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April 2001
- LocalBusiness.com,
which provided local business news for various cities, is
shutting down. About 75 employees were laid off in the process.
Source: InternetNews.com 4-30-01
- DailyRader.com, a
gaming news resource and website, has shut down. 4-30-01
- Salon.com, which recently launched its premium service,
faces a Nasdaq delisting in June unless it can get its share
price over $1.
Source: Newsbytes 4-30-01
- Writers are reporting that The
Vines, which promises
to pay writers a share of advertising sales for posting
their work, is late on quarterly payments and is going
out of business. The company states that it pays
5% of the net revenue from advertising page-views and commerce
featured on writers' posted articles as well as revenues
for referring other members. Articles are rated by other members
and payments are made by PayPal. Writers were expecting the company to make payments
to them earlier this month. The Vines is owned by
CyberSites, Inc. Here
are some articles by writers on The Vines discussing the situation:
4-28-01
- Ex-CNN employees have launched Ted's
Turnovers.com, which is a
website dedicated to CNN employees who have lost their jobs following
the AOL Time Warner merger.
4-28-01
- NetLibrary, an ebook provider focusing on electronic textbooks,
has laid off 90 employees.
Source: The Write News 4-27-01
- Knight Ridder is planning layoffs at nearly all of its
32 daily newspapers. Knight Ridder employs about 22,000 people.
Specifics about which newspapers would be effected and when
were not given.
The Write News, USA Today
4-27-01
- The shares of BrandEra Inc., a business-to-business marketplace
for creative, advertising and marketing professionals, have
been delisted from the Nasdaq SmallCap Market effective April
25, 2001, due to its failure to satisfy Nasdaq's minimum bid
price requirements of $1 per share. 4-27-01
- Wine.com is out of business and the assets have
been picked up by eVineyard.com.
Wine.com had recently cut content
deals with wine-related publications including
Decanter and Saveur.
4-27-01
- Affiliate solutions provider BeFree,
which represents retailers and content-related companies
including Barnes & Noble.com, About.com, Digital Goods
and Reader's Digest, has laid off 16 % of its workforce.
BeFree managed affiliate solutions for
many struggling or failed dot-coms that have canceled their
affiliate programs including Quokka Sports, Etoys.com, Altavista,
NBCi, NetRadio, Garden.com, Octopus.com, iBelieve, iThought and Xdrive.
Source: Revenews 4-27-01
- Future Network, the parent company of
ebusiness magazine Business 2.0, is closing the
European division of Business 2.0. 80 jobs will
be cut in the process.
Source: TheStandard.com 4-27-01
- Primedia is still "transitioning" its Adult websites.
The company has been telling journalists since early
March that it is removing the porn websites,
Adult Films and
Amateur Erotica, but they are
still there. About.com also rotates explicit banner ads
in its Sexuality section.
Source: Silicon
Alley News. 4-27-01
- ComedyWorld.com, a
humor radio syndicate and website, has won the New York Post's
Dead Dot Com of the Day Award. The site which launched
in June 2000 has closed its doors.
Source: New York Post 4-26-01
- Muze, a
provider of music content and directories for
retail stores, has laid off 25 employees.
The company employs about 200 people.
Source: LocalBusiness.com 4-26-01
- Reciprocal, which provides digital rights management
services, is cutting 50 employees -- about 29% of its workforce.
LocalBusiness.com 4-26-01
- Jupiter Media Metrix, which
provides Internet traffic analysis services, is
planning on laying off about 18% of its staff.
Source: AdAge.com 4-26-01
- iSyndicate has laid off more staff, leaving only
20 employees remaining to close down operations. What
is left of the company is expected to be sold to
competitor Screaming Media for a bargain basement price.
Source: Red Herring
4-25-01
- AvantGo, which provides content and content distribution
services for mobile devices and handhelds, has laid of
15% of its staff.
