You would think there would be some editorial oversight on a cover like this:
The red boxes were added by me. Obviously not meant to go together but still – a terrible image to go with the top headline.
Jill Kennedy – OnMedea
Comcast Acquires NBC Universal?
“COMCAST DENIES A DEAL IS DONE, BUT DOES NOT DENY TALKS.” Are you really fucking kidding me, Sharon?
So this is the way it’s going to be? Semantics.
Everyone in the world with a blog could report anything (anything) and find a way to call it a true story.
My five-year-old daughter could tell me she knows where Iran is hiding a nuclear bomb and I could report: “A trusted source tells me that Iran is hiding a nuclear bomb in a closet in La Canada.” I do consider my daughter to be “trusted”. She’s the “source”. Iran would come out immediately and call the story “inaccurate” – but I wouldn’t be a liar.
I’m stunned that nobody calls bullshit on a story that mentions quite a few details about a deal that is far from complete.
Yet nobody calls Sharon Waxman at TheWrap.com a liar. Semantics. Or… I suppose, because nobody really cares. TheWrap.com got everything it needed from this story. National exposure. Who cares if it’s “inaccurate”? That’s not the point.
Comcast and GE get everything they want out of the story – a test of the market to see what the rumor, if true, would do to their stock prices.
Even so, it’s absolutely ridiculous.
“Comcast is in talks to buy the entertainment giant NBC Universal from General Electric… ACCORDING TO KNOWLEDGEABLE INDIVIDUALS.” WTF does that mean? I consider myself to be a “knowledgeable individual” – does that mean I could have been a source even if I didn’t know about the meeting?
“Deal points were hammered out…EXECUTIVES FAMILIAR WITH THE MEETING SAID.”
Who are these “Knowledgeable Individuals” and “Executives Familiar With The Meeting” – and why the fuck are they talking to TheWrap.com?
Are “Sources” protected in online journalism? What kind of a crazy-fucking world is it when Nikki Finke is the reserved one in a big entertainment business story like this? Maybe it’s because she didn’t break the story and would love to see it discredited. Actually, not “maybe” – I’m sure she wants to see it discredited.
The biggest surprise of all is that nobody is calling bullshit or lies lies lies. In today’s journalistic environment, that means the story is, most likely, true. And if I had the chance and “sources” to break this story, I would have done the same thing.
Jill Kennedy – OnMedea
Nikki Finke’s New Business Strategy Will Fail
Dear Nikki,
Your new business strategy will fail. This morning, a new (unremarkable) web design was revealed along with a new address (Deadline.com) and it is a disappointment. A disappointment to all us bomb throwers out there who are just trying to make a buck with salacious stories about other people’s lives.
I say it’s a disappointment because DHD is a straight-out-of-bed must read for nearly everyone in the business of media. You should resist the urge to turn it into something more than it is.
I don’t understand why people in this industry find it difficult to be content with success.
Nikki, you had an amazing one woman operation (terrible graphics and all – but it worked) with great inside sources, timely scoops and the freedom to say whatever the fuck you wanted.
That’s all going to change now.
You are attempting to become a corporation – a media conglomerate, if you will. You seem to fancy yourself one of those top media executives whose career you could bring down with one click of the “Publish” button. I fear those days are ending.
I believed you when you said nothing would change after being bought by Mail.com Media Corporation (I would have put a link of that last sentence to the blog you wrote after being bought – but it appears to be gone! See what I mean?).
Believe me, I’m not against buyouts. Manka Bros. doesn’t pay me shit and we all need capital to run a successful business. But now you’re opening offices (OK, hiring a couple bloggers in pajamas) in several other world cities under the “Deadline” brand. Plus, you talk about technical people and designers. Please. Can you look at the numbers and tell me that your free cash flow margin isn’t decreasing?
Do you seriously believe you’ll find other “Nikki Finke’s” in London, Hong Kong, Syndey, et al? What the fuck scoops are you going to get in Mumbai? There are plenty of great media muckrakers in that country. They don’t need you. There is only one Nikki Finke and paying other people to digg up fresh scandals in international territories isn’t going to work.
I’m going to miss the freshness, the immediacy and especially that feeling that we’re getting real inside dope.
But it’s not too late to change! Stay small and profitable. Don’t expand and be forced out of business in a year. Or worse, in a year, don’t attempt to go back to your old self in a pathetic display of “Well, I tried!”
Jill Kennedy – OnMedea
Is The Video Game Bubble About To Burst?
Nintendo’s earnings today must have been a troublesome sign for all the major video game companies (EA, Activision Blizzard, Sony, etc.).
With a couple of exceptions (most notably Midway Games), the video game industry has had a pretty great party over the the past five years. But is the party ending and the hangover beginning?
Long answer: Yes.
Are major media companies prepared for the coming burst?
Long answer: No. I believe that most believe the bubble will grow and grow and grow – until it becomes an infinite sphere with impenetrable walls that cannot burst.
A bubble that cannot burst. Hmmm. Wouldn’t that be marvelous?!
If Q4 2009 is as frightening as Q2 2009 for the industry, major media companies may wish to revisit their aggressive games company acquisitions strategy (or AGCAS). Maybe it should be revisited today.
Jill Kennedy – OnMedea