Leftosphere Shakeup
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James Joyner | Wednesday, August 20, 2008 |
The musical chairs of the center-left blogosphere continue to move. Kevin Drum is leaving Washington Monthly to take what I presume is a higher-paying gig at Mother Jones and Steve Benen is shuttering Carpetbagger Report to take over Kevin’s old spot. Oddly, they’ll also be cross-posting most of Hilary (Hilzoy) Bok’s content from Obsidian Wings. And, of course, Matt Yglesias will be taking his show on the road again before long if past patterns prevail.
Congrats to all. Despite seldom agreeing with their politics, they’re all in the Must Read list in my RSS reader (which, ironically, I haven’t been reading much the last few days becuse of a high opstempo at the Atlantic Council).
This is especially great news for Steve, who’s finally getting his big break after working as a freelancer for years.
As for Kevin, the move seems strange at first blush. While Mother Jones is a venerable name and presumably more prestigious than relative newcomer Washington Monthly, its reputation is much more Far Left than his more DLCish current haunt and therefore a strange fit for Kevin’s more moderate worldview. He assures us, though, that MJ has changed much since the 1970s. In any case, he’s the same blogger now as he was in the long ago CalPundit days, so the venue is irrelevant to us.
Finally, while I think Hilzoy is a great addition to the blog, I’m at something of a loss as to why Washington Monthly would want cross-posted content from another blog as a regular feature. That’s not only odd from a branding standpoint but bad search engine optimization.
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.
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Mother Jones has been doing some very decent work. Recruiting Kevin is a shrewd move on their part. It immediately kicks their web presence up a notch.
I really haven't thought a great deal about it but if the Web really is where the news business is going the scramble for eyeballs is going to be great news for bloggers with a large established following.
Despite seldom agreeing with their politics, they’re all in the Must Read list in my RSS reader (which, ironically, I haven’t been reading much the last few days becuse of a high opstempo at the Atlantic Council).
I have all of these creepy liberals in my RSS feeder as well--however, I don't read them. I get great satsifaction simply deleting their claptrap propaganda when new posts come up. If only we could "delete" the liberals in real life, I would be happy. Nevertheless, my form of virtual deletion is therapeutic.
Kevin's right about MoJo. Laura Rozen and others have been doing some really great work there.
Regards, C
Kevin's right about MoJo. Laura Rozen and others have been doing some really great work there.
Regards, C
In any case, he’s the same blogger now as he was in the long ago CalPundit days, so the venue is irrelevant to us.
Heh. Long ago when Netscape allowed to you add to your ondisk bookmarks file with a one click, I added Kevin to mine as Calpundit. I've carried that list of bookmarks with me through four computers. The url may change, but he'll always be Calpundit to me and my bookmarks.
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