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by Sheila Lennon
'Bottom-up' journalism from the pros

June 28, 2002 • Today's weblog

What's your name? At OJR, J.D. Lasica takes a long look at the growing trend toward registration at newspaper sites, including this one.

Registration swears at the very nature of weblogs, with their reciprocal links. But even as I argued the case for keeping our weblogs on the open Web, I was braced to assume the title "Rapunzel of the Blogosphere."

Yes! I learned this week that this weblog and NetRunner will not require registration

Lasica ends his piece with an interesting challenge:

"Registration inevitably has consequences for weblogs, collaborative news sites and newsletters that point to news articles. Says my peeved friend: "If I have to register at every site just follow a stinking link, it slows down the exchange of information. Imagine a network where every news and information site has its own registration process."

"(Tribune Interactive's Mike) Silver sees the day when weblogs become quasi-emissaries for favored news sites -- designated facilitators that would grant users safe passage by channeling them through a shortened registration process, or perhaps even getting them a free pass into the site.

"Good idea. Who's ready to step up to the plate?"

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