Newsday is a Long Island newspaper. Some people bought it for $650 million and put it behind a pay wall. Three months later, they’ve got 35 subscribers. Yes, 35. [More]
media
New York Times Announced Vague Plans For Metered Charging
By 1.21.10
Likely assuming no other newspaper will still be around in 2011, the New York Times announced its engagement with the bad idea that it will begin charging readers to check out its stuff online. [More]
Comcast One Step Closer To Owning NBC Universal
By 12.1.09
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Vivendi has negotiated a tentative $5.8 billion deal to sell its minority stake in NBC Universal to General Electric Co. This means that GE is closer to being able to sell NBC to Comcast. [More]
Creator Of Baby Einstein Vids Admitted In 2005 She Didn't Know What She Was Doing
By 10.29.09
A website that focuses on female entrepreneurs interviewed the creator of the Baby Einstein video line back in 2005. As Boing Boing pointed out yesterday, her explanation of how she developed the videos is pretty funny. Well, Boing Boing calls it “damning,” but it’s funny that everyone—Disney included—took the product line so seriously.
By 8.7.09
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Newspaper Death Watch: The Boston Globe has joined Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. in announcing that they will begin charging for their respective websites. [Editor & Publisher] (Photo:inju)
Soderbergh Subverts The Theater Experience Again
By 5.8.09
One of the hotter indie flicks of the summer, Steven Soderbergh’s The Girlfriend Experience, debuted on Amazon’s rental service this week, way before the movie opens in theaters May 22. At $9.99 for a three-day rental, the movie is also cheaper to rent than it will be to see at many theaters.
Chicago Tribune Fires Reporter Covering The Recession
By 4.23.09
Let’s pause a moment to consider this sentence from Crain’s Chicago Business. “On the same day the Chicago Tribune cut 53 jobs from its newsroom, its parent Tribune Co. asked a Bankruptcy Court to approve of $13.3 million in bonuses and other incentive payments to 703 employees.”
By 3.17.09
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Newspaper Death Watch:The 146-year-old Seattle Post-Intelligencer will stop publishing after today and will become an online only publication with about 20 reporters and editors. [MSNBC]
It's Official: Newspapers Are Dying
By 3.12.09
Next week, the 146-year-old Seattle Post-Intelligencer will probably stop publishing, following the Rocky Mountain News into oblivion. After its demise, the Tucson Citizen will probably be the next to go.
By 2.23.09
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Two Philadelphia newspapers, the Inquirer and the Daily News filed for bankruptcy Sunday. [NYT]
Is Suze Orman Nothing But A Lying Shill?
By 2.11.09
Slate’s James Scurlock has some harsh words for Suze Orman. He says she’s a liar who is more interested in shilling cruises and luxury car leases than anything else.
By 12.8.08
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The Tribune Company, which owns the Chicago Tribune, the LA Times, Wrigley Field and the Chicago Cubs, has filed for bankruptcy. [New York Times]
Video: Ben Popken Investigates for CNBC's On The Money
By 11.8.08
Here’s the clip from my piece and appearance on CNBC’s On The Money on Friday night. I attended a Robert Allen Institute get rich in real estate seminar, interviewed some attendees, and gave tips on what to watch out for in “money-making opportunity” scams. Here are some red flags to beware:
- Promises of fast and easy money
- The person who brings you in gets a cut of your profits, and then you get a cut off new people you bring into the system
- Requires large upfront fees before you really understand what’s going on
As one interviewee told me, anyone who’s got a killer investing strategy is out there doing it, they’re not giving free seminars about it. Watch the video, inside…
By 10.1.08
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In one brain-melting two-minute clip, watch all the media frenzy, punditry, and cable-news excitement of the financial meltdown, courtesy of CNN’s own Rick “The Twitter Board Is Blowing Up!” Sanchez. [YouTube]
Aetna: Instead Of Approving That $113,000 Life-Saving Brain Operation, We're Going To Cancel Your Coverage. Sorry!
By 7.19.08
Meet 19-year-old Caitlin Jackson. Caitlin was recently diagnosed with Chiari Malformation, a potentially fatal brain disorder that interferes with motor control and memory. Immediate brain surgery is Caitlin’s only treatment option, but her insurance company, Aetna, took its sweet time approving her operation, and then reversed itself claiming her benefits had expired.
CNN Goes Into Apparel Business With Headline T-Shirts
By 4.30.08 — Updated: 10.25.12
Michael wrote in to point out that CNN has a weird new feature on its site—now you can proudly display your favorite, uh, headlines(?) on your body with their “CNN Shirt” service. It’s beta, naturally, and they pick the headlines you can choose from—so no “What drove dad who kept ‘house of horror’?” tee to shame your parents during the next family holiday. (That’s the current top headline on their home page.)
Why Does My Cable Company Force Me To Subscribe To All These Stupid Channels?
By 1.23.08
If you’re like most people, you look at your “basic” cable line-up and think: “Why do I have all these stupid channels? Wouldn’t it be cheaper if I could just subscribe to the ones I actually like?”
Target Refuses To Talk To Bloggers And "Non-Traditional Media Outlets"
By 1.16.08
A Target billboard depicting a woman spreadeagled over a Target logo with her vagina centered squarely on the bullseye has some parents and feminists all riled up. One of them, Amy from ShapingYouth.org, contacted Target to see if they realized, you know, that their ad had a woman’s crotch centered on a bullseye.
