Tina Brown, the high-profile British editor who made her mark in the U.S. editing renown magazines like Vanity Fair and the New Yorker, is joining the Web revolution with a new site called The Daily Beast.
The trial version of the site, funded by Barry Diller's IAC, launches today, with a mix of original stories and summaries from other sites -- and of course, postings by Ms. Brown herself.The name is taken from the newspaper in the Evelyn Waugh satirical novel, "Scoop."
Ms. Brown has been telling journalists that she feels there's room for an intelligent guide to the Internet. "I've come to feel word of mouth is reshaping media and culture and we're building a site where the rationale is word of mouth, the word of mouth of people we feel are interesting and feel have something to say and offer and know something," she told paidcontent.org.
The Daily Beast may be the best test yet whether well known editors who have made their mark in print can transfer their sensibilities to the Internet and build an audience. Early images of the Web Site (see picture) show a European tabloid sensibility, which may appear garish to American readers. On the other hand, if it works, it will spawn imitators.
The initial site will not have any advertising, Ms. Brown said, because the focus will be on an audience. It will be edited by former Wall Street Journal deputy managing editor Edward Felsenthal.
Ms. Brown has pulled in some of her celebrity friends as contributors, including satirist Christopher Buckley, author of "Thank You for Smoking," sexy British chef Nigella Lawson, and Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the Somali-born Dutch politician.
The site launches just as online properties are beginning to feel the pinch of advertisers pulling back on their commitments. The amount of investment by IAC was not disclosed.