Salon Media Announces $5 Million Sale, 'Bankruptcy and Liquidation' Threatened If Deal Fails
Salon Media says they have reached an 11th hour deal to sell the company and its flagship property Salon.com for $5 million. In an SEC filing, Salon also revealed its position was dire and that it would face imminent "bankruptcy and liquidation" if the deal should fall through.
[...] The company buying Salon was named only as Salon.com LLC and appeared to be getting an even better deal than the top line figures first suggest. To complete the sale, the buyer need only pay $550,000 at closing, with an additional $100,000 left in an escrow account. The filing also showed that a deposit of $500,000 had already been paid.
[...] Though it was once a powerful force in the early days of internet blogging and a prominent incubator of talent, the website has fallen on hard times in recent years. On May 3, the filing revealed, CEO Jordan Hoffner departed the company. Salon's longtime chief financial officer, Elizabeth Hambrecht, also jumped ship last October.
[...] The company's troubles, however began long before and were documented in detail in a 2016 Politico Magazine story, which revealed that for years Salon — deeply unprofitable — had been kept afloat by elderly benefactors, John Warnock, a co-founder of Adobe, and Bill Hambrecht a venture capitalist. The two are now 78 and 84 respectively.
"Because Salon has run deficits for almost every quarter since it was founded, the company has relied on regular interest-free cash advances from Warnock, chairman of Salon's board, and Hambrecht, a board member," Politico wrote at the time. "From Salon's founding until the end of 2015, the most recent data available, Warnock and Hambrecht have given the company nearly $20 million in cash advances, and Warnock also personally guaranteed a $1 million line of credit."
(Score: -1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 15 2019, @10:27PM (1 child)
Good Ridance to that piece of shit femi-nazi rag.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 15 2019, @10:36PM
Get woke, go broke.
(Score: -1, Troll) by NPC-131072 on Wednesday May 15 2019, @10:41PM (3 children)
Hello frens,
We on the morally superior left must deplatform all profitable news outlets [dailycaller.com] immediately or we risk never realizing glorious socialism. Soon there will be no leftist media outlets around [thecut.com] to fight white supremacy. [salon.com] Our brave journalists can't all feed at the teat of Mother Jones, they need Salon more than ever. [salon.com]
We need to support freedom of the press - deplatform Fox News now!
#REEEEeeesist!
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by Alfred on Wednesday May 15 2019, @10:46PM
#MeToo?
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 15 2019, @11:46PM
Hello comrade,
The International Committee of the Fourth International and their publication of record, World Socialist Web Site, will still be around to fight white supremacy. Recently, the ICFI's youth organization, the International Youth and Students for Social Equality, held a series of lectures on postmodernism and how nationalism, white supremacy, and identity politics are cultivated by the bourgeoisie in order to subjugate the workers of the world: IYSSE in US holds successful meetings on postmodernism and identity politics [wsws.org].
Also fighting against white supremacy is Black Agenda Report [blackagendareport.com]. libcom.org [libcom.org] updates less frequently but is another good source of leftist news that includes anarchist perspectives in addition to socialist. For the social-democrat perspective, there are our comrades at Socialist Alternative [socialistalternative.org].
An injury to one is an injury to all! For world socialist revolution!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 16 2019, @04:27AM
👌👌
(Score: 4, Interesting) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday May 15 2019, @11:01PM (5 children)
Who would have thought that tiny little SN was that much more profitable than Salon? Well, besides everyone on the planet who puts fiscal reality ahead of ideology, I mean.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 15 2019, @11:19PM (1 child)
Can you call it profit when SN is a non-profit corp?
I think (but have no reference) that, "SN has a small surplus to re-invest on internal development", will keep you out of trouble.
(Score: 5, Informative) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday May 16 2019, @12:09AM
Technically, we're a PBC. Which is to say a for-profit corporation whose primary purpose is public benefit rather than shareholder benefit. Which more or less means we're not legally obligated to make decisions based on what would best line NCommander and matt_'s pockets. Anything we take in above and beyond the costs of keeping ourselves running goes into the bank account where it sits for a rainy day. I doubt we could currently even buy every registered user a beer with it but any profit is a whole lot more profit than Salon managed.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 15 2019, @11:50PM (2 children)
Are you trying to troll here?
(Score: 3, Touché) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday May 16 2019, @12:10AM (1 child)
Nah, just a little light-hearted snark.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 16 2019, @12:30AM
Ah, so bird brain being true to himself. Mad props yo, gotta respect a playa who stays true no matter how doo.
