Microsoft Looking to Sell Slate Magazine 222
SeaDour writes "Wired News is reporting that Microsoft is in early discussions with five or six media companies over a potential sale of MSN's online magazine Slate. This comes mere weeks after Slate recommended Firefox over Internet Explorer."
A better bottom line (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:A better bottom line (Score:5, Funny)
Re:A better bottom line (Score:3, Funny)
Re:A better bottom line (Score:2)
Re:A better bottom line (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:A better bottom line (Score:5, Insightful)
Microsoft has also recently announced that they are returning some of their cash to stockholders because they don't have any good places to invest it anymore.
My suspicion is that a group at MS has been analyzing their business units for future growth as part of that cash dividend decision and one of the things they came up with was that while Slate doesn't have much growth potential (but is profitable enough to be turned into cash), after dropping it they can do more in other media stuff to help the growth of MSN.
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Healthy Info [health-issue-books.com]
Re:A better bottom line (Score:2, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Cool, I'll buy it... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Cool, I'll buy it... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Cool, I'll buy it... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Cool, I'll buy it... (Score:3, Funny)
People still buy stuff from Microsoft? Just search Kazaa for "SLATE_FULL_VERSION_(WITH_KEYGEN).RAR".
Not likely a punishment (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't think the above is part of the reasons for such sales, as stated on the article, the sales allows MS to "create a partnership with another media company, which could potentially help increase advertising revenue on the MSN site."
One step backward, two steps forward.
Re:Not likely a punishment (Score:2)
Re:Not likely a punishment (Score:5, Insightful)
Great so we have Michael Eisener telling slate not to publish anything too critical of Bush. Incidentally, is Eisener going to reimburse Disney shareholders the $30 million or so that they lost out on due to his refusal to distribute Farenheight 9-11?
The rumors going arround were that Microsoft would BUY Disney, sack Eisner, revamp ABC and go into content in a big way. It was certainly being considered, but it was probably a bad idea for the same reason it would be a bad idea for Microsoft to build computers or make CPUs. You have to define boundaries to the markets you will compete in, you can't compete with your channel unless you are likely to succeed in replacing it.
I suspect that we will see MSNBC be sold as well. It has been doing pretty baddly in the ratings and is not likely to improve as long as GE continue to try to make it Fox News Lite. Its pretty amazing that the chuckleheads can't get a clue and work out that maybe the reason that people have been turning off from CNN is because the 'news' they report is utterly vapid trivia. There has actually been remarkably little switching to Fox News, the audience for 24 hour right wing propaganda was an entirely new one.
Basically CNN discovered what they thought was the killer formula during the OJ Simpson trial and have been desperately trying to apply it ever since. They are geared up to provide saturation coverage of stories that have as little importance as possible. MSNBC copied this formula and found it does not work and then tried to copy the right wing propaganda formula half the time. If they wanted to make that a commercial success they should have made it s loony left wing propaganda station, hired Moore and Franken.
Re:Not likely a punishment (Score:3, Informative)
The stated reason for dropping the movie was that it would harm Disney's relations with the state of Florida. That could be a lot more serious than $30 million. For example, Disney is always fighting to preserve the autonomy of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, so that they continue to own their own government. Florida intermittently pushes bac
Re:Not likely a punishment (Score:3, Interesting)
Disney's own explanation is that big corporations need to stay apolitical. In a way, it's a more polite version of the explanation I gave. A big corporation has so many linkages to government that it probably doesn't want to be seen bashing the government.
Re:Not likely a punishment (Score:2)
So assuming that the final gross is about $200 million and the distributor would make about 15% profit after expenses like prints, advertising etc that would be about $30 million in earnings that Eisner gave up.
Fahrenheit 9/11: $116,880,000 (Score:3, Informative)
God,
Fahrenheit 9/11 has made an estimated $116,880,000 [boxofficemojo.com] as of July 25. Other than that minor correction, the point you made is excellent. Disney gave away the profit on the distribution of a movie that has made more than $100 million gross.
yes, will MS..... (Score:2, Funny)
Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc (Score:2, Insightful)
Post Hoc Propter, Much? (Score:5, Insightful)
Damn Lightning. It always causes problems.
