Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match

Here's an interesting idea...a syndication service that matches bloggers with web sites, including online news sites, that want content. I spotted a link to it on MediaShift, a PBS-affiliated blog by journalist Mark Glaser that looks at "how new media—from weblogs to podcasts to citizen journalism—are changing society and culture."

The syndication service is called BlogBurst. It offers bloggers the opportunity to increase their "visibility, audience reach and traffic," while providing online publishers with access to interesting and timely content in the form of blogs. Publishers listed as currently trying out this service include the San Francisco Chronicle, washingtonpost.com and Gannett. Interesting, eh?

BlogBurst says it is currently looking for blogs that deal with topics such as: travel, women's issues, technology and gadgets, food and entertainment, and local metro areas. It has plans to expand that list.

BlogBurst says it is looking for blogs that offer:

• Unique perspectives that add a distinctive voice to feature content
• Topical, vibrant and timely content that complements existing (web) site content
  
• Ethical and fair writing that doesn't put the publisher in a compromising position

Sounds a lot like good journalism, doesn't it? Could this be the next wave of freelancing?

And here are some of the things BlogBurst says online publishers don't want: spam, pornography, hate speech, libelous content, material that violates copyrights, excessive errors in spelling and grammar (I wonder how many "excessive" is), or excessive swearing or profanity (ditto).

I think this might be an idea whose time has come. A number of serious bloggers are looking for ways to make blogging pay, while online publishers need a steady source of fresh, topical content. And it's got to be a lot cheaper to syndicate a few bloggers than it is to pay full-time staff to blog, right?