Making a blog isn't easy

As we here at the Elk Grove Citizen move forward in the world of online journalism, there will undoubtedly be glitches, gaffes, and mess-ups. We will do our best to avoid them, limit them, and correct ourselves when we do make an error or something goes wrong.
Afterall, blogging and the other forms of online publishing are developing and changing at a rapid pace and we here at the Citizen are trying to not only do our daily jobs at the newspaper but also learn how to manage and utilize these new technologies. There are bound to be some bumps on the digital highway.
Today, I got onto the egcitizennews blog site and found the same obituary placed in three different locations on the Web page. I had added Mr. Wettach's obituary last night and had experienced a few "error" messages while adding that text. I thought I had fixed the problem and when I viewed the page before posting it, it looked normal.
Then came this afternoon - and Mr. Wettach's obituary was on there in three places.
So, I fiddled with the template and layout on blogger.com and quickly corrected the problem. It took a bit of time and reading, but it got done.
For me, a total Luddite, it was a frustrating situation. I am a rookie with computers - having just bought my first computer ever in February. That was at the age of 37. Yes, have never owned a computer - amazing in this day and age of technology.
Not owning a computer all these years means that I have extremely little know-how on how to use computers (aside from turning it on and off, some word processing, and a few other tasks) let alone program the html code on a blog.
So, it is a learn as I go process. I am trying to teach myself basic blogging and Web site development via books and Web tutorials, but it is slow going with my duties to the print edition, managing our small newsroom, and living a personal life outside of work.
The experience raised my respect and appreciation for the work that amateur bloggers like Jason Daniel of Eyes of Argus (www.eyesofargus.net) produce.
We have a new summer intern - Sarah Kyo - who has studied blogging and vlogging ( video blogging) at San Jose State University. Kyo - who is majoring in journalism - will be at the Citizen until early August and is interested in maintaining a blog while here on staff. We will update our readers when that happens and link to her blog from this one as well as our main Web site - www.egcitizen.com.
I hope you enjoy our blog and keep returning as we add new features and more stories and breaking news. We hope to have audio and video podcasts available within the next few months.
Jeff Forward
Editor, the Citizen

Florin, Sheldon, and Franklin commencement ceremonies today

The students of the class of 2007 from Florin High School, Sheldon High School, and Franklin High School were honored Wednesday during commencement ceremonies held at Arco Arena. A full report on the Florin High graduation - as well as Tuesday's ceremonies at Elk Grove Charter High School and William Daylor High School - will be featured in the Friday edition of the Citizen.
The Sheldon and Franklin graduation stories and photographs will appear in the Wednesday, June 13 Citizen.

Photo: Senior class governor Tejinder Barayah gives a speech in front of her classmates and their friends and family present at Arco Arena. By Rebecca Maston, Elk Grove Citizen.

Elk Grove, Laguna Creek & Valley graduations held today

The senior classes of Elk Grove High School, Laguna Creek High School, and Valley High School graduated Monday at Arco Arena. A full report on the Elk Grove and Valley ceremonies will be in Wednesday's Citizen.

Lungren in Rancho Cordova Monday

Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Gold River) will be holding a town hall forum open to the public on Monday, June 4, in Rancho Cordova.
The forum will be held from 7 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. at the Rancho Cordova City Hall (American River Room) 2729 Prospect Park Drive, Rancho Cordova, CA 95670.
Lungren will be talking about a variety of topics including local issues, the war in Iraq, government spending, and illegal immigration and other immigration issues. The forum is open to the public.

Summer Intern joins Citizen staff

Kyo, Elk Grove High grad, joins Citizen staff for summer internship

Sarah Kyo, a student at San Jose State University, has joined the Citizen staff for the summer. Kyo, who graduated from Elk Grove High School and is now pursuing a degree in journalism at SJSU, will be working from June 1 until Aug. 10 helping the Citizen staff cover as much news as possible.
Kyo will begin work next week. Information on how to contact her will be available soon. A full profile on Kyo will appear in the Citizen soon.

Previewing the Wednesday May 30th Edition

The Wednesday edition of the Elk Grove Citizen is completed and will be printed Tuesday.

This Wednesday's edition has several interesting stories from our staff, as well as the usual letters to the editor, Wednesday opinions and columns, and information on community events and happenings you won't want to miss.

Cameron Macdonald, who covers the police, fire, education and CCSD beat, has the story of a local soldier who was recently awarded the Bronze Star for her service. Macdonald was at the Sacramento County Fair on Saturday to cover local students participating in the animal judging competitions. That story will be in Friday's Citizen.

Shannon Savage, who is the Citizen city government reporter, attended the recent city of Elk Grove branding/logo workshop and reports on the two top logo designs chosen by citizens as a possible logo for the city. The city of Elk Grove has hired an outside marketing firm to help develop the logo.

Blake Ellington, our arts, culture and entertainment writer, attended the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee this weekend where the Sheldon High School band Diversely Dixie performed. His report on their weekend will be in Friday's Citizen.

The Wednesday Citizen will be delivered to newsstands on Tuesday afternoon and available online Wednesday.

Welcome to the Elk Grove Citizen News Blog

Thanks for joining us here at blogger.com for our new Elk Grove Citizen News Blog. We at the Citizen are trying to move into the online world of news and opinion with this blog.
Our newspaper maintains a Web site already - linked at left - but we are in the process of developing a new Web site with many features including audio and video podcasts. We will be using the new Web site and this blog to post the latest news that is affecting Elk Grove and the surrounding area.
Journalism is moving into new territory every day with the advent of new technologies and more and more people getting their news online. We want to keep up with this movement and hope the new Web site and this blog will allow us to serve you - the reader - in the best manner we can possibly provide.
This summer, our staff will grow by one as Sarah Kyo, a junior at San Jose State University, will be working with the Citizen as an intern. Sarah is taking classes in blogging, podcasting and other online issues and will be also doing a blog about her experiences over the summer.
Readers will also be able to find the latest news from our staff of reporters - Cameron Macdonald, Shannon Savage, and Blake Ellington. Of course, we will add columns from our veteran newsman - Keith Gebers - who writes about his 50-plus years in the news business. Gebers, known as Keith Adams when he was on KCRA Channel 3, has worked in TV, radio, and is a past editor of the Citizen.
Jon Gudel will have plenty of local sports news for our readers, too. And, Society Editor Mary Lewis will be continuing to provide tips and reminders on local community events as well as obituaries of local residents.
We are also investigating the current "citizen journalism" movement and will be looking to the public for postings, news tips, breaking news photos, and article submissions. We are here to serve and inform the readers and citizens of Elk Grove. You can help us do that even better by participating in the news process.
Thanks for joining us, and we look forward to helping bring you the news.

Jeff Forward
Editor, The Citizen