July 29, 2004

Another Blogger Hits the Big Time

A college student's blog becomes a hot media property and acquisition target. And his readership is far closer to HobbsOnline than InstaPundit.

The 18-year-old college student behind the CableNewser.com Web log now has a paying job. Brian Stelter said Monday he sold the online publication to Mediabistro.com, a media networking and events company. Created seven months ago, the Weblog will change its name to TVNewser.com and its coverage will expand to include news and gossip about the major networks' news divisions as well as those of cable.

Stelter, a sophomore at Maryland's Towson University, will stay on as editor. "I will get a monthly retainer, which may not be a lot of money but it's a lot better than (relying on) donations," Stelter said. "For a college student, it's a lot of money." Listen to an interview with Stelter.

New York-based MediaBistro.com approached Stelter after he was profiled by The New York Times earlier this year. Founded by Laurel Touby, a magazine editor and writer, it has an extensive listing of media jobs, and offers advice on how to get hired and published. Mediabistro plans to develop a network of Web logs, Stelter added.

The acquisition of CableNewser.com should increase traffic for Mediabistro.com. Stelter said his site got about 80,000 unique visitors a month and had about 5,000 visitors daily. "And that doesn't include RSS readers, or the items which are passed along inside businesses," he said. "It's mind-boggling the reach just one blogger can have."