Entries from February 2009
I have a feature in the upcoming New Republic that looks at Politico, the Washington-based political website/newspaper. As print media faces its biggest crisis ever, with readers and advertisers migrating increasingly online, Politico is thriving.
From the piece:
That Politico was helped by the collapse of print journalism goes without saying. That it was also helped by cable news’ insatiable appetite for the tabloid and the personal is also clear. But, two years into the Politico experiment, there is fascination around Washington with what could be considered the first Internet newspaper, and whether it represents a way to make a business out of political reporting. As traditional newspapers jettison staff, Politico is holding steady. This month, Allbritton told me the venture will turn a profit in six months. “We’re way ahead of budget,” he said. “It wouldn’t surprise me if the profit this year would count in the millions of dollars.”
Read the full piece HERE
Categories: Media
February 9, 2009 · 1 Comment
I have a piece out this morning at Slate’s The Big Money that looks at the issue of micropayments for online content. Last week, former Time managing editor Walter Isaacson wrote a cover story in Time that argued that newspapers should adopt the micropayment model–charging readers pennies for individual articles or a nominal monthly subscription. The idea is to create an iTunes like service for news. In my piece, I explain why Steve Jobs isn’t going to come to the newspaper industry’s rescue anytime soon.
Read the full piece HERE:
Categories: Media · Slate
In this week’s New York Magazine, I report on the unfolding meltdown of the biggest real-estate deal in American history. In 2006, Tishman Speyer and BlackRock bought Stuy Town and Peter Cooper Village for $5.4 billion. It was the highest price ever paid for a single real-estate transaction. Now, the deal is being buffeted by a cratering market, crushing leverage and a brewing feud with thousands of rent-stabilized tenants.
From the piece:
But by 2006, the sun seemed to be setting on the middle class in Manhattan. The blasting real-estate scene gave a whole new meaning to “market rate” apartments, and fewer and fewer people in the city believed in rent stabilization as a core value. The complex seemed a kind of anachronism—and, to the Speyers, a huge opportunity. To start with, the phrase “80 acres of Manhattan” is, to real-estate men like Rob Speyer and his father, a talismanic incantation. But it was more than just the acreage. Rob had a vision. He believed that by adding amenities and remodeling apartments—and forcing out longtime tenants who held on to their apartments in violation of rent-stabilization law—they could make Stuy Town hospitable to the new armies that were increasingly populating Manhattan, the recent college graduates with jobs in marketing and finance who worked long hours and wanted a full-service experience (including even a putting green).
Read the full piece HERE
Categories: Department of Egos · People
