Reload your skills at SABEW's annual conference
The Society of American Business Editors and Writers will hold its annual conference in Denver on April 26 through April 28, and the program has a number of skills sessions for business journalists to help them advance their careers. Those sessions include: “The Power of Twitter and other Social Networking” sites to help build your source network and […]
BNET, Seeking Alpha strike deal to share content
Kira Bindrim of Crain’s New York Business reports Wednesday that business news and information sites BNET and Seeking Alpha have reached an agreement where they will swap content. Bindrim writes, “Under the agreement, Seeking Alpha content, including excerpts from transcripts, will appear on BNET, and BNET news content will be linked on the Seeking Alpha […]
Big plans for CNET
Ronald Grover of BusinessWeek writes about the plans new owner CBS has for online tech news service CNET, which it bought earlier this year. Grover writes, “Rambling through the CNET building, you see twentysomethings who work for Gamespot.com and sleep on cots in their office, or the geeks who crowd the newsroom at CNET. CNET […]
New version of CNET site launching
Sam Schechner and Jessica Vascellaro of The Wall Street Journal write for Thursday’s paper about a new version of the tech news site CNET being launched his week by its new owners, CBS Corp. Schechner and Vascellaro write, “The new CNET.com includes a ‘brand showcase’ feature, allowing advertisers to pay for pages where they can […]
Icahn takes a shot at Wall Street Journal
Stephen Shankland of CNET News writes Friday that activist investor Carl Icahn is upset with The Wall Street Journal for its coverage of his tactics in pressuring companies. Shankland writes, “In taking The Wall Street Journal to task, Icahn argues activist shareholders are a positive force for corporate change and that the media is too […]
In praise of bias in tech reporting
Matt Asay of CNET writes Saturday that he prefers his business and technology reporters disclose their bias when they write. Asay writes, “It’s the commentary that makes ‘news’ interesting, and that commentary is always heavily flavored by bias. “Bias isn’t the problem. Lack of disclosure of the bias is the problem. “This is what makes […]
CBS completes tender for CNET, deal to close soon
Mike Farrell of Multichannel News reports that CBS has completed its tender offer for tech news service operating CNET Networks Inc., and that the $1.8 billion deal should close within the next several days. Farrell writes, “According to CBS, as of June 25 about 117.9 million CNET shares were validly tendered and accepted for purchase […]
The Microsoft-Yahoo rumors and the business media
Jonathan Berr of Bloggingstocks.com writes about the latest rumors surrounding the off-again, on-again Microsoft-Yahoo deal and how business journalists are taking to denying rumors reported by others. Berr writes, “Earlier today, TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington reported that the talks were back on but also noted that ‘The information we have is thin, but what one source […]
Activist investor drops CNET proxy fight
Franklin Paul of Reuters reports Thursday that investor Jana Partners LLC has dropped its bid to gain control of online tech news provider CNET Networks board due to its pending acquisition by CBS. Paul writes, “Jana, which owns about 10 percent of CNET voting stock, had argued that CNET was falling behind peers like Yahoo Inc. In […]
CNET deal won't work for CBS
The New Yorker’s James Surowiecki writes in the latest issue that most mergers and acquisitions fail, and concludes that the pending acquisition of tech news company CNET Networks by CBS will be one of those. Surowiecki writes, “Unfortunately, the CBS-CNET merger fits none of the criteria for a good deal. The overlap between the two […]
