Hallelujah

Both The National and ArabianBusiness.com have started blogs. In the case of the National, they have started no less than four blogs, although they are all aggregated on one main blog site (the 4 blogs are called Beep Beep, Crane Country, In the Black, and The Current Account). No less appealing is the ArabianBusiness.com Blog which is maintained by no less than 14 of its journalists. It was high time that both publications began blogs; I have been an advocate of blogs for all newspapers, and all organizations, institutions, and individuals for that matter, for a long time now. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that this is the future of journalism. Blogging not only communicates information faster (24/7 really), but it also democratizes the story making process by eliminating editorial bias and scrutiny. The fourth estate is no longer a propaganda tool, but allows the reader to fully absorb where the writer is coming from and whether he/she is honest in their assessment. The newspaper industry is the most obvious beneficiary of blogging and in North America the newspapers are reeling from their ingrained inertia and lack of technological savvy. Howard Kurtz wrote in The Washington Post:

I have been one of the industry's most fervent optimists, convinced that somehow, some way, newspapers would find a path to survival. But the last few weeks have shaken my belief, suggesting that what I find indispensable -- a daily compendium delivered to your doorstep -- may be left behind by history and public indifference.

Although I disagree with his introduction about “the moment” the American news business went on suicide watch, Frank Rich’s NY Times Op-Ed should be read too.