What's this, Tina Brown's internet project The Daily Beast is trying to get a business model? I thought it was all just for kicks! Nevertheless, the Beast is considering selling some "advertisements." While staying pure:

"We've been pretty cautious so far," said Beast general manager Caroline Marks. "We're just in the stage of evolving...There are a spectrum of ways you can execute (an ad model) and we're looking at all of them. It is a dialogue that will evolve over the course of this year."

Oh, take your time. No rush.

Marks added that while many digital publishers, particularly blogs, have grayed the distinction between advertising and editorial, The Daily Beast was likely to employ a more strict boundary between church and state-particularly given Brown's magazine background (the celebrated Brown founded the short-lived Talk magazine and previously edited The New Yorker). That should mean less clutter and more traditional sponsorship elements.

LOLOLOLOL! Yes, the Beast will only consider projects that respect a very strict and clear wall between advertising and editorial. Like, for example, this two-page Taraji P. Henson interview sponsored by 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button', which is virtually indistinguishable from regular content, except for being somewhat more vapid.

See here, the job of the Daily Beast is to take millions from Barry Diller and redistribute that money to deserving writers, until such time when Barry Diller gets tired of losing money and closes the operation down. We hope not to hear of this "advertising" foolishness again. [Brandweek]