Comments on: Blogging from Baghdad

By: Anna Daniher

Anna Daniher — Sun, 06 Aug 2006 02:01:04 +0000

Bloggers, Be assured that your work is not in vain. The daily account of events everyplace has changed the world. Nothing looks the same anymore. I go back to World War II and even then as a child I always had to know what was going on. Now it is truly incomprehensible. Anyplace in the world is accessible to all of us. The pity of it is that so many people show so little interest . Anyone who is uninformed has made their choice. It’s unfortunate and they chose to ignore events at their own peril. Everyone gets to be heard and we don’t all have to agree. But we should all know what’s happening. This is truly as good as it gets and let’s hope it stays that way. Stay safe. Regards from USA. ANNA

By: PO

PO — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 18:32:52 +0000

As if being a journalist were a higher and more important calling than being a dentist. This is why Zeyad is such a good blogger, he hasn’t been tainted by “professional” journalism.

By: NY Times staffer

NY Times staffer — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 17:54:13 +0000

I heard the Iraqi bloggers are only being paid $500 a month. Iraqi NY Times reporters are paid at least double. NY Times suck.

By: Sheldon Rampton

Sheldon Rampton — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 06:02:52 +0000

I agree, Zeyad is an engaging writer. It’s a shame that Times Select has walled him off behind a for-pay-only scheme. They’ve come up with a ghetto for bloggers that is the worst of both worlds: proprietary writing that you have to pay for, combined with none of the archiving that you get for conventional news. If I want to look up a NEWS STORY from the New York Times from a few years ago, I can use their search engine to find the date, author, title and lead paragraph, and often that gives me enough information that I can Google and find a copy of the full story online for free. (If not, I happen to have access to the NEXIS news database.)

None of this is true for the Times Select blog postings. You can’t find them with a Google search OR a NEXIS search. It’s almost as if the Times is TRYING to come up with a version of blogging that will fail. The reality, of course, is that they’re trying to make a few bucks off of this internet thingy, but their approach is limiting the audience for the bloggers they have “privileged” by hiding their work behind a curtain. I just hope their bloggers are getting paid well enough to make it worth their while.

By: CaNN :: We started it.

CaNN :: We started it. — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 12:50:59 +0000

[...] BLOGGING from Baghdad …. (buzzmachine) [...]

By: db

db — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 08:25:18 +0000

Jeff: Sorry for the multiple posts. I made several attempts to post the comment from Opera (my main browser). All apparently failed (a blank page followed the click on Post, and the post did not appear). I switched to Firefox, but it too responded with a blank page when I clicked on Post. Finally, I tried MS Internet Explorer, which has apparently worked — and reveals that my attempt from Firefox had succeeded (post awaiting moderation).

Please use the most recent attempt. I corrected a few minor errors in the earlier (aborted?) posts.

Thanks — db

By: Shawn in Tokyo

Shawn in Tokyo — Mon, 16 Jan 2006 21:42:51 +0000

Yeah, Iraq the Model is always my first stop. Then I go from there when I want to fill in the gaps.

By: cryinginthewilderness

cryinginthewilderness — Mon, 16 Jan 2006 19:59:45 +0000

I used to read these blogs until it finally dawned on me that these were ex-baathists in Mosul, city of the elite. Damn right they’re gloomey because they are no longer in charge and other people are getting part of the spoils. Read Iraq the Model and find out what is really going on.

By: Shawn in Tokyo

Shawn in Tokyo — Mon, 16 Jan 2006 10:49:03 +0000

Man, it must be really depressing to read Times Select. I think the only optimistic thinker in there is David Brooks, but I could be wrong.

Anyway, I started reading Zeyad’s blog from around when he first posted. I enjoyed the fact that he had that perfect mix of educated skepticism with genuine optimism in the face of Iraq’s challenges.

I think the shitty thing that happened to his cousin sort of was the last straw for him. His posting turned suddenly more gloomy, moody and dark in its content. Posting was more sporadic. Finally, it all ended with a simple “I voted No” regarding the Constitution.

Fortunately, his little brother is not so down in the dumps.

http://nabilsblog.blogspot.com/