I’m actually thinking about doing a blog layout redesign.

I wouldn’t touch TVNewser with a 10 foot pole. Corporate sponsorship watching me like a hawk? No comments? Have to cover *cough* *cough* broadcast news where the news is mostly stale to any seasoned internet/cable news junkie? No thanks.

I did get a chuckle out of the job description though…”…take TVNewser to the next level”? HA! What an insult to Stelter. By definition that implies he couldn’t do it. Never mind that he built it into the must read site on his own. According to the job description there was a “next level” to the site which apparently he couldn’t attain. Sheesh…

This is a great gig for Brian. While the site lost a lot when Mediabistro acquired it and changed it from “Cablenewser” to “TVNewser,” it’s still a great site to check out.

I wonder if the guy at “Inside Cable News” will send in a resume?

And, I agree that it’ll be interesting to see how the blog transitions to a new writer, but Wonkette trades entirely on the brand and though every Wonkette brings a different sensibility (these recent guys seem to rely more heavily on blogs as sources), it’s the brand that gets them tips.

Tips for tvnewser can really only come from inside sources. Sure, the trades can get you started in the morning, but for the scoops, someone has to turn you onto them.

Brian built his following from people sending anonymous tips to an anonymous blogger and it might be replicated by someone similar, but a known person farming their own rolodex is something else, entirely. Brian could shoot at the moon because he started by thinking nothing would come of it, while an established writer with their own contacts would most likely see it as another step in a career. Thus, they’d have a reason to play it more safe.

Sure, I’ll continue to read the site, a couple of times a day and I’m interested to see if another blog can be successfully transferred, but as the description is written, it sounds like they’d prefer to go more toward Howard Kurtz than a “Heard on the Street” kind of thing.

Just my 2-cents and again, congrats to Brian. He’ll be missed.

Brian has serious work ahead. His command of rumor vs. fact will have to meet a higher standard now. The threshold for publication will be far beyond an anonymous email. I’m going to be very interested in hearing how Brian’s blogger mindset fits in at the NYT.

As for TVNewser without Brian? See shark, jump. It’s like Wonkette without Ana Marie – you can still run it, but it’s not as fun. Part of the wonder of the site was that a college kid pulled it off.

What I find interesting and maybe a bit disappointing is that they’re looking for someone experienced “covering media for a trade publication or newspaper” and they want you to detail your connections in the industry; All to helm something Brian started in his dorm room, miles from the world of network news, all the while hiding his face and his identity because he didn’t think a college kid’s blog would be taken seriously.

It’s sort of like when Nick Denton took back valleywag: The thrill was gone and it became a corporate thing.