HispanicBusiness

Another snarky Web site, with live blogging, and shallow, Twitter-like regular updates, where media pundits make fun of media pundits?

Yeah, just what the Internet needs.

Dan Abrams, the former general manager at MSNBC and current legal analyst at NBC News, launched Mediaite.com this week to moderate buzz among those same media outlets that it aims to torch.

For starters, the name must be intentionally silly. "Medialite" is far more natural to the tongue, and "Mediablight" is an obvious derogatory nickname.

For a site built on the premise of pointing out what's ridiculous about mainstream media, ironically, Mediaite's main news story on Tuesday was the Michael Jackson memorial. While on one hand it blasts the cable networks for its wall-to-wall coverage of the Jackson event, it then falls victim to the same treatment by gushing over the event.

"So why fight it -- we're going to be live blogging the event. Joining Glynnis and Steve will be other media bloggers from around the Web.

Just come in: you know you'll be watching anyway..."

Yes, the future of journalism is here. One Twitter-like feed at a time.

One of the more interesting parts of the site, is its "power index" a ranking of media celebrities, largely based on Internet buzz.

Oprah Winfrey is the most powerful television host, ahead of Conan O'Brien and Katie Couric.

Conservatives Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity dominate radio. (Did we need an official ranking to surmise this?)

Paul Krugman, Thomas Friedman and Maureen Dowd are the most influential print columnists.

Rubert Murdoch, Michael Bloomberg and Sumner Redstone lead the media moguls list.

The site also aims to be a media aggregator -- with links to TMZ.com, HuffingtonPost.com (where Mediaite's Editor-at-Large hails from) and several dozen popular media sites.

There's also plenty of Sarah Palin stories, several contrived and cutesy headlines, and a few comic-book-like graphics.

Will Mediaite be a hit?

Who knows? No one could have predicted the success of The Huffington Post or Gawker.com. The media landscape is still evolving and no one has the answers. But self-coverage and coverage of boss Abram's other media gigs, with a somewhat affected irreverence, seem to be a good part of the equation on day 2.

If you dig beyond these initial, high-placed annoyances, there's some worthy stuff below the fold. Jim Impoco's column, for instance, on the legacy of Portfolio magazine is well worth reading. And Pat Kiernan's farewell to a well-loved show (particularly by him, since he was a contributor), is a good read, especially since it invokes the "new breed of celebrity reality shows" as its villain (to which we say bravo, Mr. Kiernan). Katie Baker's post-game on Wimbledon television coverage will ensure we come back for more.

We admit: it's hardly fair to be critical after two days, the first of which was characterized by an inability to access the site. We'll consider Mediaite a "developing story," and pop back in as we have time.

And who knows -- by the time Mediaite finds its footing, that crazy name might be rolling quite naturally off our tongues.

Check it out at http://www.mediaite.com