Re:Post Hoc Propter, Much? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Post Hoc Propter, Much? (Score:5, Insightful)
IIRC, MSNBC also reccommended Firefox over IE.
Although it is still a newsworty story, trying to link the sale of Slate with Firefox is just plain stupid, and takes away from the real content.
Re:Post Hoc Propter, Much? (Score:2)
"a while"? Do you mean since the last michael story?
Any attempt to cast Microsoft in a negative shadow, even through faulty arguments, is praised on the front page.
No shit, sherlock. Welcome to slashdot.
Re:Post Hoc Propter, Much? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Post Hoc Propter, Much? (Score:2)
I didn't mind this story being posted. But I personally feel that the last sentence should have been edited out by an Editor... editing, that's what the editors are supposed to do!
Re:Post Hoc Propter, Much? (Score:2)
How great his glee must be today! Now everything "makes sense" again -- Microsoft is all evil, all the time. That thing that looked like independent journalism wasn't real -- it was just part of a grander conspiracy to destroy Slate completely.
Re:Post Hoc Propter, Much? (Score:2)
The mere inclusion of that sentence means the submitter was trying to link the two.
I mean, how about this: "Arnold Schwarzenegger hails from Austria, also the home of Adolph Hitler."
Factually true, but ideologically loaded.
Re:you really whine a lot (Score:2)
Re:Post Hoc Propter, Much? (Score:3, Interesting)
Hey, I woke up with a hangover this morning. Think that could have been caused by your lightning? My stupid doctor tells me its because I was drinking last night, what does he know?
Re:Post Hoc Propter, Much? (Score:2)
Slate Magazine? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Slate Magazine? (Score:2)
Too funny... (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:Too funny... (Score:2, Interesting)
There was some good 'anti-corporate' writing on slate, though. Like this piece from last week: Wal-Mart vs. Neiman Marcus - In the war between the "Two Americas," the rich folks are winning [msn.com]
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Re:Too funny... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Too funny... (Score:2)
Bring out the tin foil hat! There's no doubt Microsoft is counter-conspiring you as a part of their plot to take over the world.
T'ing the C L (Score:3, Informative)
Simple. One leads the corporate line through the stern chock, ensuring that it is well protected by chafing gear, and makes it fast to the stern deck padeye of the towing corporation. (That padeye rests on heavy foundations which are worked down among the assets of the corporation).
Needless to say, a pelican hook must be placed between the padeye and the corporate line, and an executive of the towing corporation must stand watch with a mallet, prepared to s
Somehow I doubt this is becuase of the FireFox rec (Score:5, Insightful)
Now - someone wants to publish an article recommending a competitive product - do I:
1) Stop them from publishing the article (I can do that - remember)
2) Let them publish the article so as to maintain a fair balance in the press
So let's say I select option two - am I then going to 'vinidictively' sell them off (so that they can continue doing the same thing for a different employer)?
That does not make sense.
If I wanted to be vindictive - I would keep the magazine, stop them from publishing the article, and fire the guy who wrote it. If - however - I wanted to make a profit I would publish the article (and similar ones) so as to grow respect in my reader base - and sell it off once it had a big enough base to be profitable.
Face it guys - buisness is about making money - not being vindictive (though those two do tend to overlap at times)
Re:Somehow I doubt this is becuase of the FireFox (Score:2, Interesting)
Suspicious, but... (Score:4, Insightful)
Bullshit (Score:5, Insightful)
Yeah, because they dumpbed MSNBC a long time ago for writing less than flattering articles about their products and sdervices. What's that? You mean Microsoft is still in partnership with NBC? One more Slashdot conspiracy exposed.
