Pajamahadeen
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Pajamahadeen or Pajamahideen is a portmanteau of pajamas and Mujahideen.
The term refers to news bloggers, suggesting their goals as overthrowing the news establishment. ("Mujahideen" comes from an Arabic word referring to those who participate in jihad; bloggers are said to work in their pajamas.)
It was coined during the Killian documents controversy during the U.S. presidential election campaign of 2004, in which webloggers were derided by Jonathan Klein, a former CBS News executive vice-president for vigorously challenging the accuracy of a 60 Minutes story by CBS anchor Dan Rather. Klein is reported as saying, "You couldn't have a starker contrast between the multiple layers of check and balances (at CBS), and a guy sitting in his living room in his pajamas writing." Webloggers who were pursuing the story such as Little Green Footballs [1][2], Power Line (blog) [3], and Jim Geraghty at National Review Online [4] took this insult and turned it into a variety of humorous self-deprecating descriptions of their form of online activism. As Andrew Sullivan noted in response to Klein's remarks: "Actually, I'm in sweatpants and a tanktop. But of course, it doesn't matter a jot what a fact-checker is wearing as long as his facts are correct. CBS's apparently aren't." [5]
[edit] External links
- Jim Geraghty Rathergate Memo using the term Pajamahadeen, September 2004
- Jim Geraghty on Jonathan Klein's new emphasis on Bloggers, March 2005 (Archived)
- PajamaHadin Weblog
- Politicalities: I'm Not So Worried Anymore September 16, 2004. A conservative blog implying the Pajamahideen is conservative.
- INDC Journal: Smells Like... November 23, 2004. Another conservative blog implying the Pajamahideen is conservative.
- Eyes On The Ball News: Rather Really Wants To Be First January 6, 2005. Refers to the Pajamahideen as conservatives.
- Jon Udell: It's not about Old Media versus the Pajamahideen May 24, 2005.