Interesting site to keep an eye on (Pajamas Media)

Pajamas Media had its beginnings in 2004, when co-founders Charles Johnson and Roger L. Simon experienced first-hand two events that marked the growing influence of blogs on society: a blog-driven investigation into the United Nations Oil for Food scandal and another into the falsified military records cited by CBS News in coverage of President George W. Bush.

From those and other blogging experiences, Roger and Charles knew there was enough expertise and investigative ability among bloggers nationally and globally to out-report the mainstream media on turf they had long controlled. The two Los Angeles co-founders were already friends via their blogs, Little Green Footballs and Roger L. Simon. So, as they talked to other participants in the ever-expanding blogosphere, an idea began to take shape.

Roger, a well-known novelist and screenwriter, and Charles, a successful musician and software designer, realized that by aggregating weblogs together into a new media form, blogs could become a force to be reckoned with in the 21st Century. To pursue their vision, they sought out the advice and involvement of several widely respected top bloggers, and soon a plan emerged.

After spending several months developing a model to support a dramatic new publishing medium, they announced in the summer of 2005 that their venture was a go. Their plan will provide an online place where readers and thoughtful bloggers can come together to be informed, to explore issues of the day, and to have fun. Key details of the plan are still under wraps. For now, the co-founders will say only that there will be a significant unveiling in the fall of 2005.

Pajamas Media today revealed that its editorial board members and contributors include "Instapundit" Glenn Reynolds, one of the world's most-read bloggers; CNBC's Larry Kudlow, blogger and host of "Kudlow & Company"; Michael Barone, blogger and senior writer, U.S. News & World Report; David Corn, blogger, columnist and Washington, D.C. editor for The Nation; and Claudia Rosett, a prize-winning journalist and blogger central to breaking the United Nations' "Oil for Food" controversy.

Other luminaries on Pajamas' current roster of editorial board members include:

* Tammy Bruce, an author, former president of the National Organization for Women's Los Angeles chapter, host of "The Tammy Bruce Show," flag-shipped at KABC-AM (Los Angeles) and heard on more than 160 affiliates, and the personality behind www.tammybruce.com

* John Podhoretz, a New York Post columnist, Fox News contributor, and blogger for the National Review Online's "The Corner"

* Richard Fernandez, a Sydney, Australia-based software developer and author of the widely-read "Belmont Club" blog

* Jane Hall, an assistant professor at American University's School of Communication and weekly panelist of Fox News Watch

* Dr. Michael Ledeen, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and expert on U.S. foreign policy

* Clifford D. May, a veteran news reporter, foreign correspondent and editor at The New York Times, and currently president of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a policy institute focusing on terrorism

* Tim Blair, an Australia-based blogging pioneer and author of "Tim Blair"

* Marc Cooper, an award-winning author, journalist, and contributor for the The Nation, and author of "Marc Cooper"

* Mark Steyn, a noted, internationally syndicated journalist covering global politics and current affairs

* Adam Bellow, a widely-respected Random House editor and son of Nobel Prize-winner Saul Bellow

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