A Good Day's Work For a Good Day's Pay

One of the truly wise men of blogland, Andrew Sullivan, comments on my earlier item on Romenesko's hefty salary as follows:

ROMENESKO'S BIAS: I don't begrudge anyone making a good salary from blogging. Good for Jim Romenesko for getting the Poynter Institute to give him a great salary. He's brought so much attention to Poynter that he deserves every cent. But he is a highly biased, left-wing blogger, who rarely links to blogs who provide media criticism from the right, and omits stories that the left doesn't like. Again: fair's fair, and he can blog as he wishes. His journalistic audience is skewed very left, so he's giving them what they want. But anyone, including Jack Shafer, who thinks this guy's neutral, is dreaming.

I agree with Sullivan in principle. Well, sort of.

Romenesko works for a tax-exempt institution, which is why his salary is public info. The Poynter Institute purports to be a non-ideological media think tank. People contribute to it (not enough, it seems) on the understanding that they are giving money to a politically neutral organization. In that context, I think the big bucks this guy makes is relevant.

So a little less arrogance and a little more fairness, Mr. Romenesko. Earn your pay! Make us proud of you.