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Journalists are finding blogs a useful means for providing readers with 
additional and immediate information on the beats they cover, reports Ryan 
Pitts, of the Spokesman-Review, in his article for J-Lab. The speed of the 
Internet allows reporters-turned-bloggers to scoop competition. Kerry Sipe, 
of The Virginian-Pilot, gives his readers up-to-the-minute coverage of the 
Washington sniper trial all with the aide of a Wi-Fi enabled laptop. "The 
feedback from the Muhammad trial blog has been tremendous," Sipe told 
Pitts. "Several of (the readers) have mentioned that it gives them a sense 
of being in the courtroom without actually having to devote full-time to 
the effort." Todd Bishop, a business reporter with the Seattle Post-
Intelligencer, uses his blog to add context to his daily print-edition 
reports. Blogs also allow for instant reader feedback and, at times, fodder 
for future stories. The blogs add interactivity to stories by providing 
links to additional information and spotlighting issues or topics the 
newspaper couldn't fully cover due to space considerations. Carla Johnson, 
a health writer with the Spokesman-Review, whose blog supplements her print 
stories, said: "The blog gives more to those readers who want more."

Source:
http://www.j-lab.org/beatblogs.html