Getting around in their Pajamas

The Anchoress observes that Pajamas Media is doing an impressive job of covering the current Mideast war.

I've noticed the same thing myself. Of course, as a member of Pajamas, I guess you can't call me unbiased; I most definitely have a dog in this race.

When PJ began, I saw it as an experiment that might or might not work out. But I was more than willing to go along for the ride. After all, I had nothing to lose, and it sounded like a good idea and a fun idea.

At first, I didn't go to their website much. It seemed a haphazard collection of random blog posts, with nothing special to recommend it. But I figured that would change over time, as they found out what worked and what didn't.

And it most certainly has. Now I go there not because I'm curious about how they're doing, or loyal, but because their coverage has become excellent. In fact, they feature the best roundups of news and opinion about the war that I've found online.

One of the ways I can tell that the Pajamas readership has risen considerably is by the amount of traffic they drive. At first, when I was linked there, the uptick on my sitemeter was very modest indeed. Then there was a slow increase over time. Now any link from PJ causes a very respectable surge.

I noticed a sharp upturn in both the traffic and quality of the website with the appointment of Gerard Van der Leun, who brings his extensive expertise and ebullient energy (love those alliterations--watch for more!) to the job of Editor in Chief. Head honcho, the refreshing and resourceful Roger Simon, has been burning the midnight oil as well, as have those cover-the-globe editors: the judicious and jocund Juliette Ochieng, the hardworking and humane Jose Guardia, and the remarkable and reflective Richard Fernandez.

Last November, at the PJ kickoff in New York--back when the group was laboring under the fortunately short-lived moniker OSM--I met the majority of these people, as well as a host of my fellow PJ bloggers. You can read my description of the event here, in case you missed it first time round. Fun.