May 1, 2008
RE: World Famous in Rhode Island
Not sure if Ian was chumming the waters with his headline, but I'll bite: Jerzyk looking to sell Rhode Island's Future. Heh, some of us would agree (ba dum bum).
Ian has more from Matt:
For me, I have given 3 years of my life to getting RI Future off the ground and I am ready to pass the torch sometime in the near future. In fact, I have been talking with interested parties about selling the blog. Ideally, I would like to sell it to someone who will maintain the character and the integrity of the blog.Ian also covered Matt's entrepreneurial quest in his article and quoted Justin to the same, if less ambitious, effect. As for us Anchorites, well, perhaps we are a little less profit-driven in our motivation for blogging. To quote, um, myself (forgive the pretension) from Ian's piece
You have to do it because you love doing it for its own sake. Lots of blogs flame out. People get bored or realize how hard it is. But I think that so long as you are passionate about something — whether politics, music, food or whatever — you will be able to keep it going. Just don’t ever look at it as a way to make money or gain power.Don't get me wrong: more power to Matt if he can make a nice profit from his investment. Speaking for myself, I just never envisioned making a buck off of this blogging stuff. It may sound all altruistic and naive--cue "Kumbaya"--but my goal is simply to do my part to help improve RI's future for my kids and their generation.
Since Bob's lackey spends all day on it at NEA expense, maybe the NEA can buy it.
Posted by: Greg at May 1, 2008 3:25 PMI suspect that Matt is coming to the disappointing realization of how little a blog is worth to potential buyers. As Google's recent results showed, click throughs are dropping; on the other hand, I'd love to get a peak at how Matt describes the demographics of the audience he aggregates for potential advertisers...
Posted by: John at May 1, 2008 3:38 PMWhy,bless his money grubbing little heart-he's already passed the practical application section of his bar exam.
Like most people with enough education in Rhode Island, he's probably looking to cash in as quickly as possible, and high-tail it the heck out of here ASAP.
BTW I wasn't sure whether I should take Matt's remark on RIF at face value or read something more into it: "(turning stereotypes on their head, can you guess which pic is RI Future and which is AnchorRising?)" The AR folks look pretty casual there sitting in Starbucks, while the RIF ones are in business attire at the State House, looking like junior lobbyists (of course, a few of them probably are).
PS I think we should buy up shares of RI Future, Inc. and conduct a hostile takeover, terminate all of them immediately, then outsource the blogging with cheaper non-union labor, preferably from another country -- perhaps India. It only seems right. ;)
Posted by: Will at May 1, 2008 5:00 PMWill,
Go with Romanian labor....Better time difference...
As far as Matt looking to sell RIFuture....if he were a true progressive he would be donating the blog to a quasi-government entity to continue for the greater good. Seeking to profit off of one's labor is very capitalist. "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need"
Posted by: tcc3 at May 1, 2008 7:28 PMWho the hell would pay money for a free blog that draws a couple of hundred of out of their minds political junkies.
Yes, I include myself in that description.
tcc3-give jerzyk a few years and he'll be right there on tv with the jim sokoloves and ronald resminis
Posted by: joe bernstein at May 1, 2008 10:10 PMYes, Romania is a good deal, if Kazakhstan isn't available, but no one, and I mean no one beats the North Koreans! You've probably seen the signs "will work for food," right? They literally will!
On the other hand, the lack of Internet access and the sporadic availability of electricity might be considered a drawback for that sort of business. However, their strong government enforced "work ethic," and non-existent child labor laws should more than make up for it.
Posted by: Will at May 2, 2008 1:20 AMI heard Steven Brown may be in the market if the price is right .
Posted by: leprechaun at May 2, 2008 1:54 PM Little tale about the value of blogs (as someone who's dabbled in sports blogs and made a little money on the side from my hobby as a result):
The four guys who started the satirical sports blog Kissing Suzy Kolber (named after something Joe Namath did on ESPN when soused) recently sold it for $300,000. They still get paid by the piece, I believe.
Another reason why newspapers are in trouble: one of the guys on KSK was a sportswriter for the Washington Post, but after emerging from anonymity on the blog, the Post fired him. Stupid, stupid, stupid. The guy accomplished two things newspapers still haven't figured out how to do: find an audience on the Web, and make money at it. That's the kind of talent newspapers need to embrace, not shove aside.
He might be able to make something off the URL. Otherwise, I don't see a lot to market.
Posted by: EMT at May 6, 2008 11:26 PM