From today's Metro:
Text below:
INSIDER DEALING is about to take on a whole new meaning on Wall Street. The founding editor of New York’s most popular media gossip blog is turning her attention to the money men. Elizabeth Spiers, who began her blogging career at Gawker, will launch a new site called Dealbreaker (www.dealbreaker.com) next week. The blog, which will focus on Wall Street personalities and culture, is sure to include the same blend of humor and behind-the-scenes gossip that made Gawker an obligatory bookmark of New York’s media elite. “We’re not looking at analysis and journalists’ assessments of how companies are doing,” says Spiers. “We’ll leave that to TheStreet.com. This is more like how it would be if ‘The Daily Show’ did CNBC.” Spiers, 29, is no stranger to Wall Street. She worked as an equity analyst for hedge funds before joining Gawker in December 2002. In fact, she says that she intended to launch Dealbreaker soon afterward but Gawker swallowed up too much of her time. She says about one-third of Gawker’s initial audience was people who worked in financial services. And she believes there is a hunger in the financial world for more behind-the-scenes information. More transparency “There is a lot less transparency in the financial world than there should be,” says Spiers. “Most financial journalists only cover public companies. They are not covering hedge funds or small financial institutions in the way they probably should be. Besides, Wall Street people are just as colorful and interesting, so I think there is plenty of material out there.” Spiers left Gawker for New York magazine in fall 2003. She later joined New York’s Mediabistro.com as editor-in-chief, where she helped launch Gawker rival fishbowlNY. Her first novel, a satire of Wall Street and the media called “And They All Die in the End” will be published in the fall. Dealbreaker is the start of a new blog network that Spiers is launching with the backing of two investors, Carter Burden, the CEO of Web hosting company Logicworks, and Justin Smith, president of news magazine The Week. Each site will have one, full-time editor plus additional contributors. Spiers said two more sites will launch in the fall but she would not reveal their focus. She has writers lined up for Dealbreaker but she is looking for writers for future sites. In the meantime, tips are also always welcome. You can send them
to tips@dealbreaker.com
PAUL BERGER
blogarithms@metro.us
Paul Berger writes a blog called Englishman in New York
at www.pdberger.com.
[A few minor things here, but chiefly: My book isn't actually out until sometime in 2007.]
Posted by Elizabeth Spiers at March 24, 2006 10:37 AM