The UK’s Guardian newspaper launches its ambitious new collective blog today, Comment is free:
Comment is free is a major expansion of Guardian comment and analysis on the web. It is a collective group blog, bringing together regular columnists from the Guardian and Observer newspapers with other writers and commentators representing a wide range of experience and interests. The aim is to host an open-ended space for debate, dispute, argument and agreement and to invite users to comment on everything they read.
In addition to having regularly updated postings by Guardian staffers and guest contributors, as well as reader feedback and commentary, Comment is free will also feature an editors’ blog, photo blog, blog roll, cartoons, and editors’ favorite posts.
Editor Georgina Henry says that the inspiration for Comment is free comes from Huffington Post, which she writes has “outstripped its liberal old media competitors in the 10 months since it launched.” Interestingly, Henry clearly identifies the Guardian as “old media” and suggests that Comment is free is the traditional newspaper’s attempt to “embrace the energy, passion and immediacy of the blogging revolution.”
Looks like a very cool project, let’s hope it’s successful.