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I come away from this thinking that Omidyar doesn’t have any particular expertise or insight about running a journalism startup. He seems like a dilletante, try

I come away from this thinking that Omidyar doesn’t have any particular expertise or insight about running a journalism startup. He seems like a dilletante, trying to improve the world perhaps, but mostly trying to live an interesting life. Which is fine but not a recipe for success. He’d be more effective either as a foundation giving grants to worthy journalists, or as a VC of same.

esfandia 12y ago
> I come away from this thinking that Omidyar doesn’t have any particular expertise or insight about running a journalism startup. > He seems like a dilletante, trying to improve the world perhaps, but mostly trying to live an interesting life. Which is fine but not a recipe for success. That's for sure the impression that the article wants us to have. I certainly don't know Omidyar, but I want to read a more neutral article (or at least other viewpoints, including Omidyar's himself) about him to form a clearer opinion.
- throwaway20148 12y ago
  That the top level editorial staff almost went into revolt over what they perceived to be "the lack of clear budgets and repeated and arbitrary restrictions on hiring" is pretty damning. That said, this article reads like a somewhat routine profile that messily switches course mid-stream in reaction to events on the ground. I'm interested in hearing more about this: > There was an East Coast–West Coast feud, a divide between the journalists and the technologists. Omidyar’s loyalists out in California and Hawaii grumbled as Greenwald traveled the world, promoting a book, picking up awards, and speaking out of turn. The NYT Innovation report makes the case that editorial and technology/design working closely is important not just for the primary products of the business, but for fostering trust and opening up communication between the business department and the newsroom. Seems like that'd be difficult if the company is physically separated by the whole United States (and half the Pacific in some cases). http://www.niemanlab.org/2014/05/the-leaked-new-york-times-innovation-report-is-one-of-the-key-documents-of-this-media-age/ http://www.niemanlab.org/2014/05/the-leaked-new-york-times-i...
x0x0 12y ago
These articles also left the impression that the journalists were hired believing that Omidyar was funding this org with $250m and partway through he switched to wanting them to make money / be self sustainable. We still essentially have no method after craigslist destroyed the newspapers to support long form investigative journalism. The huffpo is what you get when you try to make journalism pay its own way; there are only a tiny handful of exceptions (nyt, ft, the la times has repeated layoffs, perhaps the wsj though that's really murdoch's right wing hobbyhorse).

esfandia 12y ago

> I come away from this thinking that Omidyar doesn’t have any particular expertise or insight about running a journalism startup. > He seems like a dilletante, trying to improve the world perhaps, but mostly trying to live an interesting life. Which is fine but not a recipe for success. That's for sure the impression that the article wants us to have. I certainly don't know Omidyar, but I want to read a more neutral article (or at least other viewpoints, including Omidyar's himself) about him to form a clearer opinion.

throwaway20148 12y ago
That the top level editorial staff almost went into revolt over what they perceived to be "the lack of clear budgets and repeated and arbitrary restrictions on hiring" is pretty damning. That said, this article reads like a somewhat routine profile that messily switches course mid-stream in reaction to events on the ground. I'm interested in hearing more about this: > There was an East Coast–West Coast feud, a divide between the journalists and the technologists. Omidyar’s loyalists out in California and Hawaii grumbled as Greenwald traveled the world, promoting a book, picking up awards, and speaking out of turn. The NYT Innovation report makes the case that editorial and technology/design working closely is important not just for the primary products of the business, but for fostering trust and opening up communication between the business department and the newsroom. Seems like that'd be difficult if the company is physically separated by the whole United States (and half the Pacific in some cases). http://www.niemanlab.org/2014/05/the-leaked-new-york-times-innovation-report-is-one-of-the-key-documents-of-this-media-age/ http://www.niemanlab.org/2014/05/the-leaked-new-york-times-i...

x0x0 12y ago

These articles also left the impression that the journalists were hired believing that Omidyar was funding this org with $250m and partway through he switched to wanting them to make money / be self sustainable. We still essentially have no method after craigslist destroyed the newspapers to support long form investigative journalism. The huffpo is what you get when you try to make journalism pay its own way; there are only a tiny handful of exceptions (nyt, ft, the la times has repeated layoffs, perhaps the wsj though that's really murdoch's right wing hobbyhorse).