Results of a new study issued by the Pew Internet and American Life Project finds that the "ease and appeal of blogging is inspiring a new group of writers and creators to share their voices with the world."

Of 12 million Americans who use the Internet, the study found that 8 percent are keeping blogs and 39 percent of Internet users are reading blogs. Sixty-four percent of bloggers blog to "share practical knowledge or skills with others," while 37 percent say the primary topic of their blogs is "my life and experiences."

Other blog topics include politics and government (11%); entertainment(7%) ; sports (6%); focus on general news and current events (5%); business( 5%); technology (4%); religion, spirituality or faith (2%). Smaller groups "focus on a specific hobby, a health problem or illness, or other topics." The study also finds that 46% of bloggers are women and 55% are men.

Pew Senior Research Specialist Amanda Lenhart, co-author of the study with Associate Director Susannah Fox: "Blogs are as individual as the people who keep them, but this survey shows that most bloggers are primarily interested in creative, personal expression... Blogs make it easy to document individual experiences, share practical knowledge, or just keep in touch with friends and family."

Fox added: "Much of the public and press attention to bloggers has focused on the small number of high-traffic, A-list bloggers... By asking a wide range of bloggers what they do and why they do it, we have found a different kind of story about the power of the internet to encourage creativity and community among all kinds of internet users."

The full report can be found here.

Two distinctive high-level blog initiatives were announced this past week and show promise for how both global journalism and financial coverage can be accomplished in a new media landscape.

PostGlobal, moderated by David Ignatius and Fareed Zakaria is described "as an experiment in global, collaborative journalism, a running discussion of important issues among dozens of the world's best-known editors and writers. It aims to create a truly global dialogue, drawing on independent journalists in the countries where news is happening -- from China to Iran, from South Africa to Saudi Arabia, from Mexico to India." The site, situated within washingtonpost.com, will host blogs from 30 contributors from around the globe, along with commentary on breaking news events from leading journalists. Questions and comments from readers around the world will also be part of PostGlobal.

And Dallas Mavericks owner and blogger Mark Cuban will finance a new "blog-style" journalism site "focused on exposing corporate fraud." Chris Carey, a veteran reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, hatched the idea for Sharesleuth.com and will serve as the editor and president.

Cuban, however, raised a few eyebrows--and some questions about the site's journalistic ethics-- when he commented to the Associated Press that he would use the information gained from Sharesleuth.com to buy and sell stocks before stories are published. In an email to CNETNews.com, Cuban said: " How is it any different than the many commentators on CNBC and FOX News, Bloomberg, etc., that buy or short stocks, then regularly go on air and discuss their positions and why they took them?... Isn't the smart investor the one who does their research and then makes a buy or sell decision? In our case, we will do the same thing, only we will publish why we are doing it," Cuban said."

Carey: "To avoid conflict of interest issues, I've never invested in individual stocks, and I don't intend to while running Sharesleuth.com. Mark Cuban and I agreed that he could trade on information that the site reports, though not all stories would even offer that possibility." Sharesleuth.com will launch at the end of June.