(Score: 5, Informative) by jmorris on Wednesday May 15 2019, @11:23PM (25 children)
The one thing you should notice here won't be called out anywhere else.
Salon is a "big" website with an outsize influence on the culture. And yet it is almost nothing, a plaything sustained by a couple of rich sugar daddies for pocket change. As a hobby.
So why? Why was / is Salon a social taste maker and much higher trafficked sites utterly insignificant, at least according to anyone who only lives in the MSM bubble? It is all fake. "Popular", "big", "influential" is now all entirely determined by The Narrative and not any objective reality. Salon was "big and influencial" because the rest of the media said it was... and they are "big and influential" because other fake traffic sites on the verge of bankruptcy like Salon say they are. The only exceptions are the media outlets kept as pets by such super large entities they can't go broke, like CNN, NBC News, etc. But even they have quickly declining actual influence; ATT can mandate CNN go on every cable subscriber's dial and that they pay for it, they can't make them watch though... and they aren't watching in droves.
Who knows how this finally sorts itself out or how many survivors there will be in the legacy media. One thing is certain though, if you work in the legacy media you should be learning to code. The best time to start was yesterday, the second best time is right now, you never know when you will get the memo of a downsizing sale or outright closure, so learn to code TODAY.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday May 16 2019, @12:15AM (20 children)
Yeah, that's exactly what the tech sector needs. More progressive idealists. Yay.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 16 2019, @01:02AM (12 children)
Actually yes. Mostly we have libertarian anarcho-capitalists shitting things up. A few others trying to APPEAR progressive, but not that many who really have such beliefs. It amuses me a little bit watching you libertarian freedom types scream bloody murder over the very people who share your beliefs.
If tech was the progressive haven you preach about then Facebook, Reddit, Twitter, etc. would be kicking all the bigots off with no second thoughts. Surprise surprise, such things only happen when the media picks up on it and makes the cesspits visible enough that the backlash of public outrage and ad purchasers backing out forces these companies to make a stand.
We've been over this enough but you don't budge an inch. I truly think you are capable of rising above the capitalist propaganda, but who knows what watershed moment will wake you up.
#woke is very simple. It isn't about promoting anti-white anything, and it isn't about implementing authoritarian measures. It is simply about non-bigotry in all forms. Sexism bad. Racism bad. Economic exploitation bad.
What is actually happening is that tech is being subverted to manipulate the masses. The echo chambers are 1/2 intentional and 1/2 self-reinforcing, but the end result is that people adopt more extremist positions. Insane bullshit is bought hook, line and sinker by people on both sides. The end result is increased violence and hatred that reinforces these divisions.
There is blame on both sides to be sure for promoting these divisions, but it falls on each of us to sift the bullshit from the truth. Currently fascism is on the rise so choose your allies carefully and please please please use history as a guide.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday May 16 2019, @01:28AM (2 children)
He's already chosen his allies. You're talking to someone who's been "alt-lite"-converged since before the term existed, which is doubly unfortunate when his self-asserted Indian heritage comes into play...
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 16 2019, @02:16AM (1 child)
Oh I know, just yelling into the wind. At the very least maybe it blunts his acceptance of the more vile shit.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday May 16 2019, @02:25AM
Not this guy. His entire internal universe revolves around himself; his core belief is that he's never really and truly wrong, not really, not about things like this. I should know, I've been dealing with him for years...
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday May 16 2019, @03:34AM (7 children)
Libertarian anarcho-capitalist is the default state of being for an American, so that doesn't say very much.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 3, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 16 2019, @07:37AM (6 children)
I thought wage-slave was the default state of being for an American.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday May 16 2019, @07:46AM (5 children)
Wage slavery is a choice. You're free at any time to play some Johnny Paycheck and become your own boss. Most people don't because they don't care how bad things are as long as they're predictable.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 17 2019, @12:04AM (4 children)
Libertarian anarcho-capitalist is also a choice. You're free at any time to change your opinions and become a communist or fascist or middle of the road some-government-is-good-ist.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday May 17 2019, @04:24AM (3 children)
True but only because our founders were libertarian anarcho-capitalists. If they followed you lot's playbook state indoctrination would be mandatory and wrongthink would be an imprisonment offense.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 17 2019, @07:21AM (2 children)
My lot? And which lot are you assuming I'm in? And the US founders were less libertarian anarcho-capitalists than wealthy landowners that were trying to A) make sure they stayed in power and B) get a batch of other wealthy landowners (the colony leaders that weren't at the convention) that wanted to stay in power to cooperate and give up some power. Definitely not anarchist type. Just look at the Sedition Act of 1798.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday May 17 2019, @10:39AM (1 child)
I'm assuming you're in one of the many lots that aren't libertarian anarcho-capitalists, duh. Any of them that view liberty with contempt because human nature conflicts with their grand vision will do. They're really all just different flavors of the same thing.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 17 2019, @02:15PM
Liberty is great, for the lone person on a deserted island. Once you start putting people together then you need to start making compromises and rules. The differences are in who makes the rules, how many rules, and how the rules are enforced.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 16 2019, @03:14PM
So, what you're saying is ...