Source: CNET 4-25-01
- Print newspapers are forecast to gradually be replaced
by digital couterparts. The exact format of future newspapers
is still unknown, but a recent study suggests that most
newspapers will not be printed by 2020.
Source: The Write News
4-25-01
- Book-related editorial pages at newspapers are being cut.
The New York Times has reported cuts in book pages at various papers,
including The Seattle Times, The New York Times, The Boston Globe,
The San Francisco Chronicle and The San Jose Mercury News.
These newspapers are not erasing their book review sections, just
cutting back, which unfortunately will probably affect the reviews
of small and mid-list books. Hopefully, these pages will return when
the economy improves. Source: The New York Times
4-24-01
- PlanetGov.com is ending its original news coverage
of the federal government and has let go columnist
Mike Causey. Source: Washington Post 4-24-01
- Barbara Kingsolver's novel, The Bean Trees, has
been plagiarized according to publisher HarperCollins. The
guilty book published by St. Martin's Press
is The Persia Cafe by Melany Neilson. St. Martin's
plans to revise future editions but has refused to withdraw
the current version of the book.
4-24-01 Source: BookWire
- theglobe.com is delisted. theglobe.com, a gaming network
and network of online communities, announced that its common stock,
previously traded on the Nasdaq National Market, commenced trading
on the OTC Bulletin Board. theglobe.com received
notification from Nasdaq indicating continued non-compliance of
theglobe.com's common shares with the required $1 minimum bid price.
4-24-01
- Layoffs are expected at CNBC.com as a result of the merger
between CNBC.com and MSN Money Central.
4-24-01 Source: TheStandard.com.
- Disney is closing two
more its entertainment websites. The company plans to close
MrShowbiz.com
and WallofSound.com
this fall. Some of the content and staff from these websites
will be used in the expanded US Weekly website relaunch, a joint
venture between Disney and Wenner Media.
Layoffs are likely at both MrShowbiz.com and
WallofSound.com.
Source: MSNBC.com,
Newsbytes.
4-20-01
- POZ Publishing LLC
has announced a one-third staff reduction and company reorganization.
Brad Peebles, publisher and CEO, dismissed rumors
about the demise of POZ and said the magazine
will continue and new business ventures are being explored.
Peebles also said the July and August issues of POZ,
a magazine for people with HIV, will be published according
to schedule.
4-20-01
- Dads Magazine subscribers become Parents
Magazine subscribers. Mary Jo Romeo, Publisher of
G+J USA's Parents magazine, announced the acquisition
of Dads magazine's subscriber list and domain name
(dadsmagazine.com) from
Dads Media, Inc. Effective with the May 2001 issue of
Parents, current Dads subscribers will
receive Parents magazine. 4-20-01
- The life of the
Detour Media Group is
nearing its end according to rumors
reported by the New York Post. The company continues
to lose staff members, including its publisher and the stock is
trading at a dismal 16 cents per share.
Source: New York Post 4-19-01
- Can iVillage.com survive?
The company, which provides resources and content targeted to
women, has lost over
$350 million since 1998. They cut 30 positions earlier this week,
about 10% of its workforce.
Source: NetSlaves. 4-19-01
- Newsday publisher Raymond Jansen has informed employees
that 30 to 50 jobs could be lost because of the downturn in
advertising revenues. Newsday employs over 3,400 people.
Source: Newsday. 4-19-01
- Game over at Quokka Sports.
The online sports network
has closed its doors and laid off all 220 employees.
Source: CNET, TheStandard.com,
LocalBusiness.com. 4-19-01
- New York Times Digital has cut 47 more jobs, bringing the
total to 116 for the year. Most of the cuts
were at Abuzz.com, a community "expert" service, and
Winetoday.com.
Source: New York Times. 4-19-01
- iVillage.com, a
website for women, has cut 30
employees, about 10% of its workforce.
