their precious time listening to work-related audio programs when they could probably digest the same information more quickly in print. Which is not to say we were writing off the CW Live concept, just that we had thought the jury was still out as to whether, right now, B2B podcasting was a viable vehicle.

That said, we can’t applaud the CW Live effort loudly enough because we do believe it’s tracking the path that all media will follow as convergence becomes a reality. Regardless of whether it turns out to be a money spinner, the podcast has established Computerworld as an innovator and a leader.

And that’s a role the specialist trade press really needs to reclaim.

Last week, Epitome spoke to the program’s producer, Mark Jones, who is now leaving IDG to start at The Australian Financial Review. Jones told us he was quite amazed at how quickly the Computerworld team had embraced this latest extension to their work. In just a matter of weeks, Jones said, editorial planning meetings had simply evolved to take into account the weekly production of the podcast and it became a natural element of the paper’s workflow.

Blogrunner is the latest Blog Co. to capture people’s attention. It’s borrowed from the likes of Weblogs Inc., TechTarget, CNet (eg the whitepaper-centric BNet),  by targeting vertical markets that survive by borrowing kudos from the core brand.

You’ll forgive me for being cynical because Blogrunner is chasing a really old (but successful) publishing technique that my former employer IDG, and other trade publishers like ZiffDavis have employed for years. In fact, my new employer Fairfax also has plenty of good examples: GoodWeekend and Boss Magazine were spun out from the SMH and AFR respectively.

So it’s not impressive for being a new idea. What’s caught my attention is the company’s annotated version of the NYT. It’s a fantastic idea in concept - take the paper’s stories and wrap it in the context of fresh links from the blogosphere and stick RSS feeds on anything that moves. Read the story, read stories about the stories, comment on the stories. And even better is that all this ticks along despite the NYT’s user registration system.

However, what’s really different about this site in the context of the spin-out publishing model is that a rival business is taking advantage of the kudos offered by a primary news publishing business. I’m still unclear about whether NYT executives were involved in this site? I’m guessing not because if it were me I’d rather have an annotated version of my paper operating under my own domain.

There’s also a question of business ethics. The annotated NYT borrows the same web layout and design elements as NYT.com. At first glance I thought this was an official NYT site. They’ve even modified NYT’s logo.

But from what I can tell, there is no official relationship between Blogrunner and NYT - correct me if I’m wrong, but they’ve not made it clear on the site.

In short, I love the service. But the NYT is clearly missing a huge business opportunity by not operating the site directly. And my failing to stop Blogrunner, it’s established a precedent for other newspaper publishers.

And before I get attacked by the blog community for being a rampant capitalist, try the shoe on the other foot. What if someone set up a commerical business that relies exclusively on annotating your comments? Sure, the total pie of hits on your site might increase and the blogosphere is happier for it. But you’re now sharing Adsense dollars with a rival publisher. You’ve not entered a partnership agreement. It just happened beyond your control. Remember when some guys (who’s name I forget) started a blog that tracked changes to Dave Winer’s blog. Essentially the same concept, and Dave wasn’t a happy man.

Worthy of more discussion. 

(link via Dan Gillmor). 

After eight years with IDG, I have decided it’s time to move on. I’ve been fortunate enough to be asked by the Australian Financial Review to come on board as its IT Editor. I’m excited about the opportunity to work with some really talented journalists, and take on a job highly regarded within IT media circles.

Interestingly enough, my new job is almost 100% print-focussed. Fairfax has a very successful online arm, FairfaxDigital, but that will not be my focus.

Strange for a blogger? Perhaps. But the point for me is I am returning to a profession I love. As I’ve argued before, I believe in the profession of journalism, I still love print, and thanks to this blog I can also keep a toe in the online waters.

I suspect my blogging will be fairly light over the coming weeks as I take a short break before starting work again. And it goes without saying that you should not  expect me to write much about Fairfax, at least from a Mark Jen perspective. I’m not one for betraying company confidence.

I leave behind an extremely talented crew at IDG both in Australia and overseas. I will miss many people, and truly wish them every success in the future.

PS. Before you ask, no this is not an April fools joke!