Does Tina Brown have a web project up her sleeve?

Tina Brown, the doyenne of the US magazine world, could be about to move into online publishing after dropping hints to that effect during a speech to an industry conference today.

The former editor of Tatler, Vanity Fair and the New Yorker told delegates at a magazine business conference that she was attracted to online projects - an area in which she has never worked - now that she has completed a solo writing project.

"I'm quite attracted to the online world, it's something that I have not done. I could get quite immersed in it," she said.

There was room, she added, for a high-quality, single-destination aggregation site to point at great web content.

She did say, however, it would be difficult to replicate magazines online.

"The trouble is that no-one wants to read long pieces online. It's too difficult and too hard on the eye."

Ms Brown proved not to be such a big fan of citizen journalism. Praising some for the clarity of its writing and highlighting that in the US a lot of stories begin online and then are picked up by the mainstream media, she disagreed that it could replace the professional trade.

"Most of it is sloppy, ill-thought out and ill-disciplined. I don't think it should or could replace traditional journalism and its essential fact gathering and accuracy."

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