Source: DotComScoop. 4-18-01
- Office.com, a small
business resource, has filed Chapter 11. Earlier this month
Office.com let half of
its staff go. Winstar, the parent company of Office.com, has
also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Source: LocalBusiness.com 4-18-01
- The layoffs from the Inside and Brill's Content merger
appear to be higher than expected. The New York Post is reporting
there were 75 layoffs out of a combined staff of 160. This was
30% higher than Chairman Stephen Brill's original estimate.
Source: New
York Post. 4-18-01
- Sportsline.com, an online sports website, is
cutting 30 employees, about 15-20 percent of its workforce.
Source: DotComScoop
4-18-01
- Snowball, an online network for young adults, announced
that it has reduced its workforce by approximately 55
employees, or 33 percent. Source: The Write News
4-18-01
- H&S Media Inc. has laid off 15 employees and folded Hot,
a celebrity teen magazine and Pojo’s Pokémon magazine.
Source: IndustryClick.
4-18-01
- Print starts going away... The News Journal, a small
newspaper which covers local news for Amelia and Powhatan counties in
Virginia, will now publish solely online, eliminating
its print edition. The online edition can be found at:
www.njwebnews.com.
Source: 4-18-01
- Scholastic Corporation announced that it will be closing
Scholastic
Literacy Place, its basal textbook reading
program, and it will focus on its
educational publishing efforts on reading improvement programs.
Scholastic will not offer any new material or updates for
Scholastic Literacy Place, but will continue to support current
customers. l00 editorial and support positions (about 1% of Scholastic's
workforce) will be eliminated. Source:
The Write News 4-17-01
- RecordTV.com will be closing. The site will no
longer be able to
stream television and movie programming on its website
after losing a legal battle with major Hollywood studios.
The company also has to pay $50,000 in legal fees to the
studios.
Source: TheStandard.com 4-17-01
- Nettaxi.com, a web portal and provider of community
web hosting services, will be laying
off 33% of its workforce.
Source: Newsbytes. 4-17-01
- XDrive, providers of
an online hard drive service where consumers
can store, upload and download files, will be switching
its online storage service from free to fee-based. Current XDrive users
have 10 days to remove their files from XDrive or switch to the
new Xdrive plus service, which costs $4.95 per month for
25MB of storage. XDrive
also recently ended its IntelligentX newsletter
and laid off over 40 employees in March, 2001.
Source: LocalBusiness.com 4-17-01
- 70 employees of Borders.com will be laid off as a result
of the recent agreement between Borders Group and Amazon.com.
Amazon.com will start running the Borders.com website in
August, 2001.
Source: The Write News 4-16-01
- Outpost.com, an online
electronics, computer and
software retailer, has laid of 110 people or 30% of its workforce.
Source: CNET 4-16-01
- The Seattle Times is considering layoffs as it struggles
with the weak economy and recent strike.
Source: Seattle
Post-Intelligencer 4-13-01
- Yesse! Communications Inc., a publisher of four alternative
weeklies is filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company also
closed Icon, and Iowa city newspaper and laid off nine employees.
Source: Editor & Publisher. 4-13-01
- Round Two of Layoffs at New York Times Digital:
The New York Times Company, which employes about
14,000 people, has announced
plans to cut staff. The exact numbers and departments
have not yet been announced, but the company did specify
that some of the layoffs will come in the
online division -- which already laid off 69 employees
in January. Source: CNET,
NYTimes.com,
BusinessWeek, AdAge.com,
USA
Today, ABCNews
4-12-01
- The online division of The Wall Street
Journal has cut 35 of its 250 positions.
Source: Newsbytes 4-12-01
- Themestream.com,
which paid writers per click for articles
posted to its website, is closing its doors on 4-13-01.
In a letter
emailed to contributors Themestream states that it
will be unable to pay contributors. The letter also explains
that Themestream is ceasing all business operations, negotiating
with secured creditors and is looking to sell some or all of
its assetts. Themestream is also advising writers to make copies
of their articles on its website and is giving them until the
end of today (4-12-01) to do so. Themestream was positioning
itself as a niche content resource for enthusiasts featuring
nonfiction advice, articles and columns on numerous subjects.
