4 ms·

This came up today on a journalism blog I follow. http://fleetstreetblues.blogspot.com/2009/10/triumph-of-hope-over-experience.html http://fleetstreetblues.blog

• brandnewlow 17y ago
  Those guys should interview the iCanHazCheeseburgers CEO. He's got to be one of the best examples of a journalist who created his own success in a new direction.
  • wmeredith 17y ago
    I hate to be a wet blanket, but the iCanHazCheeseburgers CEO won the lottery. His LOL Cats blog's success was (self-admittedly) not "created" by him. He doesn't even know why it's successful.
    • brandnewlow 17y ago
      I disagree with this. How many journalists do you know who would look at a successful blog like iCanHazCheeseburger and say: "I should raise some money from friends and family, buy that blog, and then build a media empire out of similar blogs that I buy up." If he says he doesn't know why his blogs are successful, it'd because he knows his former colleagues eat that stuff up during interviews and it makes for a funny story. While luck undoubtedly played a part in his success so far, he was thinking about things entrepreneurially unlike most journalists who are just looking for the next paycheck. Also, the fact that traffic across his sites has grown since he bought them shows he's a smart manager of his properties.
      • nir 17y ago
        It may be a successful blog, but it has nothing to do with journalism. It's hardly a path you can recommend to someone who wants to make a living as a journalist.
        • brandnewlow 17y ago
          That's the problem though. We have a very narrow definition of what a journalist is, and that definition describes someone who does something that doesn't contribute a whole lot of value more often than not.