... you can tell genuine progressives by how quickly they silence/shun/banish/deplatform people they don't like.
Got it. Thanks for clearing that up. Sound like a swell bunch of guys, committed to open debate and compromise.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday May 16 2019, @01:26AM (6 children)
And what the fuck do you think Stallman was exactly?
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 16 2019, @03:15AM
Hairy.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday May 16 2019, @03:29AM (3 children)
A hippy loon. Pretty good beard growing skills though.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday May 16 2019, @09:36PM (2 children)
You owe that man damn near the entire Free Software movement.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday May 17 2019, @04:27AM (1 child)
And? That doesn't contradict what I said. He absolutely is a loony-assed hippy.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 17 2019, @03:40PM
You're an idiot, but that's ok because we totally hold it against you.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 16 2019, @05:00AM
When I met RMS (before his current fame/notoriety) he was: a) very introverted unless you got him started on programming or another favorite topic, b) a true elite programmer (that is, hacker, in the traditional MIT usage), c) uncompromising, even way back then.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 16 2019, @12:27AM
Back in the days before deplatforming and social justice warriors setting what opinions were utterable in public, Salon was known for in depth, well written articles. The kind of in depth analysis the MSM of the day did not care to provide to its audience. I had no idea of its current financing, but I think when it first came out it was being paid for by Micro$oft insiders. Anyway, most media is "a plaything sustained by a couple of rich sugar daddies for pocket change'. Why put in the money if you can't get it to spread your opinions.
(Score: 5, Informative) by c0lo on Thursday May 16 2019, @02:12AM (2 children)
Pot/kettle.
Which makes "It is all fake" irrelevant to the discussion - Salon is not the first, not the last to act as PA for individual interests (as opposed to and opposing [wikipedia.org] public interest).
---
How is the above relevant, you ask? Well, your:
is a regurgitation [washingtonexaminer.com] (read "vomit") of what seems like your (now dead) hero:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by jmorris on Thursday May 16 2019, @04:39AM (1 child)
No, it makes it spot on. My point is they are -all- fake, tiny little tails wagging the dog. Brietbart post Andrew is just another example. With Andrew it was something more, purely on the power of that one man's personalty. You cite newsweek, the magazine that sold for $1 plus assume debt. When you look more widely, all of the 'content' game is like this, the small part of the industry that wags the whole society. The entire film industry grossed how much? Compare to the pure profit just one of Google, Apple, Microsoft, etc. throw off in a single quarter. Nobody in the news game appears to have made a profit in the 20th Century absent dodgy bookkeeping, most of the bigger ones openly, proudly, lose money. It is curious. Something ain't right.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by c0lo on Thursday May 16 2019, @07:02AM
Yeah, right; maybe it was... for the connoisseurs with a palate attuned to bullshit flavors.
(just in case you object to newsweek) it's not like it's the only source that confirms Robert Mercer as sugardaddy for Breitbart News
Did you know that the world neither starts nor ends with USA, much less with its press?
Many countries have news agencies, TV and radio stations paid from taxes - as such they can afford to actually inform the tax payers and, at least from time to time, uncover shit about both the political class and the top end of the business town.
I'll tell you what's not right: the 0.01%-ers (your dead hero included) declared war to the political systems of power; they don't care if they kill democracy as a collateral damage in the war on who has "The Power" - the politicos or the stinky rich.
While the governments aren't necessary the friend of (all) the citizens, the 0.01% Richie Rich have almost opposite interests to the ones of the Joe Average.
because, as sure as death and taxes, the people aren't gonna vote the Richie Rich out from his money, but they'll could vote out a politico from his office if they want to.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 16 2019, @12:34AM (2 children)
The news site that blocked users from reading unless they ran internet fun bucks mining code while they did having financial problems? Who would have thought!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 16 2019, @05:07AM (1 child)
Pirate Bay is a news site? Weren't they the first to do this?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 16 2019, @06:49AM
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2018/02/salon-to-ad-blockers-can-we-use-your-browser-to-mine-cryptocurrency/ [arstechnica.com]