Pajamas Media

Pajamas Media, briefly known as Open Source Media, is a startup company founded in 2004 by mystery writer, screenwriter and blogger Roger L. Simon, and Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs "with the intention of... aggregating blogs to increase corporate advertising and creating our own professional news service." ["An open letter to all bloggers" By: Simon, Roger L. April 28, 2005 http://www.rogerlsimon.com/mt-archives/2005/04/an_open_letter.php] Pajamas Media's name is derived from a dismissive comment made by former news executive vice-president Jonathan Klein of CBS during the Killian documents affair: "you couldn't have a starker contrast between the multiple layers of checks and balances at 60 Minutes and a guy sitting in his living room in his pajamas".Fact|date=April 2008 The official name of the company is OSM Media, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company [https://sos-res.state.de.us/tin/GINameSearch.jsp] , qualified to do business in California as OSM Media, LLC, [http://kepler.sos.ca.gov/corpdata/ShowLpllcAllList?QueryLpllcNumber=200525710287] with a fictitious name statement under Pajamas Media. Pajamas Media, Inc. is not OSM Media, LLC dba Pajamas Media.

History

Pajamas Media completed its first round of venture capital funding on November 14, 2005; its launch and official rebranding as "Open Source Media" took place November 16. Launch festivities included a keynote address by former "New York Times" journalist Judith Miller.

Pajamas Media Board members include many prominent bloggers and journalists, including "Instapundit" Glenn Reynolds, CNBC's Larry Kudlow, Michael Barone of "U.S. News & World Report", David Corn of "The Nation" and Claudia Rosett (who helped break the United Nations' "Oil for Food" controversy).

Now over two years old, Pajamas Media has correspondents in 48 countries and is beginning to syndicate original content in the manner of a news service, one of the first new media companies to do this. It has also added a list of PajamasXpress bloggers including historian Victor Davis Hanson, journalist Ron Rosenbaum and the actor Ron Silver.

Pajamas Media's corporate status was suspended by the Secretary of State of California for non-payment of fees and the company appears to be currently inactive. [http://kepler.sos.ca.gov/corpdata/ShowAllList?QueryCorpNumber=C2739044] Pajamas Media is not defunct. The official name of the company is OSM Media, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company [https://sos-res.state.de.us/tin/GINameSearch.jsp] , qualified to do business in California as OSM Media, LLC, [http://kepler.sos.ca.gov/corpdata/ShowLpllcAllList?QueryLpllcNumber=200525710287] with a fictitious name statement under Pajamas Media. Pajamas Media, Inc. is not OSM Media, LLC dba Pajamas Media.

Missteps

Seminal blogger Luke Ford had been signed up as a PJM/OSM pundit but was dropped the next day when it was discovered that he had resumed blogging the adult film industry. ["Scheer MadnessOut with the old, in with the new, and a thriving other world" By: Seipp, Catherine November 16, 2005 The National Review Online http://www.nationalreview.com/seipp/seipp200511160852.asp]

When the Open Source brand was launched, it claimed that the Open Source radio program had allowed it to use its name and an Internet subdomain, opensourcemedia.net, that wasn't in use at the time. Christopher Lydon, founder of the Open Source, said that wasn't true despite revised text on OSM's site. Further investigation revealed that the production company, Open Source Media, Inc., had in fact already applied for a trademark on the name.Fact|date=April 2008 To avoid further conflict, OSM returned to the name Pajamas Media, on November 22, 2005. [ [http://www.osm.org/site/story/11212005namechange Pajamas Media ] ]

Criticism

Starting in October 2004, Kenton E. Kelly, who blogs as "Dennis the Peasant", entered into discussions with Roger Simon to begin a venture called Tulip Advertising, an arrangement terminated by Kelly upon learning that Simon had launched Pajamas Media on April 29, 2005. Since then, Kelly, a Certified Public Accountant in Columbus, Ohio has been highly critical of Pajamas' business plan [ [http://dennisthepeasant.typepad.com/dennis_the_peasant/ragging_on_roger_simon/index.html Dennis The Peasant: Ragging on Roger Simon ] ] or what he feels is the lack thereof. He claims that Simon and Johnson have not even begun to consider how they will attract advertising to the site and that they seem to think they won't need to, based on his observation of a lack of strategy, missed deadlines, and "general sloppiness." ["Sorry, But You’re Probably Not Going To Make Money With Pajamas Media (Happy Anniversary To Me)" By: Dennis the Peasant October 20, 2005 http://dennisthepeasant.typepad.com/dennis_the_peasant/2005/10/sorry_but_youre.html] He also questioned whether OSM would attract real readership when the readers of many of the blogs to be aggregated could already read their favorite bloggers at their own sites for free. Roger Simon later responded on his own blog, noting that there was never much of a partnership between Kelly and himself, stating "no contracts were ever signed. No investment [s] ...made. Nothing happened."

