When energy blogs get serious: Ethablog cooperates with former agriculture secretary
Quicknote bioenergy information
Pro-bloggers often get the criticism that they merely replicate news stories, copy each other ad nauseam and seldom contribute any meaningful insights to a debate. Some still make the distinction between 'real journalists' working for traditional news agencies who do their own research, and bloggers, who simply copy+paste the stuff others wrote. But more and more often, things happen the other way around: 'serious' journalists pick up thoughts from bloggers whose ideas end up in the big news outlets, camouflaged. Some blogs have become genuine authorities on a subject matter, because of the dedication of their knowledgable owners, the depth of the coverage, and precisely because they aren't big media.
Ethablog is such an information source. Maintained by Henrique Oliveira, the blog tracks the developments in Brazil's dynamic ethanol industry. It is the only source in English to do so. Oliveira has the advantage of knowing the sector from within and of being able to switch between a Brazilian and an American context (the author is a Brazilian MBA student at the University of Michigan). This allows him to get exclusive and in-depth interviews from key players in the Brazilian ethanol market, which he can publish in full -- something 'real journalists' can only dream of. No wonder then that news agencies and traditional media do not hesitate to have a peek at what Oliveira writes. Texts from Ethablog have ended up in American newspapers -- but not a trace of any copyright or credits, though...
Henrique is now taking it a step further. He just announced that his blog is getting the support of Milton Maciel, a former Secretary of Agriculture of the state of Alagoas, in northeastern Brazil. Besides being a former official who helped craft and implement Brazil's ethanol policies, Mr Maciel is a consultant, an autority on organic farming and author of more than ten books. So this is how things go in the blogosphere: a young student devotes a lot of his time on writing a smart energy blog and leaves an impression on a wise old man with 'real world' experience in the sector who decides to lend a helping hand and some of his authority and credibility. I'm sure journalists will mention their sources next time when they write a piece on Brazilian ethanol... Well done Henrique!
ethanol :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: Ethablog :: Brazil ::
Pro-bloggers often get the criticism that they merely replicate news stories, copy each other ad nauseam and seldom contribute any meaningful insights to a debate. Some still make the distinction between 'real journalists' working for traditional news agencies who do their own research, and bloggers, who simply copy+paste the stuff others wrote. But more and more often, things happen the other way around: 'serious' journalists pick up thoughts from bloggers whose ideas end up in the big news outlets, camouflaged. Some blogs have become genuine authorities on a subject matter, because of the dedication of their knowledgable owners, the depth of the coverage, and precisely because they aren't big media.
Ethablog is such an information source. Maintained by Henrique Oliveira, the blog tracks the developments in Brazil's dynamic ethanol industry. It is the only source in English to do so. Oliveira has the advantage of knowing the sector from within and of being able to switch between a Brazilian and an American context (the author is a Brazilian MBA student at the University of Michigan). This allows him to get exclusive and in-depth interviews from key players in the Brazilian ethanol market, which he can publish in full -- something 'real journalists' can only dream of. No wonder then that news agencies and traditional media do not hesitate to have a peek at what Oliveira writes. Texts from Ethablog have ended up in American newspapers -- but not a trace of any copyright or credits, though...
Henrique is now taking it a step further. He just announced that his blog is getting the support of Milton Maciel, a former Secretary of Agriculture of the state of Alagoas, in northeastern Brazil. Besides being a former official who helped craft and implement Brazil's ethanol policies, Mr Maciel is a consultant, an autority on organic farming and author of more than ten books. So this is how things go in the blogosphere: a young student devotes a lot of his time on writing a smart energy blog and leaves an impression on a wise old man with 'real world' experience in the sector who decides to lend a helping hand and some of his authority and credibility. I'm sure journalists will mention their sources next time when they write a piece on Brazilian ethanol... Well done Henrique!
ethanol :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: Ethablog :: Brazil ::
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