Welcome to the Stack Exchange, where I am conducting a Q&A with a different personality each month. This time out, I stepped out of my comfort zone and interviewed a Duke alum, NBC Chief Legal Analyst Dan Abrams. I wanted to talk with someone who I admire and respect in the media world and find out about some of the projects he is working on, like his new Web site SportsGrid, one of several new Web sites he recently launched. I thought he could offer me some good advice.
1. First, let’s get this out of the way. Since you are Duke alum, how does it feel to be talking to and featured on the site of a proud Tar Heel?
Abrams: The few successful Tar Heels I’m happy to talk to…you guys are so few and far between, that I welcome you into the Duke family, so to speak. Your success as a Tar Heel makes me think of you as a Dukee.
Stack: Oh I don’t know, we could go on and on about this…
2. Let’s take it back to your earlier days as a young broadcast journalist. You covered some big cases, from O.J. Simpson to Bush v. Gore. Which of the cases that you covered most influenced your career and helped shape it into what it is today?
Abrams: It’s no question that the O.J. Simpson case was an instrumental point in my career. I was in my late twenties, had just graduated from law school a few years earlier and had been with Court TV for a couple years. I wasn’t supposed to be reporting on it…it was one of those things where they sent in the sub when the A team got injured. The two main reporters were out on other stories, and I happened to have been in L.A., so they asked me if I’d run over to the courthouse. I basically ended up living in Los Angeles for a year and a half throughout the preliminary hearing and the Simpson case…and it definitely put me on the national map. But I will say Bush v. Gore was the most interesting story that I’ve ever covered. It was 36 days of every day something new happening…some twist or turn in the story that we never could have expected.
Stack: More exciting than somebody getting killed?
Abrams: You know, it was. In the murder cases, it’s really sad…it’s hard, it’s tough to cover a lot of those stories. And in a lot of those cases, there aren’t a lot of interesting things that come up. Bush v. Gore was like taking a law school class and going on TV and talking about it on a regular basis.
3. Was there a particular journalist whose characteristics or style you tried to emulate? If so, how?
Abrams: There was a legal correspondent for NBC named Jack Ford. He went to ABC afterwards…I always thought he was so smooth and eloquent, and I definitely tried to model myself after him. I’ve tended to be a little more aggressive on the air, but I think I’m seeing the light now and am going back to the style that I always liked about him.
4. What led you to your current role as the publisher of five new Web sites: Geekosystem, Gossip Cop, Mediaite, Sportsgrid and Styleite? What is your goal for the direction of these celebrity-focused sites?
Abrams: I think the Web is like how they used to say that if you could cultivate the land in the West, you could own it. I think the Web is the same way right now. There is all this land out there, and if you can cultivate it, you can own it. I think too many people see things online and say, ‘Somebody is already doing that.’ Well, this is all really new, and even though somebody is already doing it…in 20 years from now, we are going to see a lot more somebodies doing things than today. We are still really early in the process of building up content on the Web. I’ve just found it to be really fun and gratifying…and lucrative…to be able to build these Web properties.
Stack: So how did you come up with some of those names?
Abrams: No question, first thing you have to do when figuring out what you want your Web site to be is pick a name. Do I think Mediaite is the best name out there? No. It’s hard to say, it’s sort of weird how it has three vowels next to each other. But at the time, I thought it described what were doing, which was the idea of the media insiders, but for consumers. There are not a whole lot of names like Gossip Cop, which is a great name…right away, you know exactly what it does. If I could pick names like that for every site I’d be thrilled, but we haven’t been so lucky.
5. Plus, you are CEO of Abrams Research, known as a social media strategy firm. Talk about this venture a bit.
Abrams: This venture is really using the success we’ve had with the Web sites we’ve created. We’ve had – with no corporate entity behind it – 6 million users per month on the five sites…and we’re building more sites as we speak. Basically, this consulting business is saying, hey, we can help you build your business on the Web as well. It just makes sense as an arm of the content business. For example, some stories that are great in print aren’t necessarily great on the Web, and you have to know what it is that makes things pop on the Web…and those are the kinds of tools we have.
6. I know you are a Twitter guy, and I’m trying to get into it myself. Social media has already dramatically changed the way we do business, interact with others, etc. Do you think it would be a good idea for me to “Tweet” and have a voice in social media? If so, why?
Abrams: Since you have a voice on just about everything anyway, I can’t see why you wouldn’t want a voice on Twitter as well. As a guy who’s never been shy about expressing his opinions, Twitter is just another amazing venue through which you can communicate your opinions directly with fans, with people who like sports…and there’s no middleman. It allows you to have your own community and your own microphone, so to speak, to get the word out. I think it’s a must-have.
Stack: I think many of us were so used to having the middleman, having the PR person to coordinate the interviews. I felt like everybody who wanted to brownnose the coach or the reporters or send a shout out saying, ‘Just left my workout,’ used Twitter. That’s why it was kind of a turnoff in the beginning. I’m going to take your advice on this, though.
Abrams: But just remember that every thing you say can and will be used against you. Stack: That’s what I need to remember! Abrams: I don’t think you are going to have any trouble being provocative and getting people to follow you. Your challenge is going to be not saying something that crosses a line where people say, ‘Jerry Stackhouse said what?!’
