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A weekly newsmagazine about the business of the Internet
Economy, the Standard sold, in 1999, the greatest number of
ad pages in publishing history. Two years later it was bankrupt.
In my former colleague James
Ledbetter's tell-all, "Starving
to Death on $200 Million a Year," which chronicled
the Standard's rise and fall, he writes:
"Some reporters were incredibly green. One reporter,
Jacob Ward, was just twenty three years old when Weber"
- our editor in chief - "hired him."
So there's that.
I was hired to cover telecommunications, for which the editor
in chief, a former telecom reporter, had a particular fascination.
I learned a great deal about the nuts and bolts of the industry,
and about the incredible complications involved in updating
America's ancient infrastructure for a digital age. The people
who work that job have my deep respect.
Within six months, as a staff writer, I was moved over to
advertising and e-commerce, which I preferred. It handed me
the opportunity to chronicle firsthand the gross overindulgence
and almost psychotic self-importance of the era. Advertisers
and interactive design firms were particularly susceptible
to the mania, I found. It was also the part of the industry
which lent itself most readily to the kind of cultural
and sociological analysis I wanted to be writing. But
I'm embarassed now at some of the hype I helped to push.
The Standard was a fabulous experience, and one that I was
lucky to have. But by 1999 I'd had enough. I learned a great
deal working under editors like Jonathan Weber, Jane
Goldman, and Michael
Parsons, and with reporters like Alex Lash, Lessley
Anderson, Mark Gimein,
and Jim Evans.
I left the Standard at the height of its growth, parlayed
the name into a few freelance gigs, and managed to squeeze
into a job at Architecture before
New York magazine jobs disappeared, and before the Standard's
name became synonymous with fleeting success.
A few samples:
Features
Outside Looking In,
July 12, 1999 - Why can't black Internet executives get in
on the boom?
Thinking of You ... Love,
Sparks.com, October 23, 1998 -The story of a startup,
from conception to launch.
News
From Startup to Secret Weapon,
May 10 1999 - Art.com's wild ride isn't over.
Naming Your Net Play, May
24, 1999 - Want your company name to be GarageDoorOpeners.com?
Get in line.
New Media Meets Old Politics,
January 25, 1999 - When Planned Parenthood
solicited bids for a $1 million Web site, some interactive
agencies found the project too hot to handle.
Sharpton, Race, and
Online Ads, January 25th, 1999 - The
Internet could help marketing dollars reach minority audiences,
but some fear it simply means business as usual.
I wrote over 100 articles for The Standard - a wide selection
are available upon request.
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