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Blog Makes Print Debut in Chicago

Category: What goes around comes around

By LISA BERNARD and PEGGY CASSIDY

| Tuesday, Jan 27, 2009 | Updated 3:37 PM CST

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Getty Images/Justin Sullivan

"The Printed Blog" is part blog, part magazine, part penny-saver and part crap shoot.

A new concept in news hit the streets of San Francisco and Chicago today. It's a newspaper -- sort of.

"The Printed Blog" is part blog, part magazine, part penny-saver and part crap shoot.

It's the brainchild of a Chicago publisher Joshua Karp, of "Boy Genius" fame. Karp says he can sell ads and offer the collection of blogs for free.

It's not just blogs, but it is all user-generated content like photos and reader comments.

The New York Times reported last week that, "The Printed Blog ... plans to reprint blog posts on regular paper, surrounded by local ads, and distribute the publications free in big cities."

The free part goes a long way.

Coming off the train in San Francisco this morning, BART riders said they're willing to give it a try.

Commuter Olivia Nava said, "I mean, if it's gonna be free and they're gonna hand it to me when I get off BART, then I'll probably read it."

Not far behind her, Dennis Hanshew said, "Being of the generation that I am, I'm 60, I don't blog, so I kind of like the idea. "

The first issue has a racy photo and a blog about sex right on page one.

In the category of "You Can't Please All The People All The Time," more than one BART rider said they prefer credible journalism. Others were upset that paper will be used when one could just as easily read the blogs on-line and save some trees.