Tina Brown

L.G.: Tell me why.

T.B.: I just think he's vigorously improved it. It's often my first read these days. I think he's put muscle into it, flair and focus. I just think the paper is terrific. I think they've superbly covered the crisis. In a way, just as Gordon Brown has certainly had his moment as prime minister because he was chancellor of the exchequer, what could be more of a gift to the Wall Street Journal than the gift of every single company they cover in trouble. You know, it's like they were put on this earth to be in this crisis. And Rupert, being, as usual, devilish in his sense of the zeitgeist, is exploiting it to the max.

L.G.: Right, but one of the companies that's having a tough time in this environment generally is News Corp.

T.B.: Oh, I know. This is what I like about him as a business guy, as a matter of fact. He's got a long vision, he's been through bad times before. Don't forget, he was brought at one point not that long ago to the kind of brink of financial peril, 10 years ago or whatever it was, and they came out of that.

L.G.: Leveraged to the hilt, trying to get the banks to renegotiate with him.

T.B.: He's used to that, and I think he will have the nerve for it. I'm not concerned about him. In some ways, if you had to pick a company to be worried about, it would not be News Corp.

L.G.: Which companies would you be worried about?

T.B.: Listen, I don't want to start naming them-

L.G.: Oh, please, just name a few.

T.B.: No, I'm not going to do that. There are a lot of companies who have lived high on the hog, lived on their fat and so forth, and just aren't as nimble, and I think there's going to be a time when nimbleness will have to prevail.

L.G.: You're talking about media companies-there are only a few.

T.B.: Yeah, I think all kinds of companies. I'm going to have to wrap it up, one more question just because I have a little line outside here.

L.G.: Oh, you have a line outside your office. You've had a television show, you've edited four magazines, you're writing books, now you have an internet operation. Is there anything you've learned from all that?

T.B.: I've found that all the different things that I've done-editing magazines, TV show, writing a book, having a column-have really enabled me to kind of adapt happily to the Web. I do feel very happy about what we're doing, much happier than I thought I would be. I didn't think I would like online editing, but it's just proving to be something that I really have taken to. I'm not saying whether other people like it, but I certainly like it just because it's good for my metabolism. I'm the single-most-impatient person in the world, and now I can literally have an idea, dispatch an email, somebody writes something, it comes back, I choose a picture, and I put it up. I just think it's fun. I think doing a TV show helped to speed my metabolism. I also think doing TV really taught me a great deal about being concise and being punchy. And I came out of doing long-form magazine work for the New Yorker, which is such a different rhythm and speed, and then I had to kind of speed up faster and faster, which has turned out to be good training in a way for this new, highly caffeinated moment in media.

L.G.: So you've sped everything up?

T.B.: I mean, I woke up in the morning and I saw the news about Madonna, who was getting a divorce, I emailed Andrew Morton. And I think that's lucky in a sense for this project that there's a lot of writers that I've known over the years. And I emailed Andrew, and I just said, "you've written a book on Madonna, the interesting angle about this to me is that it will mean her English idyll is over." He wrote back to me and said "I love the great angle, it'll be with you in a few hours." He types it, sends it in, and a few hours later, we have a piece ready to post. And that's very exciting, really. It's great. It's a good piece, he's a smart guy, and I love that. I must say, it's very gratifying.

L.G.: Are you going to stick with the size you are now?

T.B.: You know something, it all depends on how fast we grow. I don't feel the need to kind of hire up like crazy. In this media climate, there's a lot to be said for virtual-editing situations. We have actually one freelance editor in Washington. It's a terrific thing to have her there, because she's out of the craziness of the hour-by-hour, and she can work on the slightly longer pieces that are going to be slightly more long form, more in the distance. And I think there's a great situation where you're going to have some freelance people, and you can capitalize on some of the people who want to work at home or people [who are] in-between jobs. It's great. I actually enjoy the spontaneous kind of bringing people in for periods, seeing how they like it, how it works. It's a good way to develop exactly the right team. You're not wedded in stone to the kind of structures that you've put in place.

L.G.: And is Barry pretty much giving you air to breathe and space to work?

T.B: He's given us a very free range. He comes down to visit us every so often, chats away, gives us his input, always smart, and that's it. And we all love seeing him when he comes down.

L.G.: Do you ever find yourself saying to him, "Up to a point, Lord Copper"?

T.B.: [Laughs] I think that Barry likes combat actually.

L.G.: I've heard. You haven't had any screaming matches with him yet?

T.B.: No, not at all. I mean the thing about Barry is that he enjoys vigorous conversation. No, we have a great mutual respect. I love his input, and he understands that I'm an editor, and we do what needs to be done.

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