Yahoo Claims Olympics Gold, paidContent Claims Independence
By DONNA BOGATIN • Aug 16th, 2008 • Category: BIG PICTUREOn July 11, 2008, paidContent publisher Rafat Ali penned his own “done deal” post affirming “we have been acquired by GNM, the news media division of UK-headquartered Guardia Media Group,” heralding the “journalistic integrity” of the declared new corporate parent (despite the mutual journalistic back-slapping, however, GNM‘s own press release on the deal was journalistically contradictory, headling GNM “to buy” Ali’s’ blogs while at the same time reporting a closed acquisition).
Now, GNM’s “journalistic integrity” is seemingly absent from its acquired paidContent property masthead as Ali’s “about” page incredulously ignores his own corporate parentage! Ali on the “economics” of his “economics of content” publications:
ContentNext is an independent media and information company based in Santa Monica, California and New York City, covering the business of digital media. The company operates paidContent.org, mocoNews.net, contentSutra.com and paidContentUK, founded by journalist Rafat Ali in 2002.
“Journalist” Ali is disingenuous, however, as he undoubtedly knows that paidContent’s “about” page is bound–by all standard measures of journalistic integrity–to disclose the most meaningful corporate “about” piece of information, factual business ownership. Contrary to Ali’s assertion that the media properties he runs are “independent,” they are all owned and majority ruled by a media company called Guardian Media Group.
What’s more, GMG’s Tim Brooks( and now ContentNext board member) ”explained” the direct acquisition of Ali’s properties (rather than a partial investment):
My position is very much a Guardian Media Group view of the world, which is that with strategic investments and minority share holdings…you can’t really drive anything…you don’t really feel like its part of you…and you don’t have much impact.
Guardian of course is now able to have all the impact it deems necessary on Ali’s editorial properties: Nevertheless, the only trace of padiContent’s true current parentage on Ali’s “about” page is in an obscure listing of the company’s Board, which presents as 60% controlled by GNM and Guardian Professional, most likely based in the U.K., not California or New York.
Ali also misses the Olympic “economic” mark in chastising NBC for prioritizing monetization and ridiculing Google’s YouTube for seeking (for once) to preserve legal copyright, but commending Yahoo for simply winning the free content “traffic“ race, despite declaring paidContent is “helping define sustainable business models.”
Yahoo’s (once CEO) Terry Semel famously recited at every Wall Street conference call: Yahoo has the largest, most engaged audience on the Web. SO? WHAT DID “TRAFFIC“ BRAGGING RIGHTS GET YAHOO, and Semel!
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DONNA BOGATIN is the Founder & CEO of STARTUP ALPHA
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