Re:Bullshit (Score:2)
Re:Bullshit (Score:2)
If
What unflattering stories? (Score:2)
Show me one MSNBC article that recommends anything but M$ garbage. Everything I read about computers from them looks like it got scrubbed by M$'s PR people if it was not written by them in the first place. It's hard for them to not report on multi-billion dollar M$ vectors rolling around, but they never come out and blame M$ for the problems and never recommend that anyone use any
Re:What unflattering stories? (Score:5, Informative)
"If you're in the market for a change, or you want to see what all this fuss over Linux is all about, Lindows 4.0 is definitely worth a try. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised." [msn.com]
Open-source software a big tech player [msn.com]
Experts warn of Microsoft 'monoculture' [msn.com]
Open your eyes, eh?
See also the link in the other reply to this comment for a nice example.
Those articles are BS. (Score:2, Informative)
Sun endorsement, not. The author calls Sun's straight forward description bragging, "With that type of bragging I couldn?t resist." Says, "the SuSE installation process is nearly perfect," as if you have to install on a computer bought at Walmart and as if Windoze installs are "perfect". Th
Re:Those articles are BS. (Score:2)
I'm sorry, I must have skipped the part where they said Windows was perfect. I thought it was just a nice compliment to SuSE...
Then this slam, "The laptop installation was another story. It seems the version of SuSE that was used is old ? and getting older all the time.
If it didn't install right on the laptop, isn't that a ra
shit tastes bad, can't M$ do better? (Score:2)
What you have passed is black, but it does not caw. Check the dates on those articles. The Slate article was published June 30th. Your MSNBC article was posted July 7th, two days after the Slashdot attention to the Slate article and probably after Uncle Sam was recommending the same. It's possible that all of them picked up on the Slate suggestion and took it as a M$ endorsement.
That one article is not much to crow about. Can you find me something else? They still don't admit
Put it together (Score:5, Insightful)
- Microsoft pays $35billion or so to shareholders in a one-time dividend.
- Microsoft unloads Slate
- Microsoft increases future dividends.
- ???
- Profit! (sorry, always wanted to do that.
This doesn't mean that MS is annoyed with Slate, it means they are changing their business strategy. I would hazard to guess that Microsoft has decided that, rather than becoming an evil empire that owns a small country and runs its own Media etc., they will go back to being just a software company.I would look for them to off-load other products not related to their core competencies in the near future, and I expect they will divest themselves from many of the sidelines they've gotten into. The question in my mind is: what happens to MSN as a whole? Is Microsoft giving up on being a content company altogether? What about their promised search engine? The Xbox?
Re:Put it together (Score:2)
Re:Put it together (Score:2)
* they will go back to being just a software company.* is just too far fetched, especially when they're sittin on top of billions and everything they've done as a company goes against that.
Re:Put it together (Score:5, Interesting)
There's a meaningful answer. That Firefox nonsense was only useful in that it deflected the usual Micro$oft $ux vitriol into "what a stupid conspiracy" vitriol. If you look at the businesses that Microsoft owns, only one of them is involved in content production. In fact, the content that MSN's homepage buys is not even similar in subject matter or tone to Slate (or quality, I should add) - it's a totally different market. It's always been sorta of an orphan, mainly built as a hedge against AOL's acquisition of Time-Warner. As long as they're cleaning house, it makes perfect sense to sell off operations outside their core competencies.
Yes, that is a very interesting question. My brother was remarking this morning that he thinks MSN really missed the boat by not buying an AP wire feed like Yahoo did. Of course he's a journalist, so he reads the wires like geeks read
Re:Put it together (Score:3, Interesting)
I don't quite see it this way. It seems to me that Microsoft already went through it's phase of owning a lot of non-related businesses. Just look at msnbc and slate
Slate trashing IE (Score:4, Interesting)
"This comes mere weeks after Slate recommended Firefox over Internet Explorer"
I don't think the fact Slate trashed IE has anything to do with the sale.
In fact, the article says Slate would still be accessible from the MSN Website, even though they would no longer hold any "property" ties with Microsoft. And what would that accomplish? Slate would be even more content-free than it already is, as it wouldn't depend on Microsoft at all, but it would still have the popularity / visibilty it enjoys being right there, in the MSN Website.
I mean, if Microsoft wanted to silence their editors, they would do anything but loose their power over the magazine. Instead, they are giving them a free ticked to say whatever they want, still enjoying the visibility they have.
