‘We Were Very Lucky’

Posted on | January 7, 2010 | 26 Comments

Tucker Carlson’s business partner talks to Dave Weigel about The Daily Caller:

[After the site was announced at the Heritage Foundation in May] Carlson and his partner Neil Patel — a former aide to Dick Cheney — raised money, scouted out staff (”we didn’t ask about ideology,” said Carlson) and held poker games at their original, grimier office in Washington’s Dupont Circle. A June launch date was pushed into autumn, and then pushed back again. The reason, explained Patel, was that “our aspirations kept growing.”
“The size of the staff is much bigger than we started with,” Patel said. “We were very lucky to get the amount of money we did based, basically, on a PowerPoint.”

Among the more interesting quotes in the story:

Conor Friedersdorf, a freelance journalist who worked for the short-lived site Culture11, contrasted Carlson’s focus on journalism with the much-praised, quick-hitting tactics of Breitbart’s Big Hollywood, Big Government, and Big Journalism.
“I hope that The Daily Caller aspires to produce writing that is as well written and professionally edited as the stuff that the talented Tucker Carlson writes for Esquire,” said Friedersdorf. “The alternative — the Andrew Breitbart model — is to publish poorly reasoned, atrociously edited screeds on the cheap, on the assumption that ideologically friendly readers will keep clicking anyway.”

It so happens I read Friedersdorf’s quote this morning in a room at the Crown Plaza in Redondo Beach with Mike Flynn, editor of Breitbart’s BigGovernment.com. “That dude’s always slagging Breitbart,” Flynn said. “What’s his problem?”

Last month, I took a vow to stop slagging the Daily Caller. With $3 million in start-up capital, they’ll be around at least through the November elections and it would be wrong for Carlson’s operation to suffer from red-on-red fire from the outset. But as I said in May, it had better not suck.

UPDATE: Also here at the Crowne Plaza is the publisher of the Quincy (Ill.) News., a year-old online start-up. The publisher (who prefers to keep his name offline) raised an eyebrow at Weigel’s report that Daily Caller now has a staff of 21: “Lean and mean is the way to go in the New Media environment.”

UPDATE 1/9: Welcome, Instapundit readers! I’m now in the hills of Hollywood, Calif., getting ready to cover a Tea Party event today in Altadena. It’s sunny and 70, but this won’t last long. I’m considering a trip next week to cover the Scott Brown Senate race in Massachusetts.

Category: Uncategorized

Comments

26 Responses to “‘We Were Very Lucky’”

Paul Zummo
January 7th, 2010 @ 5:44 pm

“The alternative — the ~~Andrew Breitbart~~ Conor Friedersdorf model — is to publish poorly reasoned, atrociously edited screeds on the cheap, on the assumption that ~~ideologically friendly readers~~ anyone, please God anyone, will ~~keep~~ start clicking anyway.”

There, fixed it.

Seriously though – Conor freaking Friedersdorf is slagging on others for bad writing and piss poor logic? Really?

Really?
Paul Zummo
January 7th, 2010 @ 12:44 pm

“The alternative — the ~~Andrew Breitbart~~ Conor Friedersdorf model — is to publish poorly reasoned, atrociously edited screeds on the cheap, on the assumption that ~~ideologically friendly readers~~ anyone, please God anyone, will ~~keep~~ start clicking anyway.”

There, fixed it.

Seriously though – Conor freaking Friedersdorf is slagging on others for bad writing and piss poor logic? Really?

Really?
Subotai
January 7th, 2010 @ 5:55 pm

“That dude’s always slagging Breitbart,” Flynn said. “What’s his problem?”

He’s a lefty, that’s his problem. He writes at HuffPo and Trueslant.
Subotai
January 7th, 2010 @ 12:55 pm

“That dude’s always slagging Breitbart,” Flynn said. “What’s his problem?”

He’s a lefty, that’s his problem. He writes at HuffPo and Trueslant.
Polichinello
January 7th, 2010 @ 6:25 pm

Truth be told, Big Hollywood does publish some pretty poorly written pieces. The opinion pieces written by celebrities like Victoria Jackson or Michael Moriarty can be tough going. They’ve jumped the shark on Avatar–which itself is a mondo shark jump. Still, the site features enough compelling pieces that more than compensate, and a passionate pen will often cover for an excess of cliches and grammatical errors. I’ve never felt the need to read Friedersdorf, and when I have I haven’t gotten anything useful from him.
Polichinello
January 7th, 2010 @ 1:25 pm

Truth be told, Big Hollywood does publish some pretty poorly written pieces. The opinion pieces written by celebrities like Victoria Jackson or Michael Moriarty can be tough going. They’ve jumped the shark on Avatar–which itself is a mondo shark jump. Still, the site features enough compelling pieces that more than compensate, and a passionate pen will often cover for an excess of cliches and grammatical errors. I’ve never felt the need to read Friedersdorf, and when I have I haven’t gotten anything useful from him.
OSUCowboy
January 7th, 2010 @ 7:19 pm

Sounds like some Brooksian snobery.
OSUCowboy
January 7th, 2010 @ 2:19 pm

Sounds like some Brooksian snobery.
Paul Zummo
January 7th, 2010 @ 7:22 pm

I don’t read much of Big Hollywood, but I’m actually impressed by the writing over at Big Government.
Paul Zummo
January 7th, 2010 @ 2:22 pm

