The New York Times announced today the creation of a "blog-ed" column on their opinion page, demonstrating the growing importance of on-line pundits in today's media. The 450-word column will rotate weekly between editors of major news and politics web logs, or "blogs."
"We felt it was time to help these voices at the leading edge of our electronic age," opinions page editor Gail Collins said. "After all, our reporters rip most of our stories directly from Drudge and Kos anyway."
The decision comes at a time of unrest for the newspaper, from the Jayson Blair case to recent apologies for a lack of scrutiny in the lead-up to the Iraq War.
"The American public has come to see traditional news organizations like the Times and CNN as lackies of the Bush administration," Collins said. "And to be honest, we pretty much are. I mean, let's face it, reporting costs money, people. This so-called investigative journalism is just not good business."
A spokesperson for the paper noted that the bloggers' columns will be subject to standard editorial review to ensure readers are not exposed to non-mainstream ideas, particularly "truth" or "reason".