Blogging as a Business Model

It's always nice to see an old friend succeed, especially when he does so by turning conventional wisdom on its head. And that's exactly what Josh Micah Marshall did last week by winning a prestigious George Polk Award for his Talking Points Memo blog site (TPM).

Eight years ago, Josh was one of the writers I'd have lunch with in my role as a bureau chief in Washington, D.C. He was the editor of a liberal magazine, The American Prospect, which staged its D.C. launch in the home of none other than Senator Edward Kennedy.

The event was memorable for me because it was the first time I'd ever witnessed this venerable politician up close and personal. He is a big man, literally, and as he spoke in glowing terms about Josh and the Prospect, his intense eyes were scanning the room, seeming to bore into any unfamiliar faces, evaluating us as ... what? Spies, new allies, new enemies, potential funders?

I have no idea. But in a town crawling with pundits, partisans and wonks, Josh Marshall was the real deal, from my point-of-view. His instincts were more those of an investigative reporter than a spin-doctor.

Though Washington's political establishment was only vaguely aware of the digital revolution that would soon shake it to its roots, Josh recognized that he could stake out his own virtual real estate and build an audience among political junkies, who are probably, as a group, the most news-addicted people on the planet.

In the run-up to the 2000 Presidential election, Josh invited colleagues to predict how the electoral votes would line up between George W. Bush and Al Gore. (After studying polls and demographic data for weeks, your truly threw up his hands and predicted a tie, 269-269. I had no idea how close to reality this would turn out to be!)
In any event, Josh never looked back, and today Manhattan-based TPM takes in enough advertising revenue to not only support Josh, but seven other reporters, including two in D.C.

One key to TPM's success is its upside-down business model. Rather than Marshall pontificating to an audience, he's invited the audience to the party. The site functions as a running commentary by many participants, and the quality of the dialog (unlike in many interactive sites) is invariably high.

With traditional media business models headed toward likely extinction, TPM is worth studying as a model for new media ventures to emerge and fill the vacuum.