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David Poland

By David Poland poland@moviecitynews.com

Posted Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009 - 12 Comments »
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Crazy Nikki Has A New Gossip Daddy

It’s completely fitting that Nikki Finke lied about her absence from posting for days, claiming to be ill, and then erased the lie, and added her “sale” to an ambitious, if not yet successful web gossip conglomerate. (And oh yes, they have the mail.com url squat too.) This is Nikki’s idea of journalism. And so it goes.
What exactly did Mr. Penske buy? Well, he bought Nikki. That’s all that’s there, for better and for worse. Apparently, he has agreed to pay for a full-time east coaster – Roger Friedman? – who can suffer daily screaming that makes Harvey Weinstein look medicated and pump out – what else? – more gossip.
The hire is terrible news for the guy at Movieline, who not only will be forced to pull their punches and promote Nikki’s agenda under threat of hysteria. But given the balance of dollars on a world where Nikki doesn’t sell a lot of ads on her own, they will also be under immediate threat of losing their jobs… or worse… being the monkeys who dance at the end of Nikki’s rope if they want to keep their gigs.
The good news is for LA Weekly, where the distraction of a tabloider in their midst and the constant grind of servicing the demands of Nikki’s fragile ego is over. Obviously, they were not willing to pay what Nikki wanted. If losing her was a notable kick to VVM’s bottom line, they would have kept her.
Anyway… glad she got what she wanted… glad she’s in the appropriate kind of company now (a wannabe web “syndicate” with no tether or even a claim to anything journalistic)… glad to see VVM and its journalists clear of her… nothing much has changed… new people for Nikki to scream at… same URL… same gossip…
I only hope that the guys at Movieline will actually be given a mission statement, now that the gaping gig is filled with another site, that befits their more lofty personal skill sets.

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12 Comments »

12 Responses to “Crazy Nikki Has A New Gossip Daddy”

  1. gradystiles says:
    June 23, 2009 at 9:59 am

    Ok, so I was wrong. Only 334 words.

  2. David Poland says:
    June 23, 2009 at 10:10 am

    I know you don’t get it, Grady. Sorry.
    If you wanted a long post about it, the NYT would have had to have hired her. I have already suggested that Variety hire her. But they won’t because her journalistic standards would be too problematic, even for a trade paper… and they would be culpable, no matter how gullible her readers can be.
    This “purchase” is insignificant, except that I fear it will put more people of quality out of work in time. Water found it’s level. No biggie.

  3. LYT says:
    June 23, 2009 at 2:27 pm

    According to LA Observed, the print column will continue at the Weekly.

  4. RP says:
    June 23, 2009 at 4:40 pm

    According to The Wrap, Mail.com paid $14 million:
    http://tinyurl.com/l9epcl

  5. LexG says:
    June 23, 2009 at 5:04 pm

    14 MIL??? Holy shit, the comments section there isn’t even entertaining.
    Bidding for rights to The Lex Blog, my columns and my animations shall now begin at $1,400 and a VHS copy of “Nobody’s Perfekt.”

  6. Joe Leydon says:
    June 23, 2009 at 7:15 pm

    My father, God rest his soul, was right: This truly is the land of opportunity.

  7. Kristopher Tapley says:
    June 23, 2009 at 8:12 pm

    14 mil? Wow. Wow. I doubt it. But even that it’s being floated around. Wow.

  8. don lewis (was PetalumaFilms) says:
    June 23, 2009 at 8:34 pm

    Yeah, I too wanted to chime in with a HOLY SHIT on the reported $14 million. That’s just….nuts. I’ve never read Finke nor do I care to, but you gotta give it up for her doing *something* right. That’s an “only in America” sized payday.

  9. waterbucket says:
    June 23, 2009 at 11:51 pm

    I don’t get it. D-Po always harps on Nikki for being crazy and loud and obnoxious. But then he chooses to shove LexG in our faces, who is also crazy and loud and obnoxious. Hmmm… Look like you also respond to the one who’s the loudest in the room. Thanks D-Po.

  10. Harley says:
    June 24, 2009 at 6:30 pm

    Not that accuracy is ever a subset of jealousy, but in truth, Finke has not left the LA Weekly thus far. And they want her to continue her weekly column.
    No biggie. Heh.

  11. Cadavra says:
    June 24, 2009 at 7:41 pm

    Hey, Penske: for $14,000 I’ll write whatever you want me to and I won’t ever use the word TOLDJA!

  12. sharonfranz says:
    June 25, 2009 at 11:26 am

    Good for her. I’m still amazed at how much some companies are willing to pay for websites, nowadays, especially in a recession. 100,000 unique visitors won’t make you much in terms of advertising. It’ll make enough to give one person a decent salary, but not really enough to support a team.
    Also, this purchase doesn’t make any sense. Mail.com already has MovieLine.com. Why another movie site? How are they gonna work together?

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