Reporters Sans Frontières Honors Blog Colleague—with a special note to CDC session attendees

Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontières — RSF) is an international organization that promotes press freedom throughout the world. It has just announced the winners of its online competition for "Best Blogs Defending Freedom of Expression." There are seven honorees in six geographical categories. The winner for the Americas is Jay Rosen.

Jay is chair of New York University's journalism department (my alma mater, but before Jay's time), co-founder of BOPnews (my blog alma mater), publisher of The Revealer (my go-to site for all things religion — Jeff Sharlet, the editor, is the author of the stupendous piece of journalism in the May issue of Harpers, Soldiers of Christ: Inside America's most powerful megachurch).

Jay's blog is PressThink. Here's a tip to my CDC friends who are thinking about blogging themselves: aside from the obvious — the quality of the thinking and of the writing — please note the superb use Jay makes of links to enrich the reader's experience, to give context and depth to his essays. This is blogging of the highest order, and the use of Internet technology in the hands of a master. Jay also engages fully with his readers in the comments thread, and that, too, is a critical component of the blogger's relationship with his or her readers. The conversation itself, when it's really working, enlarges the collective store of information and even — dare I say it? — wisdom.