Another blogger, Jeff Jarvis, himself a principal in another blogging startup, questioned the demand for advertising on the sites of "mostly conservative political bloggers." ["I don’t wear PJs" By: Jarvis, Jeff October 31, 2005 http://www.buzzmachine.com/index.php/2005/10/31/i-dont-wear-pjs/]

When law blogger Ann Althouse also aired a public critique of the OSM business model, Johnson responded by directing his commenters to her post, provoking a flame war which lasted the better part of a week. [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20051229061108/http://mattwelch.com/archives/week_2005_11_13.html#003385 November 13, 2005 - November 19, 2005 Archives ] ]

Pajamas Media began running web-based straw polls for the 2008 U.S. Presidential race in early 2007. They have been criticized for their policy of excluding candidates who gain less than 1% support in the most recent Gallup Poll, such as Ron Paul in particular while including non-candidates such as Al Sharpton and Al Gore. ["Ron Paul and the naked Pajamas Media" By: Day, Vox March 19, 2007 World Net Daily http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54761]

Like other online polls, Pajamas Media has reported on efforts to stack their polls in favor of Ron Paul. ["The Ron Paul Effect" By: Klein, Rick May 7, 2007 ABC News http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Story?id=3147940] [ [http://www.rogerlsimon.com/mt-archives/2007/06/ron_paul_in_the.php Roger L. Simon: Ron Paul in the Land of Oz ] ] Pajamas founder Charles Johnson's Little Green Footballs website has likewise taken a similar stand against Paul's Candidacy. ["Ron Paul Holding Steady at 0%" By: Anonymous July 9, 2007 http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=26195_Ron_Paul_Holding_Steady_at_0%&only] ["USAT/Gallup Poll: Steady leads for Giuliani & Clinton" By: Memmott, Mark and Lawrence, Jill July 9, 2007 USA Today http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/2007/07/usatgallup-poll.html]

ee also

* Blog
* Citizen journalism
* Pajamahadeen
* Collaborative blog

Official site

* [http://www.pajamasmedia.com/ Pajamas Media]

References

Traditional media coverage

* [http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1130/p14s01-stct.html Christian Science Monitor : A one-stop shop for the 'best' blogs]
* [http://news.com.com/2061-11199_3-5959459.html CNET : Open Source Media group met with harsh criticism]
* [http://www.nysun.com/article/13179 The NY Sun : Three Political Web Logs Make a Run for the Mainstream]
* [http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/11-14-2005/0004214903&EDATE= PR Newswire : Pajamas Media Closes $3.5 Million Venture Round]
* [http://www.techcentralstation.com/052005G.html Tech Central Station : The Rise of Pajamas Media]
* [http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,69335,00.html?tw=wn_2polihead Wired : Will Pajamas Media Wake Up Blogs?]

Blog and forum coverage

* [http://lashawnbarber.com/archives/2005/11/15/pajamasmedia/ La Shawn Barber : Pajamas Media Launch]
* [http://businesslogs.com/best_practices/open_source_media_launches_to_negative_press.php Business Logs : Open Source Media Launches To Negative Press]
* [http://www.buzzmachine.com/index.php/2005/10/31/i-dont-wear-pjs/ Buzzmachine : I don’t wear PJs]
* [http://crookedtimber.org/2005/11/15/pajamarama/ Crooked Timber : Pajamarama]
* [http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/12698 Outside the Beltway : Open Source (Pajamas) Media: An Early Assessment]
* [http://www.jimlowney.com/mt-archives/000314.html Jim Lowney : Party Like It's 1999] — account of the launch afterparty.
* [http://www.proteinwisdom.com/index.php/weblog/entry/19366/ Protein Wisdom : Liveblogging the Pajamas Media launch festivities from the W Hotel in New York, 4]
* [http://www.rightwingnews.com/archives/week_2005_11_13.PHP#004766 Rightwing News : The Debut Of Open Source Media AKA Pajamas Media]
* [http://www.stoptheaclu.com/archives/2005/11/17/open-source-confusion/ Stop the ACLU : Open Source Confusion?]

2005 Flamewar

* [http://althouse.blogspot.com/2005/11/taking-off-pajamas-now-what-do-you-see.html Ann Althouse : Taking off the Pajamas: now, what do you see?]
* [http://www.houblog.com/wp/index.php/2005/67 Houblog : Open Letter to the Former Pajamas Media]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20051229061108/http://mattwelch.com/archives/week_2005_11_13.html#003385 Matt Welch : A Media Entrepreneur of Taste]