Keeler and Kutuchief Now Blogging for ABJ

Ben Keeler announced today that he and Chief Source administrator Kyle Kutuchief have been hired by the Akron Beacon Journal to blog about politics on a new web-only politics page: Politics.ohio.com.¹ The new politics section also features the recently activated but heretofore unannounced Blogwatch blog. Ben and Kyle's blog, The Point, offers posts from each labeled as "Liberal" or "Conservative" perspective.

Ben's first commenter rolled in with the obvious questions -- are they being paid, do they have full editorial control and what will happen to their home blogs? I'd add another -- have they and the ABJ worked out the boundaries of political involvement that scuttled the PeeDee's Wide Open attempt? And I think Kyle and Ben would both do well to answer the questions as transparency bolsters credibility.

In the meantime, congratulations to both and best wishes to them and the ABJ in the new venture. The Ohio Politics introductory essay notes that the state has one of the most vibrant state blogging networks in the country. Indeed, and we're gratified to see the Beacon publicly take notice. If a formula for marrying credible blogging with mainstream journalism exists, I hope they can find it.

¹Note that the link currently takes you to a url called "ohioverticals" That appears to be a beta sort of address. I'm expecting the site to reside at the politics.ohio.com address soon.