Mediaite.com is the new kid on the block. If you read their marketing literature, it sounds like they’re going after Gawker’s demographic – the media-savvy world, with maybe a little less snark. I took a closer look. Here’s what I found.

Traffic

First off, they’re doing something right. Maybe it’s the Dan Abrams connection, maybe they’re hitting a niche, but their traffic growth is impressive.  Check out their stats on Compete.com:

What They Say

Here’s what on their about page: “Mediaite is the site for news, information and smart opinions about print, online and broadcast media, offering original and immediate assessments of the latest news as it breaks.”

Then there’s this gimmick: “Mediaite’s ‘Power Grid’ objectively ranks media professionals across a dozen categories based on their real-time relevance. Power Grid rankings rely on an array of metrics, including anything and everything from circulation to Twitter followers to Google buzz depending on the category.”  Snooze.

So, it sounds like they write about the media and they have some chart of power.  Seems pretty focused … maybe a little boring.  Is that what’s on the site?

What’s Published

What do they cover? Here are the stories they ran from 3/23 – 3/24 organized by category (I pulled the headlines from my daily newsletter):

Sports:

• Woody Johnson Reflects On Death Of His Daughter, Casey Johnson
• Online Statistics Guru: Computers Are The Sports Reporters Of The Future

Gossip:

• WATCH: Kelly Cutrone Gives Cheslea Handler Bag Of Vibrators
• Erin Andrews Effect? Dancing With The Stars Premieres To Huge Ratings
• (Link to sister site, Styleite) Russian Vogue Dedicates Entire Issue To Naomi Campbell
• (Link to sister site, Styleite) NYT Photographer Bill Cunningham Readies For His Close-Up
• (Link to sister site, Styleite) Kelly Osbourne Becomes A Dr. Phil Special Contributor

Politics:

• VP Joe Biden And Sen. Scott Brown Have A Lunch Date
• Oh The Irony: Only The Republicans Can Now Save The Public Option
• Michael Steele Wants To Bring Nancy Pelosi’s “Iron-Fisted Reign” To An End
• John Boehner’s “No You Can’t” Gets The Inevitable Will.I.Am Remix
• George W. Bush Wipes Hand On Bill Clinton’s Shirt, After Meeting Haitians
• Neugebauer: Overwhelmingly Good Responses From ‘Baby Killer’ Remark
• GOP Compares Health Care Bill To Armageddon; Massive “Debt Asteroid”
• Daily Obsession: Nancy Pelosi’s Big, Hard Gavel
• Bush Administration Catches Friendly Fire From Republican Darrell Issa
• Past Is Prologue: Ronald Reagan On Medicare In 1961…Sound Familiar?
• Rudy Giuliani Tries To Talk Health Care, Mostly Endorses Torturing War Criminals
• President Obama Signs Historic Health Care Bill (VIDEO)

Politics in the Media:

• Rachel Maddow: Are Tea Partiers Using HCR As An Excuse To Get Violent?
• James Cameron Calls Glenn Beck A “F*cking A**Hole”
• Scott Brown Seeks Donations For Senate Run Against…Rachel Maddow?
• Obama Talks About Overseas Childhood, Tickle Fights In Indonesian TV Interview
• Stephen Baldwin Calls President Obama A Liar on Larry King Live

Just Media, kinda:

• John King’s Slow Debut, Keith Olbermann’s Big Night Back
• Bill O’Reilly Talks Rather, Safer, Beck And More During YES Interview
• F-Bomb Round-Up: How The Media Quoted The Unquotable, Joe Biden
• Inside the White House Press Corps: Progressive Talk Radio Host Bill Press
• Huckabee, Geraldo Go Live Saturday Night, Have Top Shows
• And Now There’s A Big F*cking Website
• Glenn Beck Explains That He Does, In Fact, Love Jesus

Analysis

In practice, Mediaite appears to be the Huffington Post with a media angle instead of a liberal angle.  It’s a political site for the media-minded.  Even the media stories have a political flavor — O’Reilly, the White House Press Corps, Beck, Biden — it’s all political!

Not to say it’s not genius.  They had five slow months before they exploded.  The internet is a great venue for political content and it’s trending towards a future where there’s a website for every palate.  The media-centric political demographic must have been an un-tapped market that took a few months to find.  Instead of reading Gawker and Huff Po, people can now read Mediaite.  Genius.