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Thursday, June 18th, 1998 Disney and Infoseek Combine Forces on the Internet The Walt Disney Company has reached an agreement to acquire a 43% stake in Infoseek Corporation in exchange for Disney's ownership position in Starwave plus $70 million in cash, it was announced by Michael D. Eisner, chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company, Harry Motro, president and CEO of Infoseek, and Jake Winebaum, chairman of Disney's Buena Vista Internet Group. The transaction forms an Internet entity that combines the resources of Infoseek, Starwave and Disney. The new entity will bring together the branded assets of ABCNews.com and ESPN.com -- currently joint ventures between Starwave and Disney -- with one of the Internet's most popular search and directory services. In addition, Disney will commit to provide, and Infoseek will agree to purchase, $165 million in promotional support for the new portal service. "This agreement stakes out an even more ambitious role for Disney in this promising medium and provides an ideal partnership for the creation of a new Internet portal service," said Eisner. "We have made great strides as a sports, news and entertainment programmer on the Internet over the past four years. Through our association with Infoseek, we are now well-positioned to take advantage of the Internet as it evolves into commercial maturity." Infoseek and Disney, which currently have 14 million and nine million users respectively, plan to launch an advanced portal service later this year that will provide the best of Infoseek's and Disney's existing services. The portal service will feature, on a non-exclusive basis, ABC.com, ABCNews.com, Disney.com, Disney's Blast Online, ESPN.com, plus the official league sites of the NFL, NBA and NASCAR. McGraw-Hill Appoints Vasant Prabhu President of Information and Media Services The McGraw-Hill Companies announced the appointment of Vasant Prabhu as president of its Information and Media Services business segment. Mr. Prabhu was previously senior vice president of finance and chief financial officer for PepsiCo International. Mr. Prabhu, 38, will report to Mr. McGraw and will be responsible for managing all elements of the corporation's Information and Media Services segment, including the Broadcasting Group, Business Week, the McGraw-Hill Construction Information Group, Publication Services and Tower Group International. Previously these businesses reported to Mr. McGraw through three separate operating units. "By consolidating the group's activities under Vasant, we will be better positioned to leverage our strengths, pursue global opportunities and develop our electronic commerce strategy, especially using the internet to meet individual customer needs," said Mr. McGraw. Moreover, Mr. McGraw noted that Mr. Prabhu worked closely with senior executives of The McGraw-Hill Companies from 1988-1992, when he was a partner with Booz Allen & Hamilton, a leading international consulting firm. Mr. Prabhu joined Pepsi in 1992. He held several senior positions in the U.S. and abroad, including senior vice president and CFO of PepsiCo Restaurants International, vice president and CFO of Frito-Lay International and vice president and CFO of Snack Ventures Europe. Mr. Prabhu received an MBA from the University of Chicago and a BS in engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology. Tribune Names Kathleen Waltz President, CEO and Publisher of Daily Press Kathleen Waltz, vice president/general manager of the South Florida-based Sun-Sentinel Company, has been named president, CEO and publisher of the Hampton Roads (Va.)-based Daily Press. The appointment was announced by Jack Fuller, Tribune Publishing Company president. "Kathy has handled extraordinarily well every challenge that she has been presented," said Fuller. "Her advertising background, experience in managing successful new businesses and excellent management skills will be of great value in her new position at the Daily Press." Waltz was named vice president and general manager of the Sun-Sentinel Company in May 1997. Before that she was vice president and director of developing businesses at the Chicago Tribune. She began her career at the Chicago Tribune in 1973 and served in a variety of advertising, customer service and general management functions. A native of Illinois, Waltz holds a bachelor's degree from DePaul University in Chicago. Waltz replaces Jack Davis, who recently was named president of Tribune Interactive. The Daily Press is the leading information source on the Virginia Peninsula and in surrounding communities, with headquarters in Newport News. In addition to its newspaper, the company offers local content online and on the Internet, produces targeted publications and provides other media services. MegaWorld Announces Debut of NYC Magazine MegaWorld, Inc. announced the publication and distribution of the first issue of its new magazine called NYC-New