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A quick Google* just now to find out how many blogs exist in the world has produced an upward figure of around 200 million.

Well, Mr Google, make that two million and one.

The 7PM Side Project is the 7PM Project’s blog. A new addition to the 7PM Project’s website (and, we’re told, a Network Ten first), this will be the forum for in-depth discussion and opinion on some of the issues that don’t make it on to the show. And plenty that do.

You see, for every story that appears on the show, there are many that we don’t get to. It wasn’t always like this. In early episodes, we tried to talk about every topic in the news. This produced a television effect similar to watching the stars whizz past the Millennium Falcon’s windscreen when Han Solo makes the jump to hyperspace.

So, we took our foot off the accelerator a little. But we still spend our days in the 7PM office researching, arguing, joking and tweeting about stuff that will never make it to air.

We’re hoping this blog might fill that gap. Updated on a random basis**, it might include thoughts on news both major and trivial, pop culture, peeks behind the scenes, and cutting (but entertaining) social commentary that you will want to share with your friends on whichever social networking site the papers are frightening old people with this week. (I say “might include” because, frankly, we don’t know yet. It’s an experiment. Get off our backs. Sheesh.)

Your blog contributors will consist mainly of the 7PM Project’s behind-the-scenes writing team – there should be short biographies of us lying around somewhere. I’ll leave it to my colleagues to introduce themselves.

Personally, I’m fascinated by the world, and I look forward to exploring some of the stories from across the seas that we don’t hear much about in our mainstream media. Closer to home I expect to dabble in society, entertainment, sport and more.

And I’ll try to bring you some behind-the-scenes stories until I push it too far and they sack me.

Enjoy.

* Google is not our normal research tool. Like all good journalists, we use Wikipedia for that.

** The word ‘random’ has an actual meaning. Look it up.