December 10, 2004

HUGH HEWITT on the blogosphere payolla scandals. Is a Sullygate next?

Full disclosure -- George Soros has never given a cent to PrestoPundit. However, I do get donations from readers, and it is enough to pay for web traffic ($20 a month). I don't know who you good people are, but I most sincerely appreciate your contributions and your kind words.

I also have advertisers, and I do tend to be very supportive of them. If you haven't done it yet, you should check out Bill Parke's econRT.com which aggregates econoblogs from around the blogosphere. And Michael Meckler is dishing out meaty link-filled blog helpings on culture, politics and Ohio at his Blue-State.com blog. Or if you're if you're looking for a better paying job, you might try these guys. And I really liked advertising the Super Sawhorse, which come to think of it would make a great Christmas gift. I'm lucky to have all these folks as sponsors, and I'm happy to promote them. [My ad rates can be found here].

Does this stuff effect how I blog? Maybe at the margins. Getting donations reminds me to respect my readers -- whatever their views might be. Getting an ad from Bill reminds me that lots of people come here for the economics, so I've done more of that since the election.

Beyond my own interests and a desire to have good stuff for the readers, what shapes my blogging more than anything is not money but concern for the reputation of PrestoPundit within the blogosphere. Folks like Glenn Reynolds and Hugh Hewitt have sent this site a lot readers over the years. So have many, many other blogs. This hasn't stopped me from taking on Hugh or Glenn, sometimes forcefully. But my tendency is to have a generous feeling toward those who've linked to me and even an extra bit of courteous respect for whatever these folks find dear. In part this is human nature, in part this is that respect for the reader thing -- their readers are coming here to be my readers. That tells me something about my audience. So, don't come here expecting mean jokes about Ohio or Tennessee -- funny ones perhaps, but not mean ones.

UPDATE: This just in! InstaPundit on the George Soros payroll! Posted by Greg Ransom | TrackBack