Henrik Ibsen

I began my search for a blog to analyze by typing in random topics of interest in the google blog search. The first topic I typed was 'Henrik Ibsen'. After reading through the general descriptions and clicking on a few sites I settled on “Terri’s West End Blog”. The article which contained Henrik Ibsen is here.

Terri Knudsen is a journalist and long time theatre critic. This blog focuses on the performances that take place at West End Theatre in London. There are her own reviews of plays, a section called '5 questions with...', and 'Word on the Street'. Word on the street contains video footage from You Tube of interviews of the audience after they left the performance and what they thought of it. Knudsen comments that "This blog - soon to be moved to its own domain under the name Centrestage Media - will from now on, where possible, get the audience’s point of view after a show.’" The above qoute illustrates Jonathan Yang’s comment about blogs from the pros “Blogs are being used by major media outlets as a supplement to their more traditional output, giving reporters room to expand on a topic in a more casual tone” (Yang 136).

Knudsen is allowing actual audience members to speak about a performance, rather than writing just her own opinion or passing on links to other critics. Knudsen mentions that the blog is ideal for doing this because, "The good thing here is, because this is not traditional media looking to shift copies and front pages, there’s no need to look for a sensational angle. Which means we can actually focus on the art."

The format of the blog is very open and orderly. The top begins with a list of ‘New this week plays’ below which are the ‘Last Chance’ ones. By clicking on these one is taken to the ticket master for each play. Below the links are the recent reviews. On the right hand column are recent posts, recent comments, archives (what did I miss?), and links. In the actual reviews Knudsen does not link to other sites, this prevents the reader from jumping around and allows them to finish the article.

If after reading they wish for more info there are ‘Tag’ words at the bottom. Clicking on these takes the reader to previous posts by Knudsen and other bloggers of WordPress. The comments to an article are also listed below it, without having them compacted.
Most of the articles have an accompanying photo, there are a couple videos, and other than the tag links, the only other links are 2 on the right hand column sending the reader to one site about a theater in West End London (Old Vic) and another writer whose focus is not only on stage, but also movies and music.

This site appears to be a notebook, it contains "longer pieces of focused content. Personal entries are sometimes in the form of a story"(Blood 6). The site calls itself a blog, but the entries are often long and focused solely on the topic of stage productions. Personal opinion is often used, which is more characteristic of a blog than a notebook. As for the genre, I would have to say it is a Journalistic notebook "giving reporters room to expand on a topic in a more casual tone" (Yang 136).

Knudsen’s background is as a reporter and each entry is formatted in small-medium paragraphs like a newspaper article would be. The audience of this site would be mostly composed of theater enthusiasts, or fans of this authors work. This blog is not written solely for the author and she is aware of that. The reviews and interviews are not done for only the author’s benefit, but to share new information with others. There is even a notice that she will do freelance work and if an actor wishes their play to be mentioned that she will be happy to oblige.