Traditional east coast media is losing their grip on narrative formation and they're lashing out at intellectual figures outside of their social group, especially from the west coast indie-intellectual scene (e.g. Scott Alexander).
In this context it would likely be someone who provides intellectual leadership through writing, but is not employed by a large media company like The New York Times.
Little fish who failed in the big pond who now cultivate followings in littler ponds
Scott Alexander is from Michigan. I don't know if blogging is really a West Coast thing, I thought of it as more DC but maybe that's just because of politics.