I don't know why Microsoft chose to sell the magazine, but it can't be because of their trashing IE.
Just my 2c
Media companieS (Score:3, Insightful)
I think the submitter means "Microsoft is in discussions with THE five or six media companies" (thanks Michael Powel for allowing this, by the way. Shame on you...)
Re:Media companieS (Score:4, Insightful)
Most of the consolidation of the media had already happened by 2001. Time Warner-Turner-AOL-Times Mirror magazines, Disney-ABC, Viacom-Universal-CBS-Infinity -- these were all Clinton-era combinations. The Telecommunications Act of 1996, which opened the door to massive radio consolidation under Clear Channel and Infinity, was a Clinton-signed law five years before Michael Powell was running the FCC. And so on.
This is odd. (Score:2)
Still, Slate has an excellent reputation and the money involved is just a rounding error in Microsoft's accounts. So why sell it?
Re:This is odd. (Score:2)
What is Slate's circulation? I don't know anyone who reads it. I've never seen it on the news stand. I've never seen anyone on an airplane reading it. I've never seen another editorial or article that quotes Slate's investigative reports, or commentary, or anything else about it.
I've read articles about this impending sale that point to millions of page hits on their web site, but I'd expect that from anything that was linked se
Can anyone read? (Score:5, Informative)
MS benefits from the Firefox article... (Score:5, Insightful)
Now if they had gone down the road of web-based applications then maybe this would have been a different story - but right now IE is a suitable sacrificial lamb that will boost Slate's reputation just before a potential sale/partnership.
In fact, Slate appears to be part of trend at MS, what with blogs and all, to promote the idea that MS goes in for a little self-criticism... wonder why?
Maybe MS feels that self-attack is the best form of defence against their only true threat - worldwide Governments - and appearing to be self-governing is a common method used by large industries to avoid government-regulation.
Not that I'm suggesting that MS is really trying to be so underhand - but I guess they can't help but appear to be so.
Re:MS benefits from the Firefox article... (Score:2)
Interesting, so you're saying that Microsoft presupposed back in 1995/1996 (when Slate started) that they would have a need around, say, 2004 to inject a little self-criticism into the corporate culture. So they start an award-winning online news magazine, spend millions of dollars on it, and kick back and wait 8 years so that Slate can publish an article that criticizes Internet Explorer? You've gotta be kidding.
This is just another damned if you do, damned if you don't circumstance. If Slate shilled for
MS break-up strategy (Score:5, Funny)
Now, if we can just get the folks in the Office division to start recommending other operating systems over Windows, we could finally get that part of the business sold/spun off to a separate company... just like the judge wanted.
It's normal (Score:2, Insightful)
Just a coincidence (Score:3, Interesting)
umm... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:umm... (Score:2)
Yes.
Re:umm... (Score:2)
Using Logic ... (Score:2, Insightful)
Same Microsoft style (Score:2)
MSLateNBC? (Score:2)
Stale/Slate (Score:2)
The Two Things Aren't Connected (Score:4, Insightful)
Oh please... (Score:2, Insightful)
More /. silliness. Slate has for years snarked about some of Microsoft's products. If The Company was that thin-skinned they would have brought the hammer down a long time ago.
Just like many other site sthey have owned.... (Score:4, Interesting)
They got it backwards! (Score:2, Interesting)
Slate hears rumblings that Microsoft is looking to dump it. The editors say, "Well if we're on the chopping block anyway..."
Slate is simply not worth MS running (Score:3, Insightful)
Although it was amusing how the timing worked having Slate give props to Firefox has nothing to do with MS selling Slate. Its purely a business move.
After the installation... (Score:2)
/sarcasm/ (Score:2)
Wait a second - are you implying that Microsoft would make such a move to protect the bottom line? How dare you! You shall be punished for your insolence! I'm a l33t windows user and I'll haX0r your... [this computer has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down]
Hmmmmmmmmm... (Score:2)
By leveraging innovative technologies, content providers streamline compelling enterprise solutions.
