Covering the writer's strike

Brian Stelter of The New York Times takes a look at Nikki Finke and her website Deadline Hollywood Daily, which has become a must read for those wanting news about the entertainment industry and, more specifically, the current screenwriters’ strike.

Stelter wrote, “Since she began the site in 2006, Ms. Finke’s Web site has become a critical forum for Hollywood news and gossip, known for analyzing (in sometimes insulting terms) the behind-the-scenes maneuvering of moguls.

“But it has been the screenwriters’ strike that may have finally solidified her position as a Hollywood power broker. For this article, more than a dozen executive producers, writers and agents offered to attest to her influence. But with those plaudits also come complaints — only anonymous ones — that Ms. Finke plays favorites.

“‘Like it or not, everyone in Hollywood reads her,’ said Brad Grey, the chief executive of Paramount and, like many executives, an occasional target of Ms. Finke’s scathing reports. ‘You must respect her reach.'”

Read more here.