Is Ezra Klein the Next Roger Ailes?

Andrew Sullivan today:

I have to say it’s been amazing to see Washington get almost giddy about the Ezra Klein story. Well, maybe only Washington journalists … but, still….All the stories about these ventures rightly take a wait-and-see approach as to whether we are witnessing a realignment in which those old big media companies accelerate their decline by being unable to accommodate their new media stars … or whether these new ventures will eventually founder in a grim business climate for journalism. These new models may be evanescent or central to the future. We just don’t know yet.

This is true: we don’t know yet. At the same time, no one should feel like this is something new and unprecedented. It’s the same thing that’s been happening to popular media for over a century. When radio was invented, it attracted young entrepreneurs like William Paley (using family money) and Richard Sarnoff (working his way up the ranks at RCA). The burgeoning market for middle-class reading material attracted young entrepreneurs like Henry Luce (magazines), William Randolph Hearst (newspapers), and Simon & Schuster (books). The film industry attracted young entrepreneurs like Walt Disney and Howard Hughes. Cheap four-color printing prompted Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson to start up the company that would later become DC Comics. Car culture produced car magazines. Computers produced computer magazines. Gaming produced gaming magazines. The rise of cable TV brought us CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC. When politics collided with the rise of the internet, we got websites like Drudge Report, Talking Points Memo, the Huffington Post, and Politico.

Will Ezra Klein’s new venture succeed? Who knows. But I think it’s safe to say that some of these ventures will succeed, and they will indeed produce a realignment in the political media universe. They already have, after all: Fox News and Politico are probably more influential already than the entire old-guard newspaper industry combined.

Young (and some not-so-young) entrepreneurs have been reshaping popular media forever. It’s no surprise that this is continuing. What else would you expect, after all?

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Is Ezra Klein the Next Roger Ailes?

Roger Clemens Fast Facts

(CNN) — Here’s a look at the life of Major League baseball pitcher Roger Clemens.

Personal: Birth date: August 4, 1962

Birth place: Dayton, Ohio

Birth name: William Roger Clemens

Father: Bill Clemens, truck driver

Mother: Bess (Wright) Clemens

Marriage: Debbie (Godfrey) Clemens (November 24, 1984-present)

Children: Kody, May 15, 1996; Kacy, July 27, 1994; Kory, May 31, 1988; Koby, December 4, 1986

Education: Attended San Jacinto Junior College, 1980-1981; Attended University of Texas, 1981-1983

Other Facts: Won the Cy Young Award for best pitcher seven times.

Nicknamed “Rocket.”

Career statistics include 354 wins, 4672 strikeouts and two World Series titles.

Timeline: 1983 – Drafted by the Boston Red Sox.

May 15, 1984 - Major League Baseball debut.

February 8, 1991 – Signs a four-year extension deal with the Boston Red Sox worth $ 21.5 million.

December 13, 1996 - Signs a three year deal with the Toronto Blue Jays.

February 18, 1999 - Is traded to the New York Yankees.

June 2003 – Reaches two milestones, his 300th win and 4,000th strikeout. He is the third pitcher ever to strike out 4,000 batters.

2004-2006 – Plays for the Houston Astros.

2007 - Plays his last season in Major League Baseball with the New York Yankees.

February 14, 2005 – Retired baseball star Jose Canseco publishes his autobiography, “Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant ‘Roids, Smash Hits and How Baseball Got Big.” In the book, Canseco recounts his own steroid use and implicates other players, including Clemens.

December 13, 2007 - The Mitchell Report is released, linking several current and former Major League Baseball players, including Clemens, to alleged use of performance enhancing substances.

2007 - Retires.

January 15, 2008 – The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee holds a hearing in response to the Mitchell Report on doping in Major League Baseball.

February 13, 2008 - In a hearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Clemens denies ever taking performance enhancing drugs.

February 27, 2008 - Representatives Henry A. Waxman and Tom Davis ask the Justice Department to investigate possible perjury in the testimony of Roger Clemens.

August 19, 2010 - Is indicted on charges of lying to Congress in 2008.

August 30, 2010 – Pleads not guilty at arraignment.

July 13, 2011 - Trial begins.

July 14, 2011 - A federal judge declares a mistrial after jurors hear statements in a prosecution video that the judge had ruled inadmissible until later in the case.

September 2, 2011 – U.S. District Court Judge Reggie Walton grants prosecutors a new trial for Clemens.

April 16, 2012 – Jury selection begins for Clemens’ retrial on one count of obstruction of Congress, three counts of making false statements and two counts of perjury.

June 18, 2012 – Is found not guilty on all counts.

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Roger Clemens Fast Facts