By DIONNE SEARCEY
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
December 16, 2005; Page B1
"On another vlog, stevegarfield.blogs.com/videoblog/, Steve Garfield screens daily life in his Boston home. He calls it "The Carol and Steve Show," where viewers can watch Mr. Garfield and his wife, Carol, opening Hanukkah gifts or delighting in their leftover Thanksgiving sweet-potato soufflé. The show is in its 51st episode.
For Mr. Garfield, vlogging is an easy outlet for his creative side. It's unlikely a major network would pick up 'The Carol and Steve Show," but the Internet allows him to broadcast his show as much as he wants along with other videos that teach would-be vloggers basic video techniques, as well a show he narrates called "Vlog Soup" pointing out his top picks among new vlogs.
"It's part of the democratization of media," says Mr. Garfield. "It gives people the tools to express themselves and be creative in all different ways."
Mr. Garfield, who in the past produced public-access shows, is making a career, of sorts, out of vlogging, serving as a correspondent for a popular blog (rocketboom.com/vlog) that includes homemade news reports, and he is paid to create vlogs for others.
One of Mr. Garfield's clients is Boston City Councilor John Tobin, whose vlog, votejohntobin.com/blog/Videos, gives regular updates on issues for his constituents. Leading up to the November election Mr. Tobin updated the vlog every day.
Viewers could tune in and watch him point out potholes in neighborhood roadways and show busy intersections where he wanted to install speed bumps. On Election Day, he received 706 hits on his site, nearly double the amount of hits for his vlog in November of the prior year."
