We Want Media

We all shuddered with anticipation when an email slipped into our inboxes announcing a surprise guest for March 22. Well, at least I did.

Since Patrick Phillips posted our Q&A transcript, I'm no longer breaking news that it was Elizabeth Spiers who crept into the classroom to most everyone’s oblivion (as we were looking at photos of her online—creepy? Oh, well). Apparently she has become the dark lady of the media world, retreating from the limelight to write a book—you know, "writing two hours a day and getting up at noon," as she put it. Sweet. But a little boring. So while looming in the shadows of literary pursuits and having drinks with friends, a light bulb turned on.

Now, Spiers is good with numbers, so her mathematics of this new idea were probably a little more complex. But I'll give it a whirl:

Gawker (.5 [gossip] + .25 [entertainment value] + .25 [original snark] + 0 [fact checking]) - Denton - Coen - Oxfeld - Conde Nast - celebrities + Wall Street + rich smart people + fact checking + a dash of real reporting = Dealbreaker

Spiers was careful not to give anything away concerning the "extended network of blogs" for which Dealbreaker will be a platform. But she was very open about the simplicity of the concept. A little gossip, an appealing voice, ads, and a subject. Dealbreaker is not much different from Gawker--in fact, it is essentially the same formula. This time it will be just a little more on target with what really interests Spiers, who confesses to have known nothing about celebrities before her Gawker days.

Since it’s so simple, I thought I'd come up with a few ideas myself: