Remember "Step 1: No more rookie maneuvers"? Here's how NYTD can avoid delivering Exhibit C.

"Can Newspapers Do Blogs Right?" asked Robert Niles of me three weeks ago. "Of course," I snapped at him, "As long as they follow three rules. Step 1: No more rookie maneuvers..."

Today the New York Times appears to be wavering at a decision point. Either,

1. NYTD is about to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat by pro-actively working in beta with the blog community on a new local politics blog, or

2. NYTD just delivered Step 1, Exhibit C in the Rookie Maneuvers Department I describe above. For those of you who aren't following daly newspaper blog use with the same geeky interest, Exhibit A was Ben Domenench at the Washington Post, followed by Exhibit B, the Los Angeles Times/Michael Hiltzik event.

Here's the scoop: Today, Gotham politico (and BlogHer correspondent) Liza Sabater of Culture Kitchen posted this entry: "Exclusive Blind Item: The blauxg pas edition." Great story -- like any good geek, Sabater apparently reads her referral logs. In so doing, she came across an as-yet unreleased NYT blog on local politics that links to the terrific grassroots politics blog Sabater developed, The Gothamist. Here's the kicker: While the NYT blog isn't publicly launched or linked from http://nytimes.com, Sabater was able to log in, post, and warn the editors that they had not secured the site and she could do damage. Her graphic tells it all:

Read Liza's letter to the developers of this blog here.

Here's what the NYTD team should do next: Pick door number 1 (above), declare success and work with your blog community. Liza has done you a favor. You've been hoping to recruit Liza's feedback and her readers and you did. Now email all the speakers at the Personal Democracy Forum happening in your neck of the woods on May 15 and ask them to help you test the blog. A blog does not stand alone -- anymore than one talks with one's self, if one wishes to continue charging premium ad rates. So partner with other bloggers to work out the kinks -- if you know what I mean, and I think after covering your competition's "free form editorial experiments," that you do.

Whatever you do, don't ignore Sabater's advice -- she's probably right, given some of the sensitivities at your organization, that she shouldn't have been able to log in and post just yet. Don't fail to take advantage of the fact that she has instalaunched your new blog. Don't, whatever you do, shut the thing down. Looks like the community might be as interested in this project as you are.

For more on how to executive on Steps 1, 2 and 3, you can read the rest of my comments to the OJR, as well as the excellent insights of  Xeni Jardin, Chris Nolan and Bob Cauthorn, here.

Tags: new york times, newspapers, Washington post, Los Angeles Times, blogging, Media, Journalism, News, Politics, Personal Democracy Forum