INSIDE
THE CULT
primarily as Time’s editor-atlarge and an MSNBC senior political analyst, also served as Harris’s
co-author on the 2006 book, The
Way to Win. Halperin didn’t respond to a request for comment
on his past talks with Politico.
Lately, Politico has once again
signaled an interest in television,
but more akin to streaming video
shows around major political
events, or perhaps, a regular web
series on the site or on a dedicated YouTube channel. VandeHei says Politico is now “trying
to experiment with a bunch of
HUFFINGTON
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established industry players.
“All those people are looking
to build channels, are looking to
build content that’s going to be
delivered differently than it is
today,” he says. “We think we’re
well positioned, because of the
size of the newsroom, and because of the type of people we
recruit here, to be able to produce that content.
“Is there a big market for
that? Over time, can you sustain
that financially? At this point,
we’re not as worried about the
financial question. We’re more
“At this point, we’re not as worried
about the financial question.”
—Jim VandeHei
different things, everything from
short bursts of programming to
live programming.”
VandeHei likens the next couple years in television and online
video to 2006 and 2007, a time
of “massive upheaval in print,”
which coincided with the birth of
Politico. He mentioned new players like Google, YouTube and Apple TV, and The Huffington Post
— which is launching a 12-hour
streaming network — joining more
worried about the experimentation question. I think over the
next six months, hopefully you’ll
see different experiments that
tip our hand where we think
things are going on video.”
“NOT MONOPOLY MONEY”
Politico’s editors maintain that
their company is profitable and
isn’t borrowing money to fund
its expansion. Since Allbritton is
privately held, it’s impossible to