Salon Receives Nasdaq Delisting Notice

Posted on June 15, 2001

Salon Media Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: SALN), an Internet media company founded in 1995, has reported that it received a Nasdaq Staff Determination on June 13, 2001, indicating that the Company has failed to comply with the minimum bid price requirement for continued listing (Nasdaq Marketplace Rule 4450(a)(5)). Salon has requested an oral hearing before the Nasdaq Qualifications Panel to appeal the Staff Determination. Salon stock will continue to be traded on the Nasdaq National Market pending the final decision by the Qualifications Panel. The hearing date will be determined by Nasdaq.

Salon's stock has been trading well below $1 per share, the minimum bid price required by the NASDAQ. Recently, Salon's shares have traded as low $.25 per share. Salon is also considering seeking stockholder approval for a reverse stock split in order to comply with Nasdaq's minimum bid price requirement. Salon cut its staff by 20% in December, 2000 and even lowered the salaries of some of its employees by 15% in March, 2001. The company recently launched Salon Premium, a fee-based primarily ad-free section of its website, in order to increase revenues in a slumping advertising market.

The news follows on the heels of the recent demise of the online magazines owned by Automatic Media, Inc. Automatic Media, Inc. announced on June 8, 2001, that it was shutting down after failing to obtain additional funding. The company purchased the online magazines Suck.com and Feedmag in July, 2000 and recently launched the online community Plastic.com All 23 employees of Automatic Media were laid off. Salon and Automatic Media are not alone -- the slowdown in advertising and tech spending has created numerous cutbacks and layoffs in the media and publishing industries.

Founded in 1995, Salon.com produces 10 original content sites; and hosts two online communities -- Table Talk and The Well. In October 2000, Salon.com launched Salon Audio, a site offering music programming, daily downloads and streaming audio from Salon's favorite columnists, as well as downloadable versions of short stories, poems and interviews in MP3 and Real Audio formats. In April, 2001, Salon.com launched Salon Premium, a subscription-only section of its website.