After spending several months developing a model to support a dramatic new publishing medium, they announced in the summer of 2005 that their venture was a go. Their plan will provide an online place where readers and thoughtful bloggers can come together to be informed, to explore issues of the day, and to have fun.What the f*ck does that mean? "Dramatic new publishing medium"? It's been around for a long time now, folks. "Provide an online place where readers," etc. Yes, yes, it's the internet! So what the hell will they really do? I mean really really. Is it about revenue? Is it about getting paid for content? I suspect that's part of it. Are the critics of the MSM trying to reorganize to be more like the MSM? I get a strong "ain't broke, don't fix" sense about blogs. Sure, the blog world is big, messy, and disorganized. The cream rises to the top of a whole lotta milk anyway, and that's how it should be. The desire to organize it in some way is understandable, but to what end? And what effect could it possible have?
Who knows? Maybe when they unveil their "plan" ("Ginger," anyone?) I'll "get" it. But aside from turning into an MSM-style organization, what can they do? It seems like a big, squishy "I'd like to buy the world a Coke" thing that has a nice utopian sound to it, but is essentially an exercise in pointlessness. I'm a pajama skeptic.
More: From the NRO piece you linked:
Pajamas Media will not restrict their links to participating blogs, however. Their editors will scour the Internet for anyone with an intriguing spin or fresh facts on a story or event, regardless of their ideology or affiliation.Sure. Rather than, say, linking to a site that's giving them a piece of the blog-ad action. There are a million bloggers out there scouring for fresh takes or interesting spin. Who needs PJM to distill it for you? (Uh, the kind of people that click on blog-ads?) Look, I don't mean to trash what they're doing. Best of luck, and all that. But it smells like bullshit to this nose.
1 comment:
I can appreciate your take, and I've got no dog in the fight, other than, like you, being a fan of several of the writers involved.
I think the PM group consists of a lot of disaffected MSMers who have a different mission than just finding new, interesting takes on the news. It's the difference between fact checking Dan Rather 'cause he's a lying SOB and doing it because you want to be "the one who ended Dan Rather's career." There's certainly a bit of ego and a bit of profit driving the change, as well as some genuine motivation to change things for the better or just be part of the next new thing.
Am I worried they'll create in the process their own self selected elite media types? Maybe, but their credibility is their stock in trade. If they blow it, it won't be long before people call them out.
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