At some point in the next few days, I will probably have an article published at Pajamas Media. I’m not counting my chickens yet, but it’s a reasonably sure thing, and I’ll let you know when/if it happens. But my upcoming article isn’t really what I want to talk about here. I want to talk about the new media, with Pajamas Media as the first example.

When I told my friend Don Quixote about this (probable) upcoming event, he not unreasonably asked what Pajamas Media is. I described it as an alternative to the existing media, where citizen journalists come together to report on the news and to opine about world events — all with an open conservative attitude. To me, the attitude is what really distinguishes this new media from the old media. While the Times pretends to Olympian objectivity, all the while slanting the news to fit its bias, the new media is up front about its political bias. That is, it reports the facts as honestly as is humanly possible, but the readers are forthrightly given to understand that the facts are being analyzed with an eye to conservative principles.

The only problem people may have with new media, as compared to the old, I told DQ, is that they may feel that, as it is a loose affiliation of people, it lacks the “quality control” the old media has over its employees. After all, old media employees are journalism grads who have had journalism internships and who have apprenticed at the big papers before they can get their first bylines. The big papers also have layers of editorial oversight that are intended to ensure the integrity of the stories eventually published.

It all sounds so wonderful in theory, doesn’t it? Except, as we all have seen in the past few years, that journalistic purity is not what actually happens on the ground. Between the reportorial and editorial biases at these papers, journalism is getting more and more shoddy, with blatantly false stories widely trumpeted as true — by the very media that assures the public that it is a gatekeeper of incorruptible integrity. (Media Mythbusters, which which I am affiliated, has a great compilation of many of these stories.)

Citizen journalism, I explained to DQ, has a different approach to quality assurance: networking. While we may not all work in the same office, and while most of us haven’t gone to journalism school, we’ve been vetted through blogs that have stood up to reader criticism, through ideas that have resonated with the conservative community, and through personal relationships that allow new media publishers to have a sense of our knowledge and integrity. What we’ve ended up with is a “networking network.”

As is often the case with my abstract riffs, I’m working my way to a purpose here. American Thinker started a fund raising drive to expand the site. As you know, I periodically write articles for American Thinker (although I do not get paid for doing so) and, in true networking style, have a social relationship with two of its editors and founders: Thomas Lifson and Richard Baehr. I therefore can attest to their over-the-top intelligence and complete integrity. When you read what they write — logical, well-informed, honorable and very libertarian/conservatives articles — you are, in effect, seeing the men themselves. I therefore think it would be a wonderful idea if they could expand their platform, and offer more services to more readers. Let me quote from Thomas’ article describing what American Thinker is and why it seeks more funds:

American Thinker today launches its first-ever appeal to readers for financial support. We want to explain to readers why we are doing this at this particular moment.

AT began almost four and a half years ago with the mission of providing a platform for smart and knowledgeable thinkers to reach an audience of people concerned with the future of America and of American concepts of liberty, constitutional representative democracy. We knew from our life experience that the most brilliant minds and deepest expertise were often found outside the ranks of established journalists, professors, and other public figures who already enjoyed access to prominent publications.

We wanted to provide a chance for people who have valuable things to say to reach an audience of people anxious to learn, to grow, and to add depth to their understanding of the important issues of our time. We have been overjoyed to discover that both writers and readers fitting this bill abound, not only in the United States, but around the world.

[snip]

AT has flourished beyond our dreams. We have attracted superb writers, and have published analysis so notable that it has attracted the notice not only of talk radio giants like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, Dennis Miller, and many others (to whom we apologize for not naming here), but also of some of the most prominent names in the world’s press. AT has been quoted by newspapers from the U.K. Telegraph and Le Monde to even the New York Times, which credited us with igniting a firestorm of protest that killed California’s plan to have government regulators control home thermostats in the name of energy conservation.

Now that we have proved that the AT concept can work, we are anxious to do more, but finances stand in our way. We want to add features and expand the space for articles and blogs. We desperately need to hire IT consultants and other professionals (the best of whom do not ordinarily work on a volunteer basis) to help us overcome some severe technical limitations. We borrowed money to create a new software platform a year and a half ago, when we also expanded our server capacity, and only succeeded in paying off that debt with advertising revenues a few months ago. Despite the growing readership and the intelligence of our readers, advertising revenue remains far too modest to make us a self-sustaining venture. Internet advertisers for the most part pay for generic “eyeballs” not for the specific demographic group we believe we attract.

If the AT alternative to the MSM works for you — a network of thinkers who have proven themselves through their work, and who provide both facts and analysis about the world scene — please consider donating money to AT. Here’s how to do it:

If the sensibility AT brings to you daily is of value, please consider a donation to enable us to continue our work. Donations by cash or check can be sent to:

American Thinker
6331 Fairmount Ave., #365
El Cerrito, CA 94530

For those who wish to use a credit card, please follow this link to PayPal. You do not need to have a PayPal account to use your credit card, and PayPal guarantees that your information will remain securely confidential. We will never even see your credit card information.

As is always the case with donations, of course, it’s not how much you donate that counts, but the mere fact they you do so. Whether AT gets $1 or $100 from a reader, AT is richer both by the cash amount and by the knowledge that people who visit it regularly believe it is a worthwhile endeavor.

Tags: American Thinker, media, New Media

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