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When M.J. Milloy quit his post as news editor of Hour, one of Montreal's English-language weeklies, to go freelance, he was looking for a way to continue publishing The New Forum, his column on local affairs.

"A friend of mine pointed Weblogs out to me and I was excited by the concept, and also the cost," Mr. Milloy says. "It's remarkably cheap to do. It seemed like a no-lose prospect."

Last September, Mr. Milloy turned a previously weekly discourse into a daily screed by launching Thenewforum.ca. In addition to his lively dissertations on Montreal news and politics, the site features links to other stories and columnists around the Web, including Hour's Richard Burnett, The Toronto Star's Michelle Landsberg and The Montreal Gazette's Jack Todd.

Mr. Milloy says he spends one to two hours a day writing and maintaining the site, which draws about 1,000 visitors daily.

As more and more journalists turn to Weblogs as an alternate mode of expression, many profit-minded observers are wondering whether media-related Weblogs -- like every other Net innovation -- will translate into revenue.

A Weblog -- or "blog" in Internet shorthand -- is a regularly updated on-line journal that is sorted in reverse chronological order (meaning that the newest instalment appears on top). The information can be penned by the site proprietor, contributed by users or culled from other sources.

Weblogs can be used for a variety of applications, from planning a family reunion to providing a discussion forum for like-minded collectors. Arguably, the most thriving Weblog is Slashdot.org, where users exchange tips and heated opinions on topics ranging from technology to media.

A number of U.S. journalists maintain busy Weblogs, many of which started out as hobbies and have become must-visit destinations. New York-based political commentator Andrew Sullivan is one of the most prominent media bloggers. His site generates some revenue from banner ads, but Mr. Sullivan also makes overtures to visitors.

"To help us keep this experiment in on-line journalism available to you and to all our readers," the site says, "please consider assisting us with a donation."

Mr. Milloy says he prefers "the no-ad look," and refuses to charge visitors a subscription fee.

"One of the reasons that blogs have taken off so much is because they're free," says John Hiler, editor of Microcontentnews.com, a Weblog about Weblogs. "What I do see in increasing amounts is people building their reputations using Weblogs and then cashing out in various ways. If you're a freelance writer, a Weblog can help turbocharge your career."

One example of this is U.S. writer Jim Romenesko, whose MediaNews Weblog became so influential that the Poynter Institute -- an organization that reports on media trends -- put him on its payroll to attract traffic to its site (Poynter.org).

Some observers see advantages in letting reporters maintain Weblogs on company time. Steve Outing, interactive media columnist for Editor & Publisher on-line, has advocated that newspapers offer their entire editorial staffs the opportunity to publish individual blogs.

"You could have some print and on-line synergy there," Mr. Outing says. "Maybe a Weblog is updated daily, and once a week the best of the Weblog goes into the newspaper. Say a columnist writes three or four times a week. Well, maybe one of those is based on the interaction with readers that they get as part of their Weblog."

Very few Canadian journalists currently have individual or media-affiliated Weblogs. Among them is Webmania.ctv.ca, an adjunct to CTV's weekly Internet review show, maintained by producer Richard McIlveen.

While analysts see little profit potential in charging user fees to glimpse media Weblogs, some on-line publishers are finding alternate ways to turn Weblogs into revenue. Last month, cash-strapped news site Salon.com announced it would begin hosting Weblogs with software created by Userland.

For $40 (U.S.), an individual can have a Weblog appended to Salon's Web address. While Salon shares the proceeds with Userland, it increases traffic to the site.

Mr. Outing says it's "potentially a great model for local newspapers," and feels that media outlets could go one step further and host company Weblogs, thereby offering businesses new marketing opportunities. "If [readers] went to the newspaper site, they'd see all these local Weblogs," Mr. Outing postulates.

Mr. Outing also suggests that various industries could use the Weblog model to create up-to-the-minute newsletters.

The financial benefits of Weblogs remain nebulous, but diehard users say the underlying concept will endure.

"Whether or not journalism adopts Weblogs, whether or not business adopts Weblogs, there will always be people who stick with them," says Rebecca Blood, author of The Weblog Handbook,which was published last month.

"Most of us don't have access to major media of any kind, and this is our way of being able to say our piece, even if only 100 people or a dozen people are listening."