Stack: I don’t want to play shock jock. I want to take a stand, but finding that balance is going to be key.
7. How do you foresee social media and the Internet continuing to impact the world of media and how the news is covered?
Abrams: I see social media and the Internet as being the drivers of news. It’s amazing that just 15 years ago we had to wait to get our news. Now, not only do we get our news immediately, but every consumer can spread the news. So every consumer can be the publisher. They can decide what they want to get out there immediately. Yes, the publications are still driving news by breaking stories, etc., but individuals are now distributing it in a way we’ve never seen before.
8. I also read that you are writing a book and making the case that women are superior? What do you mean and where did you get the idea to write a book about it? What will go into your research?
Abrams: The book is called Man Down, proof beyond a reasonable doubt that women are better drivers, cops, gamblers, spies, hedge fund managers, world leaders, beer tasters…and just about everything else. It’s a fun book, all backed up with research that shows women are better than men. I saw an article on it and was amazed. Some of the stuff they were based it on was legitimate, and some was not. But it got me interested, and as I started researching it, I was amazed at how many studies show that women are better than man. Now, women are not better basketball players, not better athletes, they don’t read maps better than men. But, people are going to be really surprised.
9. I think this is a good time to ask you for some of your best time management words of wisdom. How do you fit it all in?
Abrams: I tend to stay focused on one project at a time…that can be for an hour or for a day, but it’s really important to me that I sit down and close my door and either focus on catching up on business-emails, or I’m writing my book, or I’m researching a segment for the Today Show. But I try not to do too many things at one moment because then I get distracted. Since I have my hands in all these different kinds of businesses, it’s really important for me to focus.
10. This past April, you and your buddy Dave Zinczenko, editor-in-chief of Men’s Health, opened up New York’s hottest new restaurant, The Lion. I had the opportunity to go there when in NYC – it was really great. How’s the restaurant business working out for you? What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced with the restaurant thus far?
Abrams: The fact that Jerry Stackhouse was there has solidified that it’s the hottest place in town! The management team is amazing. The chef came from the Waverly Inn, another well-known New York restaurant, and is one of the lead owners of the restaurant. They’ve done a great job. I think the key is that the room is amazing…huge 30-foot ceilings in the main dining room, which you rarely see in a New York restaurant. The woman who did the design is fantastic. And as I mentioned, the chef, John DeLucie, is serving up fantastic food every night. If the food isn’t good, people aren’t coming back. John has been focused from day one on making sure that the focus of the restaurant is the food. I think that’s what’s going to keep it there for the long haul.
11. What advice do you have for me as I start to work more on the media side of the sports business?
Abrams: The advice I have is not going to be difficult for you to take…which is to have a point of view. These days in media, people don’t want ‘well, on one hand, on the other hand’…they want you to be fair and honest, but the public at large is going to want to hear what Jerry Stackhouse has to say about whatever it is that you are covering. Make sure to inject your opinion. You want to become a credible voice. You are primarily known for who you are on the court, and now the goal is for people to get to know you better for who you are off the court.
Stack: Do you find it important to be consistent in what you are saying?
Abrams: Good question. I don’t find there has to be the consistency for people to know Stackhouse will always say X,Y, and Z. You have to be unpredictable, but the consistency has to be that everything you say has to be entertaining, smart and unique. Once you can become a source, then you know you’ve achieved something…people viewing you as a real source of opinion. So, no, I don’t think you have to consistently take the same position, but I do think the voice consistently has to be yours. You can’t try to be somebody you are not.
12. Best piece(s) of business advice for aspiring entrepreneurs out there?
Abrams: Try to build a business in an area that you know and understand. Don’t try to stray too far from what you’ve done in the past. If you don’t know a whole lot about making glasses, I don’t think you should be in the glasses business. But if you do know a whole lot about something else, then that can be an industry where you can build a nice business. If you developed a name in another industry and are now using it in a business, make sure you are using it to build a business where it would have some value and where people know what you’ve done.
13. Who is an up-and-coming journalist that you find particularly talented and that we should expect to be hearing from in the near future?
Abrams: I think there are a number of up and comers, like Peter Alexander, Jeff Rossen and Savannah Guthrie at NBC. This is the next generation team, and I think that all of them have big, bright futures. I’ve been an NBC guy for most of my life, so those are the ones I tend to know the best.
14. What are some of your hobbies and/or interests?
Abrams: When I have free time, I’m either going running, playing sports or working out to be healthy…I have a big wine collection at home. I also spend free time reading books or magazines and surfing the Web, for pleasure and for business.
15. It’s amazing that you’ve achieved so much success and you are only 44 years old. Something tells me you are not finished yet. What’s in store for Dan Abrams?
Abrams: First of all, Dan Abrams can’t believe he’s 44 years old. Dan Abrams feels like he’s a lot younger than that…I want to see these businesses develop. We have a good number of these Web sites on the way. I’ll definitely be continuing to do on-air television work. We’ll see how my book does, might have another book or two in my future. But, for me, the key is doing things I’m interested in and that I love. I think that’s what keeps us all happy and satisfied.
Stack: Thank you, I appreciate it, man. It’s not too often we get the Dukees and Carolinas on the phone without biting!
