The Daily Maverick, one year old and just beginning

The idea seemed simple back then: All we wanted to do was launch a news website that was good-looking and a pleasure to read, meaningful and pertinent, honest and truthful to readers and advertisers alike.

Of course, us being us, The Daily Maverick had to break just about every convention conceivable: Each story had to be a great, magazine-quality read, have big photographs of superior quality that added extra meaning to the narrative. And, while we're at it, the website also had to re-invent the online advertising wheel and offer advertisers some meaningful, luxurious space that would result in readers actually being interested in their brands.

And to make things even simpler, we wanted to also send our readers a daily newsletter that was freshly-made each morning for people who had just woken up; a newsletter that would, over time, garner a religious following of bleary-eyed folks that got hooked on its newsiness, irreverence and sheer pleasure of reading clever stuff First Thing in the day, knowing it was custom-made only for them.

Continue reading the full column on www.thedailymaverick.co.za.

Bizcommunity.com wishes The Daily Maverick a very happy birthday and looks forward to seeing it grow from strength to strength.