If New York has The Times and San Francisco The Chronicle, then the digital world has The Daily Dot – the first online newspaper exclusively dedicated to news about the Internet. Backed by the Los Angeles based investor Nova Spivack, the Daily Dot was founded in August 2011. As CEO Nick White told me, the “core job” of the Daily Dot is to “tell the story of the Internet.” And, so far, they seem to be doing a fairly credible job. Indeed, with $3 million “committed” in funding, over a million uniques a month, a staff of around 15 editors, White claims that the Daily Dot is covering news “relevant” to users. Perhaps. But, as White acknowledged to me, the free paper needs to get to three or four million monthly uniques by the end of its second year if it is to generate the advertising revenue necessary to become a viable business. So the bigger question remains: Does the Internet really need its own daily newspaper? Or is the Daily Dot just one more online journalistic start-up doomed to failure?
If you have a great story idea then send us an e-mail at tips@dailydot.com (no press releases please)
Nicholas White is the co-founder, Editor-in-Chief, and CEO of The Daily Dot. Previously, he was Vice President of Audience Development for Sandusky Newspapers, Inc. Midwest Division and a reluctant futurist. Before that, he was the company’s Interactive Media Director. Sandusky, a private company, was founded in 1822 and has newspaper and radio holdings in major markets across the US. The company has its roots in Sandusky, Ohio, where the same family has owned the Sandusky Register since 1869, making it one...
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