This image was lost some time after publication.

It's been official policy at Valleywag to allude to Amanda Congdon's breasts without blaming them for her stardom. But every other blogger and reporter says that they're the reason Andrew Baron chose her to host his video blog, Rocketboom.

Slate writer Troy Patterson makes Amanda's chest a running gag throughout its latest Rocketboom story: "Her main mandate was to jiggle." "Over time, Congdon became more confident, more polished, more thoughtful about how to deploy her chest." He even says Amanda "redefined the role of the bimbo."

Troy says this got her past the show's bad writing and her awkward presentation style. So he's not being sexist — just calling it like he sees it.

On the other side are Amanda's supporters, like blogger Robert Scoble, who earnestly believes that her skill as a presenter earned Rocketboom its 250,000 views-per-episode. He's not saying Amanda isn't pretty — just that she's actually a great presenter, and that thousands of Internet geek-boys wouldn't be swayed by a busty woman talking about technology.

So who's right? The cynics or the idealists?

Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.

All the News That's Fit To Vlog [Slate]
Photo: Rocketboom [archives]