What does it mean?

From a new article on the Click Z advertising site:

I talked to the group at Federated Media Publishing a while ago. They totally forgo (when possible) CPM (define) or impression-based buys. They have a network of very influential bloggers and are more interested in creating clever, new connections between brands and consumers via these people.

That sounds very new-age, but what does it mean? The cost per impression (or Costs Per Thousand, which "CPM" signifies) is a bookkeeping method, not a philosophy. If you don't know how many ad impressions you're selling, then how do you charge for the advertising?

Another Click Z article from last week describes Federated Media as "Battelle's high-touch, high CPM network." Does anybody understand what's going on here?