More on Ezra Klein's new project -- naysayers continue to emerge

As time goes on, the more I think I soft-pedaled my pessimism about Ezra Klein's new venture with Vox Media. It's not because of Vox, I should say -- I used to write for SB Nation, and that experience gave me tremendous respect for their behind-the-scenes team. It's that Klein, for all his talent, is not a superduperstar, and there just isn't a good track record of new standalone web sites supporting themselves with the kind of ongoing costs Klein is suggesting.

The simple fact is that the numbers won't add up unless the site is a raging success. Jim Bankoff, Vox Media's CEO, understandably wouldn't disclose budget figures to CNN, though he did imply that Vox's costs wouldn't approach eight figures. Even so, it appears I'm not the only one to notice a big problem with the notion of Klein building a new site: Wonkblog's traffic just doesn't warrant it, and Business Insider laid it out by comparing Wonkblog with Engadget, former staffers of which founded Vox's The Verge.

To sum up, there's an underlying misconception here: Klein didn't draw "fuck you" traffic. Perhaps the editorial folks thought that, but the money people understood perfectly well. Hence, Jeff Bezos refusing Klein's request for an investment in a standalone site.

(Image cc-licensed: "The blogger next door" by Matthew Yglesias)