Dead2.0 reports that less than 2% of the webgoing population uses news feeds — but I wager amongst bloggers, that percentage is closer to 98%. Probably because we’re keeping tabs on everyone else … and also looking to find stuff to write about and comment on. Certainly *I* do … I keep my eye on 50+ feeds (wow, did I just write that) every day — or at least I try to.

And I guess that’s the problem with blogging and citizen journalism.

Everyone who’s got a blog does it.

In the many a “how to write a blog post”, there inevitably is SOME bullet point about blogging about news, but in recent months there has been a resounding claim that there is a dull roar of an echochamber in the blogosphere. Probably about tech news than anything else.

When I scan across my news aggregator, when news breaks as it often does, almost every significant A-list blogger and news-blogging site comments on it. Which is fine, I suppose, since their role almost obligates them to.

But regular type bloggers, I think, contribute almost nothing when they report the same thing these larger blogs and news sites do.

So, do Bloggers have any role with reporting the news?
Yes — but only in certain circumstances.

1. When they’re privy to information that no one else, or very few people are.
Do you have contacts in the industry of your choice that share details far before anyone else? How about sources within existing companies that are able to deal the real story behind the controversy? Are you able to spend the time investigating all of those leads and follow ups? Not many of us do, or are, or have. If you do, that’s fantastic. Do more of it. If you don’t fall in this category, perhaps you’ll fall into the next:

2. When an issue is available to everyone, but no one has recognized how important it is to the community that you belong to.
Now, this is the raison d’etre of social content media, like Digg or Reddit. They EXIST to find out news that is either early or is off the beaten path; there are more niche-related “Digg” sites, like Care2.com, so you can imagine that it is no more difficult than ever to find news related to this category.

However, it is still possible depending on what sort of community you regularly participate in. If you’ve a blog about your obssession with coffee, perhaps that article about free Wi-fi coming to Mountaintview is important from a different point of view — perhaps you can expect your favourite coffee houses to be deluged with laptop carrying writers, consultants, students and all-manner of networked individuals.

But honestly, how many times have you fit into either of these categories? Probably very, very few. But don’t sweat it. Its natural. As per a recent post from the Search Engine Strategies conference in San Jose, someone was quoted that:

- 1% of people create news

- 10% enrich the news

- 90% consume it

I know that I rarely, if any of the time fit in category 1, often in category 2 and more so in category 3 than anything else.

So the next time when you feel like reporting the news, consider where you fit in those categories – and if you find that you cannot either create news or enrich it — don’t bother.

After all, one of the most attrocious sins of on-line publishing of any kind is not that you’re necessarily wrong about what you’ve written — but that you’re boring. And nothing is more boring than repeating news that everyone else has already heard or knows about.

Now, if you feel there’s something particular importance, you can always fall in to category 2 — which is enriching the news.

More on that tomorrow … ;)