Life After Dot-Death for a Pair of Content Providers

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"I was worried about my age," Mr. Levins said. "In this industry, when you get older, it's harder to get a job or keep one that's meaningful. I specifically set out to be an expert on this whole Internet thing, assuming, 'Wow, if this really hits. . . . ' "

It hit, and Mr. Levins was hired to build a Web site for Editor & Publisher magazine. The site, Mediainfo.com, was spun off into a print publication, and Mr. Levins eventually became the executive editor of the company, overseeing all its periodicals. Which is why everybody thought he was crazy to leave it for APBnews, a start-up that reported crime news. "My family thought I was out of my mind. I was executive editor of E&P. It's the kind of job you have for life," he said. "I mean, crime on the Internet for a company that doesn't exist?"

But it was a chance to realize his dream of practicing journalism on the Web. He said he was also offered "a hell of a package of options and money."

At APBnews, Mr. Levins said he wanted to create the kind of newsroom that would give his handpicked staff the adrenaline rush that had motivated him as a reporter. With a multimillion-dollar budget, one nearly as big as his ambitions, he bought the best computers and data services, paid salaries that were 15 percent to 20 percent better than print media, and offered what most crime reporters dream of. "They didn't need the catered dinners," he said. "I'd put them on airplanes and say, 'Here, go out West, roam the desert for three weeks' " and investigate the Great Basin serial killings, come back and write about it.

For a while, it worked. In two years, APBnews won seven journalism awards and received 1.5 million visitors a month.
For eight months, the site was a money magnet. Some investors would walk through the newsroom, Mr. Levins said, "have a meeting upstairs, go back to their offices and send over a check for $4 million."

But with a four-years-to-profitability model, he said, the site struggled in sales and marketing. And where the site had once turned away investors, it began having trouble raising money as the dot-com interest waned.

On June 3, APBnews won an award for online journalism at the national awards ceremony for Investigative Reporters and Editors. At their seats in the ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria -- with Mike Wallace and the "60 Minutes" crew at the next table -- Mr. Levins recalled that an awed APBnews reporter whispered, "Hoag, we've really made it."

Two days later, all 142 employees of APBnews were laid off. The money was gone. Mr. Levins and most of the staff continued to work without pay for more than two weeks in hopes of finding financing. The site filed for bankruptcy and was bought at auction by SafetyTips.com. Mr. Levins and a small staff remained. In November, Mr. Levins said, SafetyTips's paychecks started bouncing. Frustrated that his staff was not being paid, Mr. Levins resigned on Jan. 2. "I was not willing to live in an ongoing limbo world," he said.

Life After Dot
Both Mr. Levins and Mr. Stoker-Ring have had time to think about the future. Mr. Stoker-Ring is doing temp work at an investment bank where he had previously worked and is looking for a job as a comedy writer. Writing jobs are scarce, but he feels different now. "I don't have to lie in bed or stare at my screen" doubting my abilities, he said. And he has not soured on his former employer. "If iCast comedy suddenly got funding, I'd go back in a second," he said.

Mr. Levins was less keen on his last employer. "Under no circumstances would I return to APB," he said. Luckily, he doesn't have to. After barely a week of unwinding from his 24-month ride, he was hired by Advertising Age magazine to head and expand its Web operation.

Mr. Levins is relieved to have stayed in the Internet arena. He most feared going back to print and being "chained to the inky finger thing." He is still optimistic about the Web and the role of content in it.

"I absolutely believe the Internet is the future of journalism, it's the future of publishing, it's the future of advertising," he said. "It's so clear to me. I want to be in it when it really blossoms."

Valerie Reiss has been laid off from numerous dot-com content sites.

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