New York Times has launched Baghdad Blog

Feb 28, 2008

The New York Times recently launched a new blog called Baghdad Blog to enable its reporters from the Baghdad bureau to directly interact with their readers. One of the introductory posts says:

The Baghdad bureau of The New York Times serves as both home and office for 7 to 10 Western reporters, photographers and videographers, who work with a large Iraqi staff of reporters based in Baghdad and other cities across Iraq.

We talk with our Iraqi colleagues morning and evening about the problems they face in their neighborhoods, their dreams and those of their families. At night, staff members gather for dinner and discuss the news of the day: How close was that explosion heard this morning? Which military unit is finally going home? What is life really like in certain parts of the city and in the countryside? This blog is an attempt to include readers in our conversations.

War or peace, or rescue, blogs are continuously bringing people closer to each other. Today’s irony though, is, we don’t talk to our neighbors but we regularly interact with people, through our blogs, with people from other continents.