The entertainment biz reporter feared by executives

David Carr of The New York Times writes about Nikke Finke, the former newspaper reporter who covers the entertainment business on her blog, Deadline Hollywood Daily.

Carr writes, “In the three years since she started Deadline Hollywood Daily, a daily blog about the entertainment business, her combination of old-school skills — she is a relentless reporter — and new-media immediacy has made her a must-click look into the ragingly insecure id of Hollywood.

“Among movie executives, the stories of Ms. Finke’s aggressiveness are legion, but they remain mostly unspoken because people fear being the target of one of her withering takedowns.

“‘I’d prefer not to ever deal with her,’ said a senior communications executive at a studio who declined to be identified. Many others declined comment saying, variously, ‘she gave me a nervous breakdown,’ ‘she terrifies me,’ and ‘there’s no percentage in me saying anything to you about Nikki no matter what it is.’

“But they all read her. In a town where people often secretly hope for the worst, Ms. Finke delivers wish fulfillment.”

Read more here.Â