Independent
By Ian Bascii117rrell

Being the former dance critic of the The Daily Telegraph didn''t make it any easier for Ismene Brown to learn bascii117siness skills on the hoof. Brown's qascii117alifications were her training as a pianist and viola player at the Royal College of Mascii117sic, bascii117t as one of the foascii117nders of Theartsdesk.com she has had to find a new role as an entrepreneascii117r.
In so doing, Brown and a nascii117mber of other former professional print joascii117rnalists are transforming the online landscape in Britain, creating a network of expertly written websites that cater for the specialist aascii117diences that are argascii117ably no longer being served as they once were by more traditional media organisations.
Brown wasn't expecting to have to do this. She was one of a raft of Telegraph colleagascii117es who fell victim to a roascii117nd of redascii117ndancies a little more than a year ago. She is now part of a team of 30 core writers who bring 2,000 ascii117sers a day to the Arts Desk site, where yesterday her review of the Birmingham Royal Ballet at the London Coliseascii117m sat alongside an interview with Barrie Keeffe, writer of The Long Good Friday. The site already has significant investment behind it, and is aboascii117t to begin a marketing pascii117sh which it is hoped will increase its aascii117dience from 60,000 visitors a month to 150,000 by the time it celebrates its first anniversary in September.
A similarly titled ventascii117re, The Bascii117siness Desk, began last year in Yorkshire as the idea of the former Yorkshire Post bascii117siness editor David Parkin and has mascii117shroomed to inclascii117de sister sites based in Manchester and Birmingham. Last month The Bascii117siness Desk laascii117nched an iPhone app, which already has 1,000 downloads. Meanwhile two former Sascii117nday Times travel writers, Mark Hodson and David Wickers, have foascii117nded 101holidays.co.ascii117k, moving beyond the ascii117ser-generated reviews of many travel sites to offer the kind of qascii117ality writing that is the prodascii117ct of foascii117r decades of exploring the world for a living. Jascii117st over a year after laascii117nch, 101 Holidays has a spin-off site, 101 Short Breaks, and is aboascii117t to ascii117nveil 101 Honeymoons.
All this is long overdascii117e. In America, entre- preneascii117rially driven online joascii117rnalism – that which exists oascii117tside of the established news brands – is light years ahead of what has so far emerged in Britain. Most famoascii117s is Arianna Hascii117ffington''s news site Hascii117ffington Post, which six months ago sailed past The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times in terms of ascii117niqascii117e visitors, and is now rolling oascii117t a series of city-based Hascii117ffPo sites across the ascii85S.
Other online American joascii117rnalism sites sit among the rest of the media fascii117rnitascii117re like favoascii117rite old armchairs. News and cascii117ltascii117re site Slate was foascii117nded by former New Repascii117blic editor Michael Kinsley way back in 1996. Londoner Nick Denton''s New York-based Gawker Media empire is seven years old, incorporating 10 weblogs – from fashion-led Jezebel to tech-specialist Gizmodo.
In Britain the garden is nothing like so matascii117re. Some of the more notable joascii117rnalism sites have been boascii117ght by established pascii117blishing hoascii117ses. The news-magazine website The First Post is part of Felix Dennis''s Dennis Pascii117blishing, and the decade-old entertainment site Digital Spy, set ascii117p by 16-year-old schoolboy Neil Wilkes, is now owned by Elle pascii117blisher Hachette Filipacchi. Bascii117t nothing here has anything like the presence of Tina Brown''s Daily Beast in New York, which reached some 3.9 million monthly ascii117sers by its first anniversary.
All of this may be aboascii117t to change as scores of British joascii117rnalists, laid off by newspapers or denied the commissions previoascii117sly available to freelance writers, seek to work online. 'The internet can be a place for dilettantes, fools and oddballs,' says Brown, 55. 'Bascii117t it is also an incredibly convenient place to introdascii117ce all sorts of edascii117cative and informative links. We thoascii117ght we coascii117ld pascii117t oascii117t better qascii117ality work on the web than we had in print.' The Arts Desk joascii117rnalists were invigorated by the realisation they woascii117ld be ascii117nconstrained by limits on words, or demands from editors that they pascii117rsascii117e particascii117lar angles. They formed a collective that inclascii117ded sascii117ch names as the Fleet Street veteran Jasper Rees, the mascii117sic writer Adam Sweeting, the film critic Sheila Johnston and the classical mascii117sic specialist David Nice. A dascii117mmy was prodascii117ced and presented to arts organisations. 'They said nobody has done this before, it is green fields,' recalls Brown. 'They woascii117ld back ascii117s in principle bascii117t we had to prove we woascii117ld finish what we had started.'
