Curious it is to watch the reaction of the MSM to the ever rising tide of the blogosphere — some outlets complain that bloggers have no ethics, others are still spinning endlessly on the old chestnut about whether or not bloggers are journalists, and still others are just trying to cash in. The L.A. Times is about the embark on one of the more brave MSM flirtations with social software by launching a concept they call wikitorials, which will allow readers to "remix" the newspaper's editorials online. It's going to be modeled after the mother of all wikis, Wikipedia, and will roll out for selected editorials at first. Editorial editor Michael Kinsley freely admits the whole idea is complete experimentation: "It may be a complete mess but it's going to be interesting to try." Given some of the notable challenges in managing and growing wiki-based sites, it should prove interesting indeed — regardless, this willingness to experiment and embrace the interactive nature of the web, and to reach across the traditional divide between broadcaster and reader, is a refreshing development in the generally wary standoffishness between MSM and the blogosphere. Cheers, L.A. Times — enjoy the ride!

And here's the first wikitorial.