Times Online's Music LogTimes Online is continuing to expand its blogging coverage with the launch of 'Music Log', a blog dedicated to music news and gig coverage.

Music Log's main contributor is Dafydd Goff, who previously worked on the Sunday Times' multimedia entertainment supplement The Month.

Times Online has already introduced blog formats for election coverage and its gardening section, and will introduce more to promote specialist areas.

"Blogging tools work well when a reporter needs a certain amount of flexibility and they have something new to say every day," said Peter Bale, editorial director for Times Online.

"We could do this kind of coverage in the conventional editing system, but this way the content can be put out as an RSS feed and reporters can post more easily on the fly using their mobile phones."

On Monday, the Times reduced the letters page in its print edition and transfered the debate section to its website, allowing expanded comment in real-time.

Blogs will soon feature reader comment, although journalists will select both blog and debate contributions from readers' emails before publication.

Mr Bale explained that after looking closely at other newspaper blogs, he wanted to maintain the Times' editorial standards and avoid the problem of offensive or defamatory comments.

"I know that's slightly against the spirit of blogging but I wanted to remove some of the risks," said Mr Bale.

"We want more input and more comment from our readers, and we want to use it in an intelligent way."

Times Online is working increasingly closely with the print newspaper, said Mr Bale. Rupert Murdoch's recent landmark speech, in which the news mogul urged the industry to embrace online publishing, has made print journalists far less sceptical about the internet.

The site recorded five million unique users during May, up from 1.7 million a year ago, which has given online journalists an important boost.

"Rupert Murdoch's speech hasn't changed our approach to online because we were already doing a lot of what he talked about," said Mr Bale.

"But people take him seriously, so it's been extremely helpful to lots of people in the industry - and not just newspapers."

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