. . . that the claims of left-wing bias in academia are just as overwrought as those hackneyed claims of liberal bias among mainstream news outlets.

Whew.

(Via Insty.)

Posted by: Attila Girl at 11:38 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Vanderleun writes a nice meditation on Pajamas Media/OSM and its launch party. Trust him to refrain from casting the first, second, 30th, or 80th stone when everyone else is having a merry time throwing.

I realize I haven't shared my perspective on PJM. I came very close to joining. Twice. But the type of commitment required to participate seemed very large to me, and I was at the break-even point going the BlogAds route. So I decided to trust my inner rebel and stay independent for the time being, realizing the risk: I'm not a big name, and if I didn't get my foot in the door then, there was every chance PJM would grow too big and important for the likes of me. Which is fine.

So I'm sticking with Blogads for now. (By the way? Buy one. Thanks. If not, buy two.)

But I think it's a brilliant idea: we who swim in the bloggy waters may not realize how overwhelming it is for those who are just starting out to find the quality material that will keep them coming back. Hence the need for a reliable portal to get them started. Without mechanisms like PJM (and, perhaps, another left-tilting one to play CNN to PJM's Fox News), it's going to be a lot harder for the average person to find information he/she feels is trustworthy.

Of course, as Gerard points out—and Dean echoes—everyone wants to take a shot at the new kid. But PJM represents a hell of an online brain trust, and even if it pays the price for being the pioneer (sometimes, you pave the way, and the next enterprise steals the glory), it's a more-than-worthy endeavor, and a swashbuckling achievement for Roger, Charles, et al.

I reserve the right to shoot holes in it: I'm a blogger. That's what I do. But win, lose, or draw, the Pajamas People have brought an aura of something like respectability to what we do—without taking away our outlaw charm—and I'm grateful for it.

And by the way? I live in Los Angeles. Roger L. Simon only wears the fedora on special occasions. At ordinary events, he's always in a baseball cap. Trust me on this. After all, I'm your local-girl-on-the-scene.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 10:49 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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