Ah, yes, the flypaper theory. My own theory, which complements rather than competes with Scott’s, is that Horowitz has them all typing away 14 hrs/day in a windowless room in Dayton, Ohio, and that they get paid $5 for every three comments. I hope our new Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis, will look into this.

I’ve never read CHE except for the odd perusal of the front page in administrators’ offices, or when free pieces have been linked. It’s like the Wall Street Journal: someone needs this information, but it’s not me.

Having worked at both places, I am not without bias—but also not without information. Here is a bit of both.

The Chron has a much larger staff than IHE, and far more money. This news market was, for decades, more or less monopolistic. That is no longer the case, but the accumulation of capital makes for a David-and-Goliath type situation. Still, the one with the slingshot is doing pretty well. Over the past four years, CHE has been losing subscribers and laying people off, while IHE has grown on both counts at a very robust clip. As news-consumption habits change, this is likely to continue.

Any impression that IHE is “revenue free” must rest on the charming notion that all those ads (for TIAA CREF, say, or the listings for university jobs) are given away for free, like the links on a blogroll. Such is not in fact the case. A few months ago, IHE moved into a much larger office space. That was not because the landlord enjoys my column.

The vast majority of articles appearing at IHE each day consists of traditional journalistic coverage (unlike my own feuilletonage) by people who have reported for newspapers. They do not write opinion pieces. Some of them are so old-school that they would probably break out in a rash at the thought. You hear them on the phone, interviewing people about budgets and scandals and whatnot—exactly like in the newsroom at the Chronicle.

One place where nobody thinks Inside Higher Ed is lagging behind in covering the news is the Chronicle itself. IHE frequently beats the Chron on stories—a situation that has made for a certain amount of excitement there, or so one hears.

IHE is now well established and keeps growing. The website redesign is only the most visible aspect of this. Of course there are differences between the Chron and IHE, even apart from the absolute one regarding expense. (Nearly all Chronicle articles are behind a pay wall; none is at IHE.) The most important difference comes down to audience. The Chronicle has always been edited with an eye primarily—when not exclusively—to university administrators. Inside Higher Ed has a rather broader readership, around 10 percent of which consists of people pursuing doctorates.

Finally, about the commentators….Yes, “grim” is the word, at times. But I like to think the site gives them a hobby, whereas they might otherwise be joining the militia or hording pieces of aluminum foil.

Yeah, IHE has a pretty dedicated crew of trolls.

While I can understand, in general, why there is some resentment against academia, I’m still amazed at people who are driven to frothing rage by the very idea that professors exist.

I nearly ruined a perfectly good keyboard when I read one commenter explain that tuition increases are driven by the “opulent lifestyles” of faculty members.

Shameless bleg – anything in there about how to sell out the hardback edition of a book that could sell in paperback (but not in hardback)? I’m surely not the first person to have been in this position.

Kenny, I recommend not scrolling down.:)