How can you miss us if we won't go away?
Last year, we at Media Grok amused ourselves with the saga of APBnews.com, a crime-news site that went bankrupt and kept closing and re-opening, and finally got bought out by a company whose CEO has subsequently been indicted on tax and procurement fraud charges. Now, perhaps, we offer up ourselves for similar ridicule.
Media Grok last published on Aug. 17. The Industry Standard magazine is closed, and the parent company filed Chapter 11 on Aug. 27. But Standard Media International has retained a skeleton crew while shopping the business, and the Media Grok team is part of it. So for at least several more weeks, we're back.
During our "vacation" from Media Grok, we watched the Industry Standard get served up as the embodiment of everything that is wrong with publishing, the Net Economy, you name it. Even Alan Meckler, the profitability-challenged CEO of INT Media Group, weighed in with an acid-tongued requiem. As for explanations from IDG and former Standard executives, coverage quickly descended to the "it wasn't my fault" level. At least three reporters felt it necessary to inform their readers that ex-Standard execs had been tracked down in such tony locales as Hawaii and Martha's Vineyard.
We at Media Grok don't know for certain how long we'll be producing Media Grok for the Standard, or how or if we will continue if the Standard doesn't or can't remain our benefactor. So write us at mediagrok@guterman.com and we'll tell you what we're doing and where. Chances are the "where" won't be Hawaii, though.
Rumor Mill: Standard excuses
CNET.com
High-Tech Casualty
PBS.org
Failed Mag Set Standard for Wasting Money
New York Daily News
Final Public Offering
Washington Post
Sudden death at the Industry Standard
San Jose Mercury News
The Fast and Furious Rise and Fall of the Industry Standard
Inside.com
Battelle's "Hairy, Audacious Goal" for The Standard
At New York
Industry Standard owes at least $10 million
San Francisco Chronicle
