The Ledger
Every statement that passed quotation and attribution checks. Mix any filter with any other: certainty 1/5, debate potential 5/5, or both at once.
why aren't all 8 resolved? a statement only gets an assessment when the public record can support or contradict it. opinions and what-ifs never can, and 0 checkable ones are still open, waiting for their date. predictions held up or didn't; assertions are supported or contradicted. on every card: ▮▮▮▮▮ certainty · ▮▮▮▮▮ debate potential. speakers are clickable
VandeHei predicts that the majority of media companies will go under
“I think that most media companies are going to go under”
VandeHei: Journalists have a genetic flaw of hiding facts in word vomit
“Basically, one of the genetic flaws in journalists is that they're not great writers, and they often bury what matters, and they often hide it in a vomit of words.”
Media data unambiguously proved that audiences skim rather than reading articles
“The data was Unambiguous. That most people were skimming and scanning, and they weren't reading most of the words that any of us in the media were writing.”
VandeHei: Data shows bullet points significantly increase reader retention and completion
“And we had seen from the data that if you take multiple ideas and break it into bullets, you're much likelier to get people to keep reading and to retain.”
VandeHei: Axios raised roughly $35M to $40M in total funding
“I think we were probably 35 to forty million all in.”
VandeHei: Axios leadership committed to a minimum six-year stay post-acquisition
“I mean, I could leave whenever, I guess, but our commitment to them is, you know, a minimum of six years and probably a lot longer.”
VandeHei: Axios turned profitable by its second year of operation
“I think by year two, or by year two, we're profitable. Not by design, by the way. Like, we were trying to be in investment mode. The business was doing better than we thought. Hiring is tough in media, but we were breaking even, like we were doing, we were, we…”
VandeHei: Axios launched with $10M cash and upfront advertiser commitments
“One, we raised money, so we launched with ten million dollars in cash, and then Because we had done Politico when we left, I probably had four or five companies call me and say, I don't care what you're starting. Like, we've allocated X amount to advertise wit…”