On Tuesday, the Atlantic Wire highlighted a Twitter spat between conservative media mogul Andrew Breitbart and libertarian blogger Conor Friedersdorf. We found it amusing that the two pundits dropped politics momentarily to argue about who gets more Web traffic. Needless to say, Breitbart and Friedersdorf did not find this observation amusing.

In our comments section, Breitbart wrote first:

Way to let Conor frame the debate! It's not about traffic. It's about whether or not Conor's opinion on journalism, new media , etc. matters

Freidersdor was fast on his heels:

Andrew Breitbart and I have argued about matters of public consequence on Twitter. But this isn't one of them. I wish Atlantic Wire had decided to highlight one of our substantive back-and-forths

For a fleeting moment, we inadvertently brokered an agreement between the two: what matters isn't Web traffic, it's substance. But the moment of unity didn't last. If you're hungry for some fiber in your reading diet, check the comments section here for a 2100-word episode in their ongoing argument about journalistic ethics and media responsibility.

You got your debate. Glad it was in the comments section where they don't pay you to write. Atlantic, you can thank me next time you see me.

Thanks.

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John Hudson