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News, features and resources for media and publishing professionals. Wednesday, November 13, 2002 Blogs | Subscribe | Interviews | Events | Films | Book Blog Media Cynic | Forum | Advertising | Classifieds | Jobs Beliefnet Emerges From Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Beliefnet, a religion and spirituality website, has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Beliefnet also announced that it generated an operating profit in October for the first time in its history. The company sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on April 11 and since then has strengthened business management, cut costs, and increased revenues. Beliefnet officially emerged from Chapter 11 on October 28, with the majority of shares in the company now owned by Beliefnet's staff of 16. Beliefnet has received financing from a group of investors led by Blue Chip Venture Company, which was an investor before the bankruptcy. The company operates beliefnet.com, a multifaith spirituality site. Beliefnet sends out over 170 million email newsletters a month to nearly 4 million subscribers and receives about 1 million unique users a month on the website. Beliefnet is also a spirituality content provider for AOL, has a news-gathering and polling partnership with ABCNews, and has published three books with Rodale Press. "Since we're a multi-faith website, I can't say whether this is a reincarnation or a resurrection -- or just good fortune -- but I will say we're alive and well, and grateful beyond words for this second chance," said Steven Waldman, the editor-in-chief and cofounder who also became CEO when the company entered Chapter 11. "The dot-com frenzy came and went, but people's desire for spiritual nourishment persisted, as it has for a few thousand years," Waldman said. He noted that more people use the web for spiritual purposes than for banking, gambling, stock trading or dating, according to a study by the Pew Internet and Public Life Project. Waldman said the company survived in part because of the "incredible dedication of our staff, outside columnists, advertisers, and, most important, our visitors, who continued their tremendous support for the website. We all felt that given what's going on in the world, we need more, not less, religious understanding." Waldman also praised two employees who were able to take on dramatically expanded roles: Sujay Jhaveri, who was named the company's president, after serving for a year as VP of Business Development, and Elizabeth Sams, who was named Executive Vice President, after being executive producer. "They were asked to perform miracles, and they did," Waldman said. Related Links: · Beliefnet 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 © 1997-2007 by Writers Write, Inc. All Rights Reserved.