Though Pete du Pont's weekly column expresses his conservative viewpoint, Intellectual Capital has succeeded at presenting both sides of an issue. Besides the limited capital expense required to launch, du Pont mentions a more far-reaching reason to become an Internet rather than printed publication. Generating a readership Americans, though, will have to get interested in dry, public policy debates that up until now have been the province of analysts writing for think tanks. Articles by Bob Kolasky on demographic shift, James Glassman on tax consultants, and James Lilley on Sino-American relations will not generate the readership of People. But Intellectual Capital has carved out a steady readership of about 30,000 readers, which doubles when more timely articles, such as President Clinton's controversial affairs, heat up.
Articles can provoke a very specific readership.
For example, an article on a new Navy torpedo elicited 400 Pentagon readers. Though it has yet to turn a profit, it has attracted venture capital funding and selected advertising from advocacy groups, tax forums, and environmental groups, the mirror image of its readership. While newspapers compete to break stories, Intellectual Capital is content to analyze them after stories have been discussed by newspapers. If the U.S. initiates military action in Iran, this online publication dissects whether this action was the right one to undertake, its costs and benefits, and what mistakes were made. Yes, du Pont concurs.