Celebrity collective blogging

The New York Times says Arianna Huffington's soon to be up and running blog Huffington Post is going to take blogging to a whole new level:

Arianna Huffington, the columnist and onetime candidate for governor of California, is about to move blogging from the realm of the anonymous individual to the realm of the celebrity collective.

She has lined up more than 250 of what she calls "the most creative minds" in the country to write a group blog that will range over topics from politics and entertainment to sports and religion. It is essentially a nonstop virtual talk show that will be part of a Web site that will also serve up breaking news around the clock. It is to be introduced May 9.

Having prominent people join the blogosphere, Ms. Huffington said in an interview, "is an affirmation of its success and will only enrich and strengthen its impact on the national conversation." Among those signed up to contribute are Walter Cronkite, David Mamet, Nora Ephron, Warren Beatty, James Fallows, Vernon E. Jordan Jr., Maggie Gyllenhaal, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., Diane Keaton, Norman Mailer and Mortimer B. Zuckerman.

Now there's a collection of creative minds with pulling power. (Someone needs to come up with a term for a collective of celebrity bloggers. How about an ego?)

Not only will Huffington Post be a group blog – something the NYT seems to think is unusual – it will offer the innovation of ... wait for it ... comments. The national security section will be managed by security expert, former Colorado Senator Gary Hart. A couple of token conservatives have even been lined up.

Will Huffington Post succeed? Well, one thing Huffington and her financial backers have going in their favour, the bloggers will be unpaid.