Why Pierre Omidyar decided to join forces with Glenn Greenwald for a new venture in news

[deurbano]

http://pressthink.org/2013/10/why-pierre-omidyar-decided-to-join-forces-with-glenn-greenwald-for-a-new-venture-in-news/

by Jay Rosen

<<Yesterday word leaked out that Glenn Greenwald would be leaving The Guardian to help create some new thing backed by Pierre Omidyar, the founder of E-Bay. I just got off the phone with Omidyar and can report more details about the new thing is and how it came to be....

...As he was contemplating the Post purchase, he began to get more alarmed about the pressures coming down on journalists with the various leak investigations in Washington. Then the surveillance stories started appearing and the full scope of the threat to independent journalism became clear. His interest in launching a new kind of news organization, capable of sustaining investigative work and having an effect with it, intensified throughout the summer as news from the Snowden files continued to pour forth.

Attempts to meet with Greenwald to discuss these plans and to find out more about how he operates were unsuccessful until this month. When they finally were able to talk, Omidyar learned that Greenwald, his collaborator Laura Poitras, and The Nation’s Jeremy Scahill had been planning to form their own journalism venture. Their ideas and Omidyar’s ideas tracked so well with each other that on October 5 they decided to “join forces” (his term.) This is the news that leaked yesterday. But there is more.

Omidyar believes that if independent, ferocious, investigative journalism isn’t brought to the attention of general audiences it can never have the effect that actually creates a check on power. Therefore the new entity — they have a name but they’re not releasing it, so I will just call it NewCo — will have to serve the interest of all kinds of news consumers. It cannot be a niche product. It will have to cover sports, business, entertainment, technology: everything that users demand>>

[northoftheborder]

1. Interesting. Wonder if it is print, internet, and/or radio/television.

[quinnox]

2. wow, very exciting stuff

With a billionaire like this ebay guy backing this, it could be a major force. Maybe a new CNN.

[bvar22]

3. Best news I've heard in a while.

Scahill and Greenwald, working together?
The A TEAM!

Add in Taibbi and Palast for a Grand Slam!

Some reservations:
Having them all together in the same place makes them an easy Drone Target.

[starroute]

4. I'd like to see Paul Krugman joining forces with them

He may not be an investigative journalist -- but he's kind of a misfit at the New York Times, and I think he'd have more breathing room elsewhere. This might provide an opportunity for him to jump ship.

[Luminous Animal]

5. Kick

[Blue_Tires]

6. That last line is the scariest thing I've read so far and I hope it's bullshit

Last edited Wed Oct 16, 2013, 03:25 PM - Edit history (1)

I promise you the strategy with the surest, 100% probability of complete failure is to try being "all things to all people"...Covering sports, business, entertainment, technology, etc. will dilute news quality, make the site overly commercialized, and would already be at a considerable disadvantage against the Gawkers and HuffPos of the world, who are already getting the most out of this business model..

If they stick with their core mission and create the "Grantland" of political/investigative reporting which will crusade for justice with top-notch writing, research, analysis, and people smart enough to connect the global political-economic-corporate dots without sounding like Alex Jones, then there is a measured chance for success...If all they want to be is another Gawker, then not only is Omidyar dumping his money in a black hole, Greenwald is a lot dumber than I thought (not to mention a brazen sellout)...

EDIT: After thinking a bit I think I see the long game now...This thing isn't Greenwald's; it's Omidyar's...Greenwald's mission is to use his clout and status to establish the site's credibility, and lure some big-name contributors away from the competition (along with adding the occasional NSA story to sweeten the pot and draw traffic)...After a year or two he's off to work full-time on his book and/or assist Poitras' documentary on the BIG NSA stuff...

[FSogol]

10. I look forward to their Scarlett Johansson's hottest pictures article.

[Luminous Animal]

7. My Next Adventure in Journalism by Pierre Omidyar

http://omidyargroup.com/pov/2013/10/16/my-next-adventure-in-journalism/#.Ul7cB7-ff-n

Right now, I’m in the very early stages of creating a new mass media organization. I don’t yet know how or when it will be rolled out, or what it will look like.

What I can tell you is that the endeavor will be independent of my other organizations, and that it will cover general interest news, with a core mission around supporting and empowering independent journalists across many sectors and beats. The team will build a media platform that elevates and supports these journalists and allows them to pursue the truth in their fields. This doesn’t just mean investigative reporting, but all news.

As part of my learning process, I recently reached out to Glenn Greenwald to find out what journalists like him need to do their jobs well. As it turns out, he and his colleagues Laura Poitras and Jeremy Scahill, were already on a path to create an online space to support independent journalists. We had a lot of overlap in terms of our ideas, and decided to join forces.

I believe that independent journalists like Glenn, Laura, and Jeremy play an important role in our society. We’ll be working with them and others, but we have a long way to go in terms of what the organization looks like, people’s roles and responsibilities — all of those things still need to be worked out.

I’ll be sure to update you along the way as the new organization progresses.

[Blue_Tires]

9. So consulting the Poynter Inst. was never part of his learning process??

I'd have thought they'd have invaluable input...

And I see Pierre Omidyar *is* serious about making this a "general" news site...Someone better talk some sense into him...

[MineralMan]

8. Sounds like Huffington Post Redux to me.

All things for all people, and none of it worth a plug nickel.

Oh, well...