The company hoped to make money from advertising and ecommerce
deals. The site began by paying writers 10 cents for each time
an article of theirs was seen by a Themestream visitor. Themestream
then began slowly reducing the payment rate and it was down
to 2 cents per visitor before this final letter to contributors.
4-12-01
- Barnesandnoble.com
has removed two of its shopping categories: software and gifts.
Let's just hope they can keep the books category. The two categories
were removed from the online retailer on Tuesday.
Source: Newsbytes.
4-12-01
- Clippy, the virtual paperclip helper, has been fired
from the next edition of Microsoft Office. Clippy
is not included in Office XP, the next edition of the
word processing and publishing software. Microsoft
has set up a website
about Clippy's demise where you
vote on Clippy's future.
Source: CNET 4-12-01
- Yahoo, a media company and web portal, is cutting 400 jobs
-- about 12% of its workforce. Before the layoffs the
company employed over 3,500 people.
Source: CNET,
CBS,
TheStandard.com
4-11-01
- theglobe.com, which owns gaming websites and a large
online community, has eliminated 59 positions,
over 30% of its employees.
Source: The Write News 4-11-01
- Kozmo, an online convenience store, is shutting down
and laying off 1,100 workers. In addition to drinks and snacks, Kozmo
also delivered books, magazines and newspapers, including The
New York Times and USA Today.
Source: CNET 4-11-01
- Vault.com, an employment website, has laid off
25 people, about 1/3 of its workforce.
Source: VentureWire 4-11-01
- Rivals.com, a publisher of sports content,
has closed down and fired the remaining 80 employees.
Source: SeattleTimes.com 4-11-01
- Writers have been reporting that
About.com, which bills itself
as "The Human Internet," has summarily dismissed 85 of
its 700 web guides. Web guides are responsible for maintaining
a variety of sites which cover a broad range of topics, from Alien
Abductions to Exotic Pets. Apparently, About.com locked
out 85 guides from their sites overnight, without prior notice or
warning, then notified them that they were terminated.
Primedia, Inc. acquired About.com earlier this year. Rumor has
it that About.com has also deeply cut the pay amounts that
writers can earn for being web guides. When asked about the
purported closings and lower pay scales, About.com told
The Write News that the Company "does not comment on rumors
or speculation." At this time, it is unclear which, if any,
of the sites have been removed and which will be left online, but
no longer actively maintained. However, About does appear to be
hanging onto its treasured porn sites, Adult
Films and Amateur Erotica.
The New York Post
reported in early March that Primedia CEO Tom Rogers was planning on
selling the porn sites after a hue and cry from outraged
right-wing activists.
4-10-01
- iSyndicate,
which syndicates content online for
both writers and publishers, has laid off 50% of its employees
in a suprise move.
The company has over 1,000 content providers using its services.
Source: Newsbytes 4-10-01
- Time, Inc. is close to a deal where it would
purchase Business 2.0 from Imagine Media. The
magazine would be merged with Time Inc.'s
eCompany Now magazine, but would use the Business 2.0
name and brand. Many of the Business 2.0 staff would be
cut in the deal.
Source: TheStandard.com,
IndustryClick.com 4-10-01
- NBC is shutting down its NBC Internet (NBCi)
division. The assests of NBC Internet will be
absorbed back into NBC. NBC Internet was trading
below $1 per share before the news that NBC would
purchase the shares and absorb the company.
About 300 jobs from NBC Internet are expected to
be lost.
Source: Washington Post,
TheStandard.com, CNET, Forbes
4-9-01
- Gomez, an Internet research firm, is laying off about
20 percent of its staff -- about 30 employees.
Source: CNET 4-9-01
- Office.com has cut 80 employees, 50% of its 160 person
workforce. The resource for business owners was owned
by Winstar, which announced it will be letting 2,000 employees
go. Winstar is also considering putting Office.com up for sale.
