Firehouse.com, FireEngineering.com, FireRescue1.com, FirefighterNation.com, and many other web sites are great places to get your news and opinion. Some of them have magazines in print which have been around much longer. Print magazines are great for news and information, but cannot compete with the more instant ability to publish online.
Fire and/or EMS service blogs can be another form of online news site. Maybe not all blogs publish news all the time, but most do from time to time.
Probably the epitome of fire service news blogs are STATTer911.com or FireGeezer.com, although any other blogs cover news events from around the world.
The news doesn’t have to be breaking news either. Many bloggers are great writers and offer free original content on their sites. Take Chris Naum’s CompanyOfficer.com and CommandSafety.com, Mick Mayer’s FirehouseZen.com, or Art Goodrich’s ChiefReason.com. They all offer top notch writing and insight.
Naturally, the larger media companies created blogs. Firehouse.com and FireEngineering.com offer blogs from some of their contributing editors. FireRescue1 and FirefighterNation took a little bit different route.
FireRescue1.com came up with the Kitchen Table; a conglomerate of bloggers which for the most part offers syndicated material from the authors own blog hosted elsewhere.
FirefighterNation.com is a hybrid site. Part message board, part news site, part blog network, part social network site. They offer blogs for any member who wants to publish in the format. In addition, FireEMSBlogs.com was loosely created out of the site.
What I have found most interesting is how many bloggers will break news stories, write articles, or other information that soon after you will see in the mainstream fire service media.
Sure, it is given that if a news story breaks that the mainstream fire service media is going to cover it. However, what is ironic is the other stuff. Articles written on various topics are obviously read and then soon after you will see another article on the topic in one of the larger media outlets.
I have about 5 examples from the last month…including stuff heard over podcasting later to be revealed in an article elsewhere.
It just goes to show that bloggers matter and are doing a great job! Keep up the great work…