I don’t read much of Big Hollywood, but I’m actually impressed by the writing over at Big Government.
Bruce, NV
January 7th, 2010 @ 8:21 pm

Conor with one N is a fauxservative. He aspires to the David Brooks chair. He wants to go to the right soirees, drinking his Pinot Gris, and pretending to be a conservative intellectual, when in fact his is neither.
Bruce, NV
January 7th, 2010 @ 3:21 pm

Conor with one N is a fauxservative. He aspires to the David Brooks chair. He wants to go to the right soirees, drinking his Pinot Gris, and pretending to be a conservative intellectual, when in fact his is neither.
This Internet Thing Seems To Be Catching On With The Kids « Around The Sphere
January 7th, 2010 @ 4:19 pm

[…] Robert Stacy McCain: It so happens I read Friedersdorf’s quote this morning in a room at the Crown Plaza in Redondo Beach with Mike Flynn, editor of Breitbart’s BigGovernment.com. “That dude’s always slagging Breitbart,” Flynn said. “What’s his problem?” […]
Conor Friedersdorf
January 7th, 2010 @ 11:35 pm

Wow, I like the new layout, Stacy.
Conor Friedersdorf
January 7th, 2010 @ 6:35 pm

Wow, I like the new layout, Stacy.
Balloon Juice » Blog Archive » They call him Stacy
January 7th, 2010 @ 7:14 pm

[…] batshit crazy things and after a while, it’s just not that amusing anymore. But I admire this kind of candor (about the Carlsonington Post […]
Oschisms
January 8th, 2010 @ 5:37 am

Carlson hired Jim Treacher = smart.
Carlson required Jim Treacher to move to DC to work = stupid.

See, there’s this thing called the internet, Tucker. It allows people to work from home. You can save money on office space that way.
Oschisms
January 8th, 2010 @ 12:37 am

Carlson hired Jim Treacher = smart.
Carlson required Jim Treacher to move to DC to work = stupid.

See, there’s this thing called the internet, Tucker. It allows people to work from home. You can save money on office space that way.
Rob Crawford
January 8th, 2010 @ 9:15 pm

“Conor with one N is a fauxservative. He aspires to the David Brooks chair.”

To sit in or sniff?

Oschisms — Carlson’s requiring Treacher to move? Is he so stupid he doesn’t realize he could PAY LESS if he let Treacher live nearly anywhere but DC?!
Rob Crawford
January 8th, 2010 @ 4:15 pm

“Conor with one N is a fauxservative. He aspires to the David Brooks chair.”

To sit in or sniff?

Oschisms — Carlson’s requiring Treacher to move? Is he so stupid he doesn’t realize he could PAY LESS if he let Treacher live nearly anywhere but DC?!
Instapundit » Blog Archive » UNEMPLOYMENT: 10% IN 2010. Plus some not-very-serious advice on how to deal with it. Remember: …
January 9th, 2010 @ 9:29 am

[…] Remember: 2010 is the year of lean and mean. […]
Koblog
January 9th, 2010 @ 3:00 pm

Bill Bennett touted Culture11 on his radio show. Read it. Pretty awful. It went away.

Apparently Conor Friedersdorf, a freelance journalist writing for Culture11, aspired to produce writing that was as well written and professionally edited as the stuff that the talented Tucker Carlson writes for Esquire….

sniff

(Harder than it looks to describe a snooty elitist nose elevated into the air)
Koblog
January 9th, 2010 @ 10:00 am

Bill Bennett touted Culture11 on his radio show. Read it. Pretty awful. It went away.

Apparently Conor Friedersdorf, a freelance journalist writing for Culture11, aspired to produce writing that was as well written and professionally edited as the stuff that the talented Tucker Carlson writes for Esquire….

sniff

(Harder than it looks to describe a snooty elitist nose elevated into the air)
Fabulous McCain Journalism Refreshes Alabama : The Other McCain
January 9th, 2010 @ 10:08 am

[…] celebration.Put A Price On Buffoonery Instead The Lonely Conservative liked the Frozen Gore clip.‘We Were Very Lucky’ Around the Sphere had Tucker in a Snuggie. Balloon Juice thinks we say a lot of crazy things. I […]
Cinco Jotas
January 9th, 2010 @ 6:11 pm

The Daily Caller has a staff of 21 and $3,000,000 in funding?

Is that a full-time staff? Oy. I predict that in this advertising environment they’re toast.

Look for the first layoffs to come on November 3rd, after they realize that they didn’t a)build the readership that would support their bloated staff, and b)get all that craaazzzzy 2010 campaign advertising money.

Hope I’m wrong, because I love Treacher.
Cinco Jotas
January 9th, 2010 @ 1:11 pm

The Daily Caller has a staff of 21 and $3,000,000 in funding?

Is that a full-time staff? Oy. I predict that in this advertising environment they’re toast.

Look for the first layoffs to come on November 3rd, after they realize that they didn’t a)build the readership that would support their bloated staff, and b)get all that craaazzzzy 2010 campaign advertising money.

Hope I’m wrong, because I love Treacher.