A little class war broke out last week when Mediabistro co-founder Laurel Touby began promoting "no-freelancer" editor parties. First we heard from embittered freelancers; then we heard from cranky editors. Let's fan the flames with this recent reader letter:

I was out for a few days and didn't see the "editor strikes back" retort to the media bistro fiasco- if we can call it that (like media bistro ever helped anyone advance their career in anyway- doubtful).

Back to the self-important bitch. It's one thing when editors sit around bitching about PR pitches — even though they have no problem taking all the free shit — but most publications depend on freelance writers for CONTENT. If this particular editor is receiving lackluster pitches then maybe he/she is not working with good writers. Maybe he/she hires the same people over and over and doesn't even explore new talent. Whatever the case may be, there should never be an excuse for harboring such resentment towards writers who are just trying to make a living. Not everyone can have a cushy in-house gig and not everyone wants to spend their days with a bunch of editorial whores who cycle together and have nothing better to do than eye each others outfits up and down each day and bitch about why they're not married yet. Kudos to freelance writers for playing by their own rules and trying to be creative without being a slave to Conde Nasty.