York City - dedicated to a celebration of New York City as one of the premier cities of the World. The first issue contains 96 pages in full color, with articles and photographs covering a wide array of subjects of interest to residents and visitors to our City. A special feature, in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of the City, illustrates various locations of interest as they appeared a century ago, and also as they appear today. The magazine is printed on a glossy stock. The cover price is set at $3.95. Distribution is being made by a number of newsstands, and to other selected locations of the city, as well as to other major cities throughout the World. The magazine will be published quarterly during 1998, and there are plans to increase the frequency to bi-monthly publication in 1999. ScamBusters Examines Online Credit Card Fraud Although the risk to consumers for credit card fraud on the Internet is low, small businesses are taking it on the chin. There has been a tremendous, unpublicized increase in the number of businesses that have been scammed by people who place fraudulent orders using stolen or bogus credit card information. Unlike consumers, businesses are completely at risk. For example, according to the Los Angeles Times, Ideal Travel Concepts of Memphis, Tennessee, was scammed out of $50,000 worth of airline tickets. To help small business owners avoid these kinds of losses, Internet ScamBusters, a publication on Internet fraud, has published "Eight Sure-Fire Strategies Any Business Owner Can Use to Reduce Credit Card Fraud" at http://www.scambusters.org/Scambusters23.html. Internet ScamBusters is a free monthly electronic newsletter that was created as a public service to help business owners avoid scams, fraud, misinformation, and hype. "Our company lost $500 last month because of credit card fraud - and there's absolutely no recourse whatsoever," says Dr. Audri Lanford, co-editor of Internet ScamBusters. "The current issue is dedicated to helping other business owners avoid this growing - but largely unpublicized - problem of credit card fraud for merchants." WWF Celebrates Year of the Ocean ‘98 The ocean is a vast frontier. It contains a dizzying array of species and habitats. But the ocean’s vastness masks the vulnerability of the life it holds, and much of this marine world is currently endangered by a host of complex threats. WWF’s new Year of the Ocean ‘98 Web site -- located at http://www.worldwildlife.org/yoto -- explores the wonder of the ocean’s spaces and species, focusing on the threats that currently endanger our planet’s oceans and what all of us can do to help save our seas. This approach is exemplified by the Sharks in Trouble feature, which explains how these legends of the sea are now among the most vulnerable creatures on Earth. WWF is a global leader in the movement for increased shark conservation, and Year of the Ocean '98 users have access to a wide variety of information on sharks and the threats to their continued survival. From the site, users can also send messages supporting shark conservation to President Clinton and other worldwide decision-makers. Users can also learn more about our planet’s essential marine habitats, as well as the species who live in this underwater world. Special emphasis is given to sharks and the increasing need for shark conservation, whales and the effects that toxics are having on these giants of the sea, and the recent issue of sea turtles and the shrimp trade. News Index Announces Licensing Arrangement with The McClatchy Company News Index, a news-only search engine, announced the licensing of its search engine technology to the online daily papers of The McClatchy Company. Under the arrangement, the 11 daily online newspapers published by The McClatchy Company are each granted the right to offer a branded version of the News Index search engine to their users. "I am pleased that News Index will be partnering with such a broad and established organization as The McClatchy Company. It is a great opportunity for News Index to provide our services to such a diverse group as the McClatchy online dailies," News Index founder Sean Peck stated when asked about the deal. The McClatchy Company, headquartered in Sacramento, California, publishes 11 daily and 13 non-daily newspapers located in western coastal states, North and South Carolina and the Twin Cities of Minneapolis/St. Paul. The Company's total circulation is 1.4 million and Sunday circulation is 1.9 million. Along with the Star Tribune in Minneapolis, McClatchy's newspapers include, among others, The Sacramento Bee, The News and Observer (Raleigh, NC), The Fresno Bee (CA), The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA) and the Anchorage Daily News. Click here to return to the homepage of The Write NewsTM Click here to subscribe to our free weekly email newsletter.  www.writenews.com Copyright © 1997-2011 by Writers Write, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
