Growing pains for Talking Points Memo (Politico)

[jefferson_dem]

Please consider the source (Politico) as you read.

Growing pains for Talking Points Memo
By: Michael Calderone
May 2, 2009 06:29 PM EST

NEW YORK — The Bush years were very, very good to Joshua Micah Marshall.

Liberal distrust of the 43rd president drove readers to Marshall's one-man blog, and a steady stream of outrages — the Iraq war, the outing of Valerie Plame, Katrina, the U.S. attorneys scandal, Dick Cheney's very existence — provided him the raw material he needed to build Talking Points Memo into an online news force with 11 full-time employees and a major, mainstream journalism award under its belt.

Now comes the hard part.

With his bete noir back in Texas, Marshall will have to come up with new targets for his aggressive brand of journalism. More challenging still, he'll need to shepherd Talking Points Memo through the sort of morale problems and growing pains that are familiar to anyone who's lived through the adolescence of an Internet start-up.

In conversations with POLITICO, current and former TPM staffers have spoken of a grueling pace, constant pressures for content, and strict enforcement from the site's managing editor, a former TPM commenter and lawyer based in Missouri. The work environment has been described as a "boy's club," and indeed, several women have left TPM after working there for just a few months.

In addition, after successfully rolling out several TPM off-shoots since the fall of 2005 — TPMCafé, TPMMuckraker, TPMElection Central and TPMtv — Marshall hit a snag with the January launch of TPMDC, a spin-off focused more narrowly on Washington politics.

The site's congressional correspondent, Elana Schor, left after a few months. And Matt Cooper - a veteran DC journalist whose hiring made a big blogosphere splash - has taken on a reduced, editor-at-large role.

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http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=F946AA5E-18FE-70B2-A8BADEEA2F4E8C43

[mth44sc]

1. politico is nothing more than Drudge with a tie

Screw 'em

[babylonsister]

10. I love your quote-'Drudge with a tie". Perfect! nt

[tularetom]

2. I think I'm detecting slight whiff of jealousy from Republico.com

With all the startup money that outfit had, Marshall's site outperforms it consistently. The only place where TPM falls behind is in placement of stories within the MSM which in itself is a function of available cash (to bribe editors TV producers etc into linking to your blog and having your correspondents on their TV shows etc).

[MADem]

3. Whatever.

I don't "invest" in any of these assholes. They are what they are, and they're imperfect, as we all are.

[Captain Hilts]

5. Yep. nt

[BlooInBloo]

4. Interesting, although I'll of course take Drudgico's sexism inneundos with a grain of salt.

[targetpractice]

6. I've read TPM since the Florida recount...

TPM was the first "weblog" that I read regularly. I'm happy to have watched Josh Marshall grow and build a successful company.

However, I've stopped reading as much recently because I'm confused about all the "brands" that have emerged with their own sites... TPM, TPMCafé, TPMMuckraker, etc. Frankly, TPM et al is a branding and information architecture mess right now. Good content is hard to find... and for long-time readers... new brands haven't been introduced effectively.

I think he should collect everything under a single recognizable brand... Imagine if Apple chose to launch the iPod TV Store, iFlix, iPhoneApps, iPodcast Centeral, etc... They didn't because they realized it was smarter to build upon the well-recognized and widely adopted iTunes Store brand. The same branding lessons could apply to TPM.

Anyways, that's just my 2¢,

[KittyWampus]

7. Politico's staff isn't fit to shine Josh Marshall's shoes.

[FrenchieCat]

8. That's what I'm thinking!

Politico had an advantage in seed money....
and the backing of George Bush initially.

They are in direct competition with TPM,
and they know it.

This is like ABC writing a Hit piece about CBS.

[Political Heretic]

14. I've never commented on this, though I've meant to a thousand times. And you might not see it but,

I keep meaning to say that the picture of what I'm fairly certain is your daughter in your signature line - that is the most beautiful child I have ever seen in my life.

[FrenchieCat]

20. Yes...that's Frenchie Jr. No. 2. :) That's a very nice compliment! Thank you very much for it!

[KittyWampus]

16. exactly, I fault the Democratic establishment for not supporting Left sites more

They are at a handicap considering the astroturf crap the Right sets up to disseminate their crap from the top down.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

9. when's politico doing a lead on the decline of drudge?

and the fact that arianna kicks his ass in web traffic these days?
drudge hasn't broken a story or been relevant in years - but politico loves him, and decides to trash josh instead

[Blue_Tires]

24. +1

[babylonsister]

11. I think Calderone will rue the day he went here-I hope so. People

who work at politico and decide to criticize other bloggers, especially well-respected bloggers, are going to get it back in spades.

[annabanana]

12. Politico was FOUNDED to be Corporate Media's "presence" on the web.

It was all corporate money and coporate figures. Not one of them gets their primary paycheck from online proceeds.

Like Cheney would tell the Times something, and then go on TV and reference the article in the Times.. Politico was set up so that cable talkers could go and "check in with what they're saying on the internet"

Nothing they say should be heard without understanding this. .

[wyldwolf]

13. In 2000, when Bush "won" the election, people asked Rush Limbaugh...

... how he would stay successful without Bill Clinton in office.

I don't recall his exact reply, but we saw what he did. TPM and such need to the same - continue to fight against the right.

[Thrill]

15. More proof they are a RW rag. I don't know why liberals continue to give them hits

.

[vi5]

17. TPM is doing just fine thanks to their honesty...

It's one of the few site that calls things as they are, regardless of political party. No doubt Josh and company lean waaaaay democratic and liberal, but they don't hesitate to call bullshit on dems when it's warranted (which is plenty).

[ErinBerin84]

18. If TPM staffers want to talk about the site and changes, etc.

Can they like, not talk to fucking Politico of all places?

[Proud Liberal Dem]

19. Bush may be gone

but wingnuts aren't............yet. As long as Republicans/conservatives/right-wingers/corporate mediawhores exist, TPM, The Daily Show, Media Matters will surely find plenty of things to talk about IMHO.

[mix]

21. TPM is one of my all time favorites.

But I too have noticed something has been missing lately. It's probably just a transition period.

They'll find their way.

[Cha]

22. WTF. Politico is soooo Jealous

TPM is simply one of the best, most reliable sources we've had through the dark cheney years and they're only getting better.

I hope one of Marshall's "targets" is a strong response to this shoddy piece by politico..fuck 'em if they can't handle the heat.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

23. Politico has the sour grapes.

[democrat2thecore]

25. What slanderous BS. TPM is just fine. -nt