Daily Beast biz reporter is gone

Keith Kelly of the New York Post reports that Daily Beast business reporter Peter Lauria, who covered the media industry, is no longer with the organization.

Kelly writes, “Insiders say that the relationships between Lauria and some of the top editors at the Beast, including Editor-in-Chief Tina Brown, have been strained for some time. In June, Lauria landed a big scoop when he uncovered details of Viacom boss Sumner Redstone‘s infatuation with an all-girl band, the Electric Barbarellas.

“Lauria reported that Redstone had spent money and granted stock options to the lead singer while trying to land the group a record deal and an MTV reality show.

“The story became an overnight sensation and landed Lauria on the top TV morning show, NBC’s ‘Today Show,’ to talk abut his scoop. While some insisted Brown was happy over the story, others insisted the editrix was a bit jealous and felt she should have been the one to go on the show.

“By the time the Daily Beast merger with Newsweek was announced in November, there were more signs of strain. While almost everyone at the Beast was overjoyed by the pending merger and gave Brown a standing ovation, Lauria began asking hard questions, wondering how the Beast, said to be los ing $10 million, could be combined with the weekly that was losing $20 million and come up with a winning, money- making formula.”