Andrew Sullivan Blog Moving to TIME
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James Joyner | Monday, November 14, 2005 |
Andrew Sullivan has taken the Boeing:
I’m glad to say that in the near future, this blog will have a new home. We’re moving to Time.com’s home-page and will be hosted by their server.
[...]
As for the deal, I can simply assure you that I have retained exactly the same editorial control as I have had since the beginning. This is a blog. I won’t be running posts before any editors before they appear. I will continue to write simply what I believe or think, however misguided I may be. I will continue to correct any errors in the full light of day and change my mind if new events demand it or new facts compel it. I will try and air counter-arguments as often as possible. In other words: the essence of the blog won’t change. You will still like it for the same reasons or hate it for the same reasons; or, as many of you keep telling me, both.
[...]
This kind of deal has happened before, of course – when Mickey Kaus’s blog, kausfiles, went to Slate. He didn’t change; I won’t either. The only difference is that the blogosphere is a lot bigger now; and the distinction between the mainstream media and the blogosphere is diminishing a little. I won’t be a Time staffer; I will retain ownership of my URL – www.andrewsullivan.com. This is a lease, not a sale. It’s possible that at some point in the future, the blog could move again (although I certainly hope to stay at Time indefinitely).
A smart move on both TIME’s part and Andrew’s, I think. TIME has gotten themselves one of the original big-time bloggers and Andrew has relieved himself of the administrative burdens of blogging and, one hopes, the need for his famous telethons.
As to the convergence between mainstream media and blogging, he’s certainly right. Quite a few popular bloggers, including niche bloggers such as Howard Bashman, have gone in-house. Furthermore, as blogs gain in popularity, their authors become more subject to the same pressures and seductions of the commercial press, whether it’s writing on topics that please a general audience in order to kick up traffic, trying to attract ad revenue, or showing up on radio and television as a talking head.
Update: Welcome Legal Affairs readers! I’ve been following Howard since the earliest days of OTB. But you have to admit, the number of people looking for links to the latest full-text PDFs of appelate court opinions pales in comparison to, say, those looking for information on lesbian Carolina Panthers cheerleaders.
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and infant daughter.
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James, you could learn a lesson from Sullivan. He treats his audience as if they have minds worth engaging on the basis of facts not idealogy. He claims to be conservative but I see little in common between him and mainstream conservatism.
I think that since he is unwilling to subvert independence of thought for the sake of idealogy he comes across about as reality based as is possible for someone calling himself conservative.
You would do well to emulate him and stop apologizing for torture, tax cuts, deficits, incompetents in government, illegal wars, and treason. Leave the dark side James. Come into the light.
Saying Sullivan is "unwilling to subvert independence of thought for the sake of idealogy" obviously hasn't read any of his posts regarding gay marriage.
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