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Murdoch & Zell: Why are these men smiling?

By Tom Teicholz on April 24, 2008 2:47 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

News that the current managing editor of the Wall Street Journal is leaving and that Murdoch will shortly put his own person in situ, combined with a recent study of the WSJ in the weeks since Murdoch's purchase all point to the same conclusion: Murdoch's got his fingerprints all over the thing. So much for the "No Editorial Interference" claim with which he wooed the Bancroft family. One one level, given the Journal's stance as the standard bearer for free markets, they should be the last to complain --. However, it just goes to show, that Murdoch is as Murdoch does.

At the same time, there is news that Zell will sell Newsday to Murdoch for some $580 million, about six times cash flow. A low price in real estate terms but an amazing price for Zell when you consider that as has been widely reported, Zell purchased the entire Tribune company with only some $350 Million of his own cash and much of the rest of the more than $7 Billion through a complex tax advantaged Employee Stock Option Plan vehicle --It sounds like Zell will now have none of his own money in the Tribune and about $200 Million in his pocket. Wow! that's some deal. Sounds like Zell should be doing those "No Money down" late night infomercials.

The Stack

By Tom Teicholz on January 27, 2008 7:40 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

At The Sunday New York Times -- seems like late January is NEW NOVELIST MONTH at the NYT, (and at publishing houses for that matter) what with the recent feature on Jim Collins' "Beginner's Greek", and this Sunday's Book review of Tod Wodlicka's "All Shall Be Well," and the Charles McGrath article in the Sunday Magazine about Charles Bock's novel, "Beautiful Children."

The Arts & Leisure also had a great feature on Robert Capa's lost suitcase of negatives which has been recently turned over to the International Center of Photography (which, in turn, was run for many years by Capa's brother Cornell Capa). Need I mention that the Robert Capa was born in Budapest, Hungary as Endre Erno Friedmann. Cornell was also born Friedmann, but kept his first name. And although you might not think Cornell a Jewish first name, it was quite popular at the beginning of the 20th Century in Budapest -- it was also my grandfather's name.

Medicine & Its Alternatives.
An interesting review by Jerome Groopman on "The Cure Within: A history of Mind- Body Medicine" By Anne Harrington. Harrington is the editor of a book on "The Placebo Effect." How alternative medicine came to be preferred to a visit to an M.D, and became a $40 billion business is worth pondering. An article I read recently made the point that many alternative medicines work because of the placebo effect -- that is the belief that they do work is so great, that when the person feels better and eventually is better, they attribute it to the alternative treatment.Everyone knows an alternative treatment that works, and everyone has a "miracle" healing story. The question is to how to set those in context.

Speaking of Groopman, his article on business-like approaches to cancer-cures in The New Yorker, "Buying a Cure," (Jan 28th issue) was fascinating -- and presents a different front of attack on current medical/scientific research practice -- one that while not yeilding "cures" certainly seems to be keeping some cancer patients alive a lot longer -- for which we may all be grateful.

The Sunday LA Times had an interesting feature on "Gossip Girl" and its failure to attract a large audience, despite all its buzz and success on other "platforms" (i.e. the internet). I confess that "Gossip Girl" is my guilty pleasure but the article does beg the looming question --- if everything migrates to the internet, can any of it succeed -- and if so, how?

Interview with Glenn O'Brien; Ingrid Sischy out

By Tom Teicholz on January 25, 2008 10:20 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

The 1980s are officially back.

Peter Brant has bought out ex-wife Sandy's interest in Brant Publications including Interview Magazine (Brant is now married to 1980s supermodel Stephanie Seymour). Interview was for the last two decades under the operational control of Sandy Brant and Ingrid Sischy was the editor. Following Sandy's departure, Sischy has resigned. Peter Brant has appointed Glenn O'Brien editorial director and Fabian Baron creative director.

