When Laurel Touby started MediaBistro.com in 1996, being a freelancer in the media business was a fairly solitary position. She became the socializer-in-chief, organizing events to draw writers and editors together, posting media jobs, which led to educational programs and daily news updates. In other words, she gave folks like me a community. LAUREL TOUBY podcast excerpt: "I went from the girl who knew nobody to the girl who knew everybody!"  I never got too involved in MediaBistro but I appreciated its existence. And I was quite happy for Laurel when, a few years ago, she sold her company for $23 million. Even better, Laurel has stayed with her company. I invited her on the show to talk about what Mediabistro.com has to offer and to talk about how the disassembly of print media might affect her operation in the future. Laurel Touby • • •