Fuchs admits he was wrong about Yahoo!/Microsoft stories

TheStreet.com media critic Marek Fuchs, who for months has criticized unsourced stories speculating about a deal between Microsoft and Yahoo!, is now eating some crow after a proposed acquisition was announced Friday morning.

Fuchs wrote, “But first, just as every dog has its day, so, apparently, does every unsourced takeover rumor. The Business Press Maven, using his normally effective ‘source analysis,’ has been warning investors away from unsubstantiated Microhoo takeover talk for more than six months. Well, the joke is clearly on me, leading to the ironic, meta turn that The Business Press Maven is the shamed recipient of this week’s dreaded Business Press Maven ‘Back of the Hand’ award.

“But, look, in all seriousness — you will miss the occasional deal if you follow ‘source analysis,’ making certain to check that articles written about deals have sources that, though anonymous, do appear to be close to the deal. If they don’t appear to be, I say stay clear. Sometimes, though, you’ll be wrong or circumstances will change or whatever. And you’ll miss. And I missed this one. My apologies to The New York Post, specifically, for criticizing all those seemingly unsourced articles that, in retrospect, were prescient. Posties, please accept this invitation to watch The Business Press Maven eat crow in the public square at high noon.”

Read more here. Fuchs then proceeds to critique the recent coverage of Google.