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Washington Post

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5 ways the newspapers botched the Web

Here's our theory: Daily deadlines did in the newspaper industry. The pressure of getting to press, the long-practiced art of doom-and-gloom headline writing, the flinchiness of easily spooked editors all made it impossible for ink-stained wretches to look farther into the future than the next edition. Speaking of doom and gloom: Online ad revenues at several major newspaper chains actually dropped last quarter. The surprise there is that they ever managed to rise. The newspaper industry has a devastating history of letting the future of media slip from its grasp. Where to start? Perhaps 1995, when several newspaper chains put $9 million into a consortium called New Century Network. "The granddaddy of fuckups," as one suitably crotchety industry veteran tells us, folded in 1998. Or you can go further back, to '80s adventures in videotext. But each tale ends the same way: A promising start, shuttered amid fear, uncertainty, and doubt. More »

Feature

5:00 PM on Thu Aug 21 2008
By Nicholas Carlson
61,428 views, 44 comments

Latest by Beschizza: Three things about smaller newspapers and the web. 1. ABC accepts (or used to accept) PDF downloads as paid circulation for more »

online advertising

Microsoft hopes you'll make friends through its new banner ads

Microsoft-owned ad agency Avenue A/Razorfish has a new product out that's supposed to solve the problem of how easily Web users ignore banner ads. AdLife ads run at the size of a regular banner, but include social features like customer reviews, a feedback button, and of course, user-generated content. AdLife is going through a three-month test right now with publishers WashingtonPost.com, USAToday.com and CircuitCity.com participating. If all goes well and clickthroughs pick up, expect Microsoft to push the product on any agency hoping to advertise on its network. As Avenue A/Razorfish exec Shiv Singh naively put it to AdWeek: "It would be unfair in the long term for it to be totally closed." Singh's title: "global social media lead," which tells us everything we need to know.

9:40 AM on Fri Aug 8 2008
By Nicholas Carlson
517 views, 1 comment

Latest by TheChris2.0: Geez, what are they going to try next? Bribe people to use LIVE search, oh wait.... more »

great moments in journalism

Wired has nothing against "ButtMunch" -- excuse me, TechCrunch

Reading the latest in the spat between Wired's Epicenter blog and Michael Arrington over the Washington Post's deal to syndicate TechCrunch articles and the ethical propriety of the TechCrunch editor's investments in startups his blog covers, I noticed that the post was in the category "ButtMunch." The latest post states that "We have nothing against Arrington," but the tag originated last week in a post that accused TechCrunch of pilfering a story angle related to Steve Ballmer's continued tenure at Microsoft in the wake of the Yahoo deal. More »

3:00 PM on Tue May 13 2008
By Jackson West
1,097 views, 8 comments

Latest by Torley: @bernielomax: Sometimes I call those "Mike Oldfield" eyes! ยป [www.8notes.com] Brilliant musician but I hope his health is OK. more »

we read twitter so you don't have to

Michael Arrington doesn't appreciate Wired's abuse of his ethics

Wired on TechCrunch's syndication deal with the Washington Post:
We've got nothing against TechCrunch, but it seems crazy-crazy to us that the Washington Post, a paper known for the sort of reporting that can take down U.S. presidents, is publishing content written by a dude who invests in the companies he writes about.
Which naturally prompted the characteristically vulgar response from Michael Arrington, TechCrunch editor and bastion of indecorous surliness. Portfolio.com quotes Arrington: "Journalism is evolving."

10:00 AM on Fri May 9 2008
By Jackson West
1,912 views, 15 comments

Latest by raincoaster: @FlakJack: I'm with you. I don't really give a rat's ass about Arrington, but I have to take five for more »

great moments in pr

Warren Buffett owns newspapers, undermines them

Who needs journalists, really? That's what Business Wire argues. Warren Buffett, the billionaire CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, picked up Business Wire in 2006. He claims not to be tech-savvy, but this investment suggests otherwise. Press releases distributed by Business Wire are picked up directly by services like Google News and Techmeme. As a source, Business Wire ranks 32nd on Techmeme's list — not a bad performance. Buffett also owns a large stake in the Washington Post Co. But if that goes bust thanks to the advent of online media, it seems like Buffett picked himself a nice hedge.

3:30 PM on Fri Feb 15 2008
By Owen Thomas
1,231 views, 2 comments

Latest by slakboy: Buffett pretty much wrote the obit for the newspaper as we know it in Berkshire Hathaway's 2006 annual report. "Fundamentals are more »

media

In sports, Yahoo and ESPN are making writers rich

ESPN and Yahoo Sports are on a hiring binge, bringing six-figure salaries to the generally tame world of sportswriting and stealing talent from print publications who can't afford anything close to the lucrative offers Yahoo and ESPN are serving up. The Washington Post has lost three writers to ESPN in 18 months. ESPN poached longtime Sports Illustrated scribe Rick Reilly for $3 million a year — substantially more than the $1 million he was already rumored to get from the Time Warner-owned magazine. "We are seeing free agency for sports journalists," says Leigh Steinberg, a top sports agent. More »

4:20 PM on Wed Dec 26 2007
By Jordan Golson
766 views, 3 comments

Latest by Blackjack: @cowsandmilk: I think there's some kids on your lawn, you better chase them off. Can you find a Kornheiser article more »

rumormonger

Digg close to a $300 million sale?

Digg is close to announcing its sale to a major media player for $300 million to $400 million, according to sources close to the company, I hear. When I floated this Digg rumor past some knowledgeable friends, several scoffed: "When isn't Digg up for sale?" It's true: The news-discussion site is perpetually in talks — but we hear the price tag always sinks potential deals before they're consummated. CBS, for example, backed off, with effervescent dealmaker Quincy Smith citing the media company's bubbly $280 million purchase of Last.fm as the reason it couldn't bid a high price for Digg. Things are different now, though. More »

Feature

1:43 PM on Wed Nov 7 2007
By Owen Thomas
35,893 views, 12 comments

Latest by ceokhan: Digg is quiet a money maker so I am not surprised at the price tag. Although through their recent success more »

Hey, folks! Check it out: The Washington Post has done a really well-researched story about layoffs at AOL. I wonder where they got all that incredible detail. [Washington Post]

1 comment

Google's stock price has passed the psychologically important but otherwise meaningless $600 barrier for the first time. Want some other high-flying tickers? Try the Washington Post Company at $803 or Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway — currently trading around $121,000 per share. Of course, despite the difference in absolute stock prices, Google and Berkshire Hathaway have roughly the same market capitalization — a perfect illustration of why the price of a stock, out of context, has no meaning.

Comment

reality check

Tech blogger on HuffPo: "Can you say IPO?" Answer: "No."

The new editor at TechCrunch, Erick Schonfeld, has gotten a little IPO-crazy in these heady days of Bubble 2.0. The best guess we've seen on a Huffington Post valuation is $60 million which, for a media company, is a drop in the bucket. We can't remember a tech or media company going public with a valuation anything like that. Huffington Post is the most unlikely IPO candidate since Wired in 1996 — and Wired had substantially more revenues and a real magazine business. Maybe we were onto something with the whole cheese thing. More likely? An acquisition. More »

11:36 AM on Tue Oct 2 2007
By Jordan Golson
1,111 views, 3 comments

Latest by OaklandTechie: Believe it or not, there is a precedent for small publishers going public. My old employer NewMedia Magazine (part of more »