This is a pretty fascinating story and a good read. I did find myself still wondering if Novak had some larger political agenda, which speaks to the writer's failure to paint a good portrait of her. Still a good read though.

A very well written piece rich with information. I wish the author could have interviewed someone in the government for their opinion of Ms. Novak or others in the Arab world who don't agree with her blogging. The article also touts her as a "stay at home mom" who blogs "when the kids are at school." Well, what do her husband and kids think about what she's doing? One of her major constraints to take her site even further is her family, and we don't hear from them.

This is not exactly good and unbiased journalism because there is an underlying assumption, namely that the cause Ms. Novak and Mr. Khaiwani stand for is good and just. While this very well might be true and while her effort - and its repercussions - are certainly newsworthy I didn't learn much from this article about the background on situation in Yemen, about Mr. Khaiwani background, there is no other side - Yemeni govmnt. - at all. So this whole article boils down to "how good American housewife helps spread freedom and justice in bad Yemen".

I think this is an important topic as it not only addresses terrorism and injustices abroad, but it also discusses online journalism and shows us how blogs can be gateways into other communities and can have a profound impact on people. However, I do not know much about the situation in Yemen and I didn't feel like I gained much perspective and context from the article, making it difficult to have strong feelings about the characters.

Worth relies primarily on two sources for this piece: Blogger and activist Jane Novak, and imprisoned Yemeni journalist Abdul Karim al-Khaiwani. In 1400 words, there seems to be more than enough room to bring in other voices and perspectives.