New Republic CEO did a gig at the Daily Caller

When the New Republic in September announced the hiring of Guy Vidra as the magazine’s new CEO, it mentioned:

That Vidra was then serving as general manager of Yahoo News.
That Vidra formerly headed business development at The Washington Post.
That Vidra was head of business development at Perfect Market.
That Vidra was president of 2ergo Americas, Inc.
That Vidra was senior vice president of business development at Oddcast.

And it omitted the fact that Vidra did a consulting gig at The Daily Caller. Neil Patel, the Daily Caller’s co-founder and publisher, describes the situation: “[B]efore he offended the precious editorial staffers of The New Republic Guy Vidra was with The Daily Caller as a consultant for a short period of time in our early years,” writes Patel in an e-mail. “He helped get our business development operations off the ground. He did a good job. He was only with us for a few months in between his stints at The Washington Post and a startup he joined called Perfect Market. I don’t recall Guy mispronouncing any editors names during his short stint with us but that may be because doing so would not have resulted in the same tantrum level in our shop.”

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In a centennial celebration for the New Republic last month, Vidra spoke enthusiastically about the future of the magazine and, along the way, pronounced the last name of then-Editor-in-Chief Frank Foer as if the latter had “an entrance hall or other open area in a building used by the public, especially a hotel or theater.”

At the moment, the two publications couldn’t be more opposite on the editorial front. The Daily Caller touts itself as a “24-hour news publication”; the New Republic just sustained a massive newsroom desertion over fears that Vidra and Publisher Chris Hughes may be pushing the magazine toward a “24-hour news publication,” instead of the lofty, thoughtful journal of ideas that it has been. For more differences, please see their websites.

We’ve asked Vidra what lessons he has learned at the Daily Caller that can be applied to the new New Republic.