Translation: By using software from Microsoft, your business will have its trade secrets, customer information, employee records, and banking information stolen by some hacker in Uganda, which will bring you billions of dollars in lawsuits, when your company has a million dollars in assets, meaning that your company will have to g
WOW! (Score:2)
And somehow it's news.
God I love slashdot.
The trouble with Slate (Score:4, Interesting)
Case in point: the current lead piece, "Lay Off the Bush Girls." It's a rundown of the resumes of the wastrel First Kids that concludes they're finally due some good press because being high-profile fuck-ups inevitably causes a surplus of bad press. You plow through it feeling that author Michael Crowley would really be much happier going harumph about the capital gains tax; like much of Slate's cultural material, it's indistinguishable from the political stuff. The piece is awkward, overlong, pedantic, and frankly a let-down after reading the teaser on the index page ("They drink. They party with P. Diddy"), which seemed to promise more than a dullish reminder of kids-will-be-kids. The most interesting thing about it is a self-admiring correction appended afterward: "The article originally claimed that both girls were wearing Calvin Klein gowns." Now, that's fact-checking.
There's nothing wrong with Slate if all you want from journalism is to be poured a nice big steaming mug of complacency. (Complacency never hurt business at Microsoft.) But there's the New York Times and a zillion other places for that. Slate could vanish tomorrow, and consensus thought would be just as loudly trumpeted by all the other pet publications of billionaires. I'd rather read Harper's Magazine, The Baffler, The Utne Reader, and Counterpunch, publications and sites that proceed from the idea that journalism is an act of independence.
Re:Microsoft Sell Something ? (Score:5, Funny)
That's about it thought
Vanamar
Life is a harsh mistress, Fate an insatiable lover, Death an old friend.
Re:Microsoft Sell Something ? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Microsoft Sell Something ? (Score:2)
> I read Slate when it's linked from
> That's about it thought
Then you're probably missing some great reportage and comment.
The divine Dahlia Lithwick writing about law and the Supreme Court
is worth paying actual money for, all by herself.
Add to that Tim Noah, Kaplan, Gross, Saletan
there's some great stuff.
Of course, you should steer clear of icky kausfiles.
And Jon Katz. But as a
And "Dear Prudence" is a yawn.
If you want to read
Example: Expedia (Score:2)
Re:Microsoft Sell Something ? (Score:2)
Re:Hah, of course... (Score:5, Insightful)
Ermm, anyone with a brain?
If an employee misbehaves to that extent, sack 'em for gross misconduct. Selling a company is difficult and expensive to do (have a look at what investment banks charge to "advise" you). You'd be cutting off your nose to spite your face if you sold a company to get rid of one (probably quite junior) employee.
Hah, of course...Steel resolve. (Score:5, Insightful)
Your products, or your employees?
Re:Hah, of course...Steel resolve. (Score:3, Interesting)
Perhaps, modded "correct" would be better?
A. Someone who understands how to run a magazine (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Hah, of course... (Score:2)
90% of the time employees publically bash only after their repeated attempts to tell their boss that there is a serious problem and are either told to shut up or are ignored.
unfortunately, there is not an OSHA for product quality where an employee can put his boss's ass in the fire without revelaing his identity.
Re:Hah, of course... (Score:2)
Re:Coincidence? (Score:5, Interesting)
It's not as if Slate recommended that users switch to Linux or something like that. They're still using Windows, which means, whether they like it or not, they're still using Internet Explorer.
It's more likely that Microsoft would try to strong-arm the editors and the writers responsible for something like that into resigning rather than selling the entire magazine. I think they just don't care about it anymore and don't care to pay for it if someone else will.
Re:I just wonder how long it is (Score:2)
This may be just a little optimistic as IE is pre-installed on every copy of Windows.
Re:the truth is out there (Score:2)
Are you sure you're using that word correctly? I don't think it means what you think it means.
For anyone that didn't take Logic.... (Score:3, Insightful)
Correlation DOES NOT Equal Causation.
Or, if you need it expressed programmatically:
Correlation != Causation
(You also learn this in Statistics classes)
Re:Conspiracy theory (Score:3, Insightful)
Um (Score:2)