Political coverage but no D.C. bureau for Murdoch's new tablet daily
Written by Sarah Pavlus
Published
Rumors about Rupert Murdoch's new tablet-only subscription publication -- tentatively named The Daily and set to launch in December -- have been flying fast and furious for weeks ("sources" say it's “experimenting with an investigative secret weapon”: “drone choppers”!).
Now WWD's John Koblin has weighed in with one of the most comprehensive descriptions to date of the project.
Koblin reports that the seven-days-a-week publication -- which is “expected to cost 99 cents a week” -- will indeed have a political component, but no D.C. bureau, and that the editorial page “is expected to have sort of an optimistic, populist stance”:
The Daily will cover the nation. Writers have been told to find topics, establish beats and break stories. Johnson's squad, currently setting up in the MySpace building, will attempt to bring a Page Six sensibility to Los Angeles. If the TMZ and Nikki Finke world is saturated, there will be intense coverage of cocktail parties, charity events, crime and politics. There will be no foreign bureaus, and there are no plans for a D.C. bureau at the moment, but it's expected reporters from New York will take care of important political news. Daily reporters will certainly go on the campaign trail as the 2012 elections heat up.
The editorial page is expected to have sort of an optimistic, populist stance. Murdoch told the Australian Financial Review that the editorial page would have campaigns, particularly on education reform. Reihan Salam, a fellow at Economics 21, will be a columnist there.
Murdoch recently brought former New York City schools chancellor Joel Klein on to the News Corp. team to advise on the education industry. Reporting earlier this week on Murdoch's education venture, Ad Age's Nat Ives wrote: “The immediate best bet is that News Corp. will seek possible investments in technology platforms that schools, public or private, can adopt to help students learn -- a kind of paid-content business, which is one of Mr. Murdoch's big media priorities.”
Salam, who headlines the conservative NRO's domestic-policy blog, is also a contributor at The Daily Beast.