    O'Brien harks back to the Andy Warhol Interview days, and my era there. A very, smart, entertaining fellow -- and I'm not sucking up (OK, I am -- but it's true). Recently I attended a party where a kid on the sidewalk was hawking DVDs of O'Brien 1978-1982 cable access talk show "TV Party."

Back in the late 1980s Fabian Baron was the designer for New York Woman (a publication of which my wife, Amy, became publisher).

I may have to start reading Interview again.

The New York Times-Google

By Tom Teicholz on January 23, 2008 10:03 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Here's a provocative idea: What if Google offered to buy the New York Times?
Here's the story as it appeared on Poynter yesterday (from RealClearMarkets):

Poynteronline

Romenesko

TUESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2008

Will Google eventually own the New York Times?

RealClearMarkets

The company that has the most to gain from buying the New York Times is Google, says John Ellis. "If it proffered a Murdoch-like, no-auction bid of $4 billion, wouldn't the Sulzberger family have to accept it? Every single class B shareholder would accept the offer. It's their only exit. It is also likely that Times employees and retirees would enthusiastically support the deal; it's their only exit as well."

Kinda reminds me of AOL buying Time-Warner during the first internet bubble. I am pondering whether Google's motto of "Do No Harm" means they should or would not tender an offer. For some insight into how the folks at Google think it's worth reading Ken Auletta's recent piece in the New Yorker -- in short: they try and approach every issue and problem as engineers. Which begs the question: How would an engineer approach the newspaper business in general and the New York Times in particular. That's a question worth considering......

Should Nabokov's final manuscript be destroyed?

By Tom Teicholz on January 17, 2008 10:28 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Ron Rosenbaum, who has thought deeply and written lengthily about his obsessions and insights regarding the work of Vladmir Nabokov has a piece in Slate where he weighs in on the dilemma facing Nabokov's son Dmitri as to whether he should follow his father's wishes and destroy the notes made for a never finished novel called "The Original of Laura" OR leave them for posterity. After revealing his own mixed feelings on the subject, and Dmitry Nabokov's own inclination to destroy them, Rosenbaum opens it up to the audience to make their own choice, here.

My own vote is to preserve the mansucript -- if Nabokov had wanted to destroy the manuscript he should have done so. Too late now. Will it in any way diminish the master's oeuvre? I doubt it. Will, as Dmitry fears, give fodder for a bunch of Nabokov parasites to declaim about the work -- no doubt. So what?

Kafka wanted Max Brod to burn his manuscripts. Thank goodness he didn't.

This is no longer Vladmir Nabokov's decision. I would argue that it isn't even Dmitry's anymore (although I know, legally, it is) -- the manuscript exists. Let it go.

ZAGATS FOR SALE

By Tom Teicholz on January 14, 2008 1:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Zagat family have hired Goldman Sachs to advise them on a possible sale.

Way before the internet, before the Huffington Post, the Zagats found a way to profit from what today is called “user generated content” – creating a publishing empire without actually having to pay writers. For that alone, they should be overpaid.

The New York Times also carried an article about the possible sale, and had this to say about the company’s value:

“It is unclear how large a price Zagat will attract. While the company is a worldwide brand, its actual business is much smaller. People briefed on the company’s finances suggest the company could be valued at more than $200 million, which would still be a drop in the bucket for an Internet company or a wealthy executive.”

Those are some drops!

But the Times explains, and offers some interesting tidbits about other humanitarians likely to benefit:

“In 2000, Zagat was valued at more than $100 million when the family sold a third of the business to an investment group led by General Atlantic Partners, a private investment firm based in Greenwich, Conn. The other institutional investors were Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers, one of Silicon Valley’s best-known venture capital operations, and Allen & Company, the media investor and adviser.

Nathan Myhrvold, a former chief technology officer of Microsoft, also invested, as did Nicholas Negroponte, director of the media laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the founder of One Laptop Per Child, and Nancy Peretsman, an Allen & Company investment banker.”

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