Deadline Pundit returns from the Cybercrypt

As the Iraq War loomed, Danny Schechter and Rory O'Connor of Globalvision commissioned me to produce a daily column of news analysis - and then the money ran out. It was called the Deadline Pundit, since my mandate was to produce a thousand words of deathless but pith prose by eight thirty every morning. I continued for some months even after the money ran out. Reading them recently I was pleased how well they had stood the test of time, on issues like the New York Times strange indulgence for Judith Miller's consequentially imaginative reporting in comparison with its intolerance for Jayson Blair's inconsequentially creative contributions.

With no crystal ball, we also forsaw the impending disaster of the Iraqi occupation at the hands of the malicious incompetents in the administration.

Over the years, many colleagues have asked me, why not do a Blog? Well, I was very busy, and somewhat prejudiced. I thought, writers who can write, publish, those who can't, blog. That prejudice was reinforced by the anonymous attacks of conservative bloggers, like the eight grade school teacher from California whose grey and undistinguished career is spent tracking my writings and attacking the journalistic integrity of myself and colleagues from behind the shelter of anonymity. It made me think that those who can, do,and those who can't, teach, while those who are too arrogant for the honorable teaching profession, blog anonymously.

But then I saw distinguished colleagues who do indeed put their names on their Blogs, and I decided to take the plunge.

So since I am busy writing for money today, and I am an ecological journalist, I will begin by recycling a piece from the Washington Spectator.

For the benefit of obsessive conservative would-be media critics, I should point at that once upon a time when I worked for British Rail (RIP) I was the conductor on the Royal Train, but the experience did not influence my writing on this subject at all.