IT'S THE WEEKEND, so I'll make a public announcement: Telenoticies.com, the news portal of the Catalan public broadcaster (with two TV and three radio regional networks) has asked me to enter its roster of columnists in its opinion section.

Not because it's me, but I think this proves there's hope in the media landscape here, since my political views are not exactly the predominant; it shows they're willing to listen to all points of view. I guess I must be the only one; apparently they couldn't find anyone better!

I'd like to publicly thank Telenoticies.com editor, Josep Maria Fàbregas, for his kind offer.

And, with no further delay, here's my first column; roughly tranlated, the title is "Kerry's steeplechase". It's written in Catalan, not in Spanish; I'm warning it just in case you try to translate it with Babelfish and you think it has gone mad.