We've Moved

For the last few years, we've enjoyed bringing unique communications and marketing content to CleverWittyQuick.com. But after a lot of thought, we decided it was time to refocus and refresh the blog. So we hope you'll join us over at our new community Unboxed Thoughts! We think you'll enjoy the updated site, which will be filled with a lot of new content and contributers. As the common saying goes, there are always two sides to a story and we hope you'll join us on Unboxed Thoughts to provide your insights and opinions.

We look forward to seeing you at the new site... In fact, why waste time. Come join us now!

We've Moved

For the last few years, we've enjoyed bringing unique communications and marketing content to CleverWittyQuick.com. But after a lot of thought, we decided it was time to refocus and refresh the blog. So we hope you'll join us over at our new community Unboxed Thoughts! We think you'll enjoy the updated site, which will be filled with a lot of new content and contributers. As the common saying goes, there are always two sides to a story and we hope you'll join us on Unboxed Thoughts to provide your insights and opinions.

We look forward to seeing you at the new site... In fact, why waste time. Come join us now!

Media Navel Gazing by Mark Kollar

GM went public in a “go-big-or-go-home” way last week, raising approximately $20 billion after the offering price was increased, which was good news for the company but probably not-so-good news for early shareholders who saw aftermarket trading pretty lackluster after the listing; Ireland worked through plans for Europe’s second national bailout over the weekend, which was a drag on world equity markets last week; William popped the question to Kate…oops, Catherine, while Harry (Potter, not Windsor) opened amid some pretty widespread Internet leaks of the first 36 minutes before the official debut (Muggles, no doubt); and the Dow ended virtually flat for the week at 11,203.

Buffett Opines

As everyone knows and probably read by now, an op-ed by Warren Buffett appeared in The New York Times last Wednesday, called “Pretty Good for Government Work,” which has been widely discussed and even parodied a bit (New York Post over the weekend), where the Oracle profusely thanks Uncle Sam for helping to divert a meltdown of the US economy (and his own companies).  Buffett complemented the government on restoring calm (money) at a time of panic, saying “your actions were remarkably effective.” I have to admit, when I first read it, I thought it was a submission from The Onion. The piece, a letter to Uncle Sam, is typical folksy Buffett charm, with doses of good Midwest manners, but the heap of praise on administration officials, whether you agree or not, seemed to be quite a bit over the top.  It’s probably too bad for the White House the piece did not run before the midterm elections (or maybe it was prompted by the results), but the grateful nephew as Buffett has signed the “letter” has certainly put his mouth and pen were his money is and placed a stake in the government’s role and stake in the bailout/recovery.

Media Navel Gazing by Mark Kollar

The G-20 concluded its meetings in Seoul over the weekend, actually concluding very little especially over trade imbalances; the Fed launched QE2;  the SEC and US Attorney were investigating whether Harbinger Capital misled investors; GM reported that it earned $2 billion in the third quarter as the car giant prepared to become a public company again (amid reports of high demand from China and other sovereign funds for shares); and the Dow was down more than 2 percent for the week (still up about 7 percent for the year) to end Friday at 11192.

Old and New Media Merge

On the media front, last week was dominated by news that Newsweek was merging with The Daily Beast (or as Tunku Varadarajan tweeted, Newsweek + The Daily Beast = The Daily Week), which raises the question on intent of two money-losing concerns.  DB co-founder Tina Brown will become the editor-in-chief of the combo (what a resume, right? New Yorker, VF, Talk, to name a few) but “top draw,” according to The New York Times on Saturday, was the good old-fashioned printing press. Barry Diller, who owns DB, insisted, the story reports, “that with or without Newsweek, The Daily Beast was going to exist someday in print form.”  Why, ad $$, of course, so it’s rear-view-mirror progress as we look as Diller becoming the Gutenberg of the Internet.  No doubt, much more to come, especially the future and future look of Newsweek. Smacks a bit of BloombergBusinessweek, no? 

E-Besties

Another print/virtual marriage of sorts again last week when The New York Times announced that it would publish e-book bestseller lists in both fiction and nonfiction next year, thanks to the success of iPads and Kindles.  (E-book sales climbed 190 percent in the first nine months of 2010 from same period last year, according to Association of American Publishers.) The Times already publishes 14 lists in its “Sunday Book Review.” What’s another list so eventually ever one has some sort of shot for the top? (How about a list of not best sold but most read, quite a difference for sure?)

Media Navel Gazing by Mark Kollar

The US jobless rate held steady at 9.6 pct in October but added 151,000 jobs, about double expectations; The Fed announced it would continue its QE2 plans by buying up to $600 billion of Treasuries, helping to propel the stock market to its highest level since the financial crisis (the Dow ended the week at 11,444); the Republicans swept the elections for a big setback for Obama, and the Democrats lost the House (but as Jimmy Kimmel said, “Big deal. A lot of Americans lost their house.”); US News & World Report announced that its December print issue will its last in print and it will focus on its digital services but will produce eight newsstand-only issues a year; and, alas, Weezy is home, the McRib is back and Conan returns (God Bless America).

Citibank Cleared of Fraud

In a story that dominated headlines ahead of the trial but seemed to carry little fanfare after the verdict (except in a great FT analysis over the weekend), Citibank was cleared of fraud charges for its role in the sale of EMI Group to financier Guy Hands and his firm Terra Firma. The private equity firm claimed that Citi had lied to Hands about other bidders in the transaction battle that caused him to pay more than necessary in his $6.8 billion purchase of the company. It was risky indeed not to settle the case and force a jury trial, revealing the inner workings of the transaction world while most of the world is critical of Wall Street and the City (this being a UK trail). What’s likely is that Terra Firma will appeal, less likely the future of EMI Group and its sponsor and how chummy and clubby bankers and their clients will remain in doing business.

Twitter Becomes Olbermann ‘News’ Clearinghouse

The Twitterwaves carried the lead and the weight of the Keith Olbermann story last week, showing how the social-network platform is becoming a news force and how the media love to cover the media. MSNBC “bloviator” was yanked from his job (reporter or analyst or commentary?) for making political contributions (another example of media line crossing following Juan Williams dust up).  The story behind the story was actually a little more interesting because a Politico reporter named Simmi Aujla, who has been a working journalist reportedly for about six months, broke the story and immediately became a Twitter story herself, called both a contender for the Pultizer or just a really good Googler. Making it even more interesting: MSNBC first replaced Olbermann with Chris Hayes of the Nation magazine but withdraw the choice because he, too, had once made political contributions. God Bless our dying Fourth Estate. 

But Wait! The Reason for a Front Page

Olbermann googling aside, good old-fashioned reporting was front page and center at The Wall Street Journal over the weekend with its expose of sorts on the H-P/former CEO Mark Hurd story. An investigation by the paper revealed that a letter to the company board said that Hurd told his friend and sometimes H-P hostess, Jodie Fisher, of the “still-secret H-P plan to buy Electronic Data Corp.” Whether true or false, as the Journal reported, the H-P board lost confidence in Hurd and thus asked for his departure. Great sleuthing and a great read.  God Bless the Fourth Estate.