US: Politico’s risky bid
Posted by Jean Yves Chainon on January 10, 2007 at 6:26 PM
Following their flashy departure from the Washington Post, political journalist stars Jim Vandehei and John Harris should launch their new venture, The Politico, within two weeks. The new online political journal is recruiting famed talents, pushing for new media, and breaking many typical newspaper rules.
The Politico will be an online-mostly publication and deliver a limited print edition: 30 000 copies three days a week when Congress is in session, one day a week if not. Both the print and online editions will be free. The Politico even plans to air a regular TV program on Allbritton’s – the journal’s owner - cable news service, Channel 8. 50 staffers have been hired – about half of them are reporters.
The Politico will be, officially, nonpartisan, due to the widespread existence of partisan political websites, blogs and print publications.
Owner of The Politico, Robert L. Allbritton predicted it would start turning profit within five years.
“It seems riskier to stay in print than to go to something new,” said Ben Smith, a 30 year-old reporter for The Daily News in New York, who will write a blog about the upcoming presidential campaign.
Among debuting and seasoned journalists alike, the new trend is towards working online. On the other hand, there’s no telling how much success The Politico will generate amidst a jungle of political publications and blogs, despite its team of well-known reporters.
“With this narrowly defined, very Washington-centric political focus, no matter how great it is, what is the size of that audience? You can be the best, but if it doesn’t have a gigantic audience, advertisers won’t be interested,” said Kurt Andersen, one of the founders of ex-Inside.com, a similar online venture launched in 2000 and buried in 2002.
Times have changed though, and The Politico, armed with financial support and incisive voices, will be the proponent of a novel newspaper model.
“This is a sign of a new economic model of a specialized site, where journalists can be entrepreneurial,” said Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism.
Source: NY Times
The Politico will be, officially, nonpartisan, due to the widespread existence of partisan political websites, blogs and print publications.
Owner of The Politico, Robert L. Allbritton predicted it would start turning profit within five years.
“It seems riskier to stay in print than to go to something new,” said Ben Smith, a 30 year-old reporter for The Daily News in New York, who will write a blog about the upcoming presidential campaign.
Among debuting and seasoned journalists alike, the new trend is towards working online. On the other hand, there’s no telling how much success The Politico will generate amidst a jungle of political publications and blogs, despite its team of well-known reporters.
“With this narrowly defined, very Washington-centric political focus, no matter how great it is, what is the size of that audience? You can be the best, but if it doesn’t have a gigantic audience, advertisers won’t be interested,” said Kurt Andersen, one of the founders of ex-Inside.com, a similar online venture launched in 2000 and buried in 2002.
Times have changed though, and The Politico, armed with financial support and incisive voices, will be the proponent of a novel newspaper model.
“This is a sign of a new economic model of a specialized site, where journalists can be entrepreneurial,” said Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism.
Source: NY Times
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It would be interesting to compile a list of newspaper ownership in Europe for each countrys 5-10 largest papers. If it does not exist, I would be glad to help with data from Scandinavia.