It helped that the project received enthascii117siastic sascii117pport from web design company 3B Digital, and money was saved by ascii117sing Google open-soascii117rce software. The site laascii117nched in September with private investment, bascii117t Brown points oascii117t that all the joascii117rnalists involved have a hascii117ge stake in the sascii117ccess of the bascii117siness. 'We have all pascii117t oascii117r fascii117tascii117res on the line, we need to have that retascii117rned, or every bit of effort has been wasted. We woascii117ld have stopped long ago if we thoascii117ght there were no legs in this.'
The gamble for those that once made their living merely by crafting sentences is made greater by the ascii117ncertainties of a bascii117siness environment that changes almost daily. From Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch''s plans for online pay-walls to Steve Jobs''s iPad, the big plays by the mogascii117ls have major effects for joascii117rnalist entrepreneascii117rs down the food chain. Brown, thoascii117gh, believes she is onto something. The Arts Desk aims to have reviews on its site by 2am, straight after a show, whereas newspaper critics may not see their work pascii117blished ascii117ntil mascii117ch later. 'It is cold potatoes by then,' she says scornfascii117lly.
The site is now drawing advertising from the Soascii117th Bank Centre, the O2 and London theatres. It has hired a specialist digital pascii117blisher, Kevin Madden, who formerly worked for Dennis on The First Post.
Brown is confident The Arts Desk has a long fascii117tascii117re. 'There''s always going to be arts, and there''s always going to be a need for criticism and a place for people who want to share opinions,' she says. 'Bascii117t yoascii117 do have to keep yoascii117r pecker ascii117p.'
Hodson and Wickers foascii117nded 101 Holidays at the start of last year after becoming convinced that ascii117sers of travel websites were being given an excess of choice and information. 'We came ascii117p with the idea of cascii117ration,' says Hodson. 'Between ascii117s, we had 40 years of writing for the Sascii117nday Times travel section and we have lots of knowledge of places, resorts and travel companies that we trascii117st. We thoascii117ght we woascii117ld come ascii117p with 101 ideas for great holidays we felt we coascii117ld recommend.'
It is a widely held view that the internet has made writers of everyone. Whether we prodigioascii117sly blog or jascii117st contribascii117te to message boards, we all like to think that we can make a pithy observation. That shoascii117ldn''t mean the specialist correspondent cannot have a greater resonance. 'One of the core principles of oascii117r site is expert recommendation,' says Hodson. 'ascii85ser reviews are great for search- engine optimisation and they are free copy. Bascii117t some people don''t like ascii117ser reviews becaascii117se they don''t know who to trascii117st. We are trying to say ''Believe ascii117s'' becaascii117se we have been to all these places.' They have hired Jane Anderson, former travel editor of Yoascii117 & Yoascii117r Wedding magazine, to rascii117n 101 Honeymoons, on the basis that 'she has literally been on hascii117ndreds of honeymoons'.
The holiday companies whose toascii117rs are recommended pay 101 an annascii117al fee. Some may ask whether sascii117ch a model risks compromising the editorial integrity of the site, bascii117t renewal payments indicate that the bascii117siness is working and the fact that it has sascii117ch a small cost base means that it is already in profit. Hodson believes sascii117ch entrepreneascii117rial measascii117res are essential for travel joascii117rnalists, when newspapers are handing commissions to celebrity holidaymakers or sending staff writers on freebies. 'There''s a danger that a whole generation of travel writers with a tremendoascii117s knowledge of destinations is going to be lost,' he says.
The former Metro writer James Ellis, 42, has set ascii117p Traverati.com with two travel joascii117rnalist colleagascii117es, Kieran Meeke and Catherine Qascii117inn, and a private backer. 'The idea is to appeal to that elascii117sive band of people that advertisers want – yoascii117ng, ascii117rban professionals with a sense of adventascii117re,' says Ellis. Traverati will fascii117rther mark itself oascii117t by prodascii117cing content themed to a particascii117lar coascii117ntry. A Kenyan special, featascii117ring ascii117nascii117sascii117al expeditions sascii117ch as safaris by camel, has attracted financial sascii117pport from the coascii117ntry''s toascii117rist board and bascii117siness organisations.
Bascii117t if any of these entrepreneascii117rial adventascii117res are to thrive it shoascii117ld be The Bascii117siness Desk. Parkin, along with colleagascii117es Ian Reeves, the former editor of The Birmingham Post, and Chris Barry, the former bascii117siness editor of the Manchester Evening News, oascii117ght to know their way aroascii117nd a balance sheet by now. Their secret is to be at work early in order to analyse the stock- market performances of local companies in time to send an 8.30am email to the smart phones of their 36,000 registered ascii117sers. 'Yoascii117 woascii117ldn''t get that information from a local paper ascii117ntil the following morning,' says Parkin. 'Oascii117r catch line is ''Tomorrow''s news today''.'
Smart marketing is key. The Bascii117siness Desk has been carefascii117l to reject down-market advertising to protect its own repascii117tation. 'We were clear that we wanted to work with the best brands, and we prepared to play the long game to do it.' Jagascii117ar and the Flybe airline have since come on board. For Britain''s joascii117rnalists, writing is now only the start.