To read that nearly two-thirds of Americans (66%) are going online every day to access information with an estimated 29% accessing the Web specifically for news, it’s no surprise to hear online publishing is making a major comeback. 

In fact, look no further than BusinessWeek Online for proof that ad revenue channels are returning and margins are increasing, but more important, look at BW Online as testament to how a highly successful print publication brand can adapt to new technologies and ultimately evolve (quickly) to meet the changing needs of its readership.

BW Online has undergone some rather significant changes lately, including the addition of RSS-enabled news feeds, full-layout digital archives, and of course the introduction of a newly designed Technology & Science channel.  The most impressive change, however, is the addition of four new weblogs: Tech Beat, Deal Flow, Well Spent, and Brand New Day. 

I caught up recently with Rob Hof, BusinessWeek’s Silicon Valley bureau chief and one of several authors contributing to the Tech Beat blog to ask him one question: why is he blogging?  If you follow this blog you’ll know it’s a question I’ve been exploring (here and here) with several journalists recently in the interest of simply understanding what motivates them to use this particular form of communication.

Here’s what Rob had to share:

We [the Tech Beat authors] blog for several reasons. Initially, at least, we see it as a new way to talk about events, news, and thoughts that really had no outlet either in print or online. I think most of us also see it potentially as a way to make the publication more of a conversation with readers. Many-to-many connections are the unique nature of the Internet, so if we’re to be relevant now and in the future, we have to find ways to make that conversation happen.

Personally, I blog because I believe in something Dan Gillmor, among others, has said: The readers know a lot more than I do. And blogs, with comments, provide the best way for them to express their opinions and offer their own expertise—both to us journalists and to other readers. I think before long, no story, whether it’s on a blog or anywhere else, will be complete without reader comments attached.

A lot of journalists I read about seem to feel threatened by blogging. I don’t get this. When you get down to it, bloggers are going back to the roots of journalism. (It wasn’t called journal-ism for nothing–originally, we were all amateurs, right?) I think it’s great that there’s a new form that’s getting us closer to the “audience” and giving us a chance, at least, to write a little closer to the truth of things. Warts and all, blogs have to improve media overall.

Oddly enough, only a few weeks into this adventure, I’m still more nervous about pressing the button to publish these items than I am about print or online stories that get a lot more traffic. I think it’s because I know that I’m more likely to get a direct, immediate response. That’s not a bad feeling to have, because it makes me want to do better.

Mainly, late as it feels like I am to this party, I want to dive in while it’s still in formation. It feels like blogging could blossom into a number of new modes of expression—maybe it already is. Experimentation will be good, most of all for readers.

– Mike Manuel