Blogging for the Famous

Dutch Minister's World Revealed in 'Blog'

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Dutch Finance Minister Gerrit Zalm says his "blog" -- personal diary on the Internet -- gives people an idea of what it is to be a minister, with insights into his professional and private life.

"Blogging" may be the domain of teenagers and young adults in Europe, but Zalm, 52, says he got hooked two years ago in his time as parliamentary leader of the VVD free-market liberals and continued the habit after he took office again in 2003.

Zalm posts entries several times a week and says he spends about 20 minutes a day to blog -- writing the entry on old fashioned paper for an assistant to send into cyberspace.

"It is a way of making it possible -- for people who are interested of course -- to have some idea about what it is to be a minister," he told Reuters.

Zalm does not divulge the contents of meetings with Queen Beatrix or other confidential information in the blog on the finance ministry's Web site http:/www.minfin.nl.

But Sunday's entry covered government meetings, two news conferences on Friday, and a more relaxed weekend with his granddaughter's first birthday party.