I think utilizing the blog is a great idea, but considering the wealth of people you have here, wouldn't it work better if along with the freelance staff, this was also a submission type of blog where UT members could send articles to the editor? At least then you'd be able to make use of the huge pool of members here who might not be able to make a big commitment but would be willing to contribute once in a while. I fully understand the arguments against doing it this way, so it's perfectly justifiable if the site would prefer staff articles over member articles. Just throwing an idea out there for consideration.