A good, cogent piece on why political bloggers can never expect to get rich off their little hobby, by DtheP. I wish nothing but success for OSM (heck, they've included me on their blogroll, which is quite a bit better than most of my so-called allies in the blogosphere), but I think it would be better for all concerned if the initial focus was on building a good website than on strategizing how they can market their project to high-end advertisers.

BTW, is there any explanation why they decided to kick off their project with a party in New York City rather than L.A.? Symbolically, it makes no sense. NYC may be the MSM Capitol of the World, but in terms of the blogosphere it is definitely an underachieving backwater. Not only do the two principal bloggers behind OSM live in the City of Angels, but the entire Southern California region is inarguably the deepest, broadest area for the format in the world (to wit, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here; and that's not counting other bloggers [ie., here and here] who started in SoCal before moving on to bigger and better things.).

Each of the sites I've listed are among the most influential and/or popular blogs today, encompassing the whole range of political and cultural debate, and all are based or originated in the area between the Mexican border and the Kern River. There is no other area on this planet that even comes close. To put it another way, if you're going to open a play with the intent of making a fortune, you open it on Broadway or the West End, or failing that, off-Broadway or at the Fringe. You don't open it in Los Angeles unless you have a lot of kinks you need to work out first. Los Angeles has a good local theatrical scene, and has opened some fine plays, but you need to go elsewhere if you want the right people to take notice. Symbolically, starting OSM in the Big Apple really sends the wrong message.