Source: LocalBusiness.com 4-6-01
- TerraShare,
an About.com styled network of
topic-specific websites, has put itself up for sale.
The company says that over 50,000 users have published
their own ``member'' content sites on TerraShare using
TerraShare's website building tools. The company has
hired investment bank, Alterity Partners,
to help them find a buyer.
4-6-01
- Freedom Technology Media Group (FTMG) will stop publishing the
print edition of Home Office Computing (HOC), the 18-year-old
periodical dedicated to home office workers, effective with the
April 2001, issue. The periodical's editorial content will be
incorporated into other FTMG print and online properties.
A total of 25 employees will be laid off as a result of the shutdown of HOC.
Source: The Write News 4-6-01
- Women.com Networks, Inc., an
Internet destination for women, announced it received a
Nasdaq Staff Determination letter dated March 29, 2001,
notifying the company it has not met the minimum bid price
requirement for continued listing set forth in Marketplace
Rule 4310(c)(8)(B). The notice of non-compliance subjects
Women.com securities to delisting from The Nasdaq National
Market, effective April 6, 2001.
iVillage Inc. announced that it would acquire Women.com
on February 5, 2001.
4-6-01
- Pearson is cutting staff at the Financial Times'
internet operations. 40 jobs will be cut, about
10% of the online workforce.
Source: FT.com 4-6-01
- Layoffs are possible at Yahoo.
Source: ZDNet.
4-6-01
- Layoffs Result From Inside.com
and Brill's Content Merger:
An
article on The Write News tells an abbreviated version of
the complex Inside and Brill Media merger. Inside will become
part of Media Central, the joint venture between Brill Media
Holdings and Primedia. About 50% of the staff of both
Brill's Content and Inside.com are expected to be let go as
a result of the merger.
Source: The Write News,
Financial Times,
CNET,
Advertising Age,
SiliconAlleyDaily.com,
Inside.com,
New York Daily News,
New York Post,
Media Life Magazine,
IndustryClick.com,
New York Observer
4-5-01
- CMP Media closed NetGuide the print magazine
a couple years ago. It has also recently shut down the
online web guide. The site now says, "NetGuide.com
is no longer in operation. It was fun and we enjoyed the
ride! We thank you." We are not sure of the exact
closing date, but a cached copy on Google shows
Jan 23rd, 2001.
4-5-01
- Fandom.com, an entertainment media company for fantasy,
horror and science fiction fans, announced that the company
is shutting down its online operations. Fandom has streamlined
operations and let approximately 20 of its 100 employees go
in the Santa Monica and Virginia offices.
Source: The Write News. 4-5-01
- The IEntertainment Network was delisted from the Nasdaq.
Source: LocalBusiness.com. 4-5-01
- CBSNews.com
has cut about 20 employees.
Source: TheStandard.com 4-5-01
- The shares of Barnes&Noble.com's stock have
closed below $1.00.
4-4-01
- TheStreet.com, a financial news provider, has
laid off 20% of its 200 employees. The editorial staff was hit
the hardest, with about twenty employees let go in TheStreet.com's
editorial divisions.
Source: TheStandard.com 4-4-01
- EpublishingNews.com is gone. The site used
to report epublishing news on business days.
4-4-01
- DotCom Scoop reported that rumors suggest
that Abuzz, a community "expert" service from
New York Times Digital, may be up for sale or
ready to shut down.
Source: DotCom Scoop
4-4-01
- eCircles.com, a free service offering community building tools
and digital photo sharing, will be shut down on April 15th.
4-4-01
- Sonicnet has cut editorial staff in its classical and jazz
music sections. Sonicnet was acquired by MTVi, MTV's online
business, in 1999 and one laid off employee commented that
the site hasn't been the same since.
Source: CNET 4-3-01
- eBookNet.com, a
resource about ebooks and epublishing,
has been shut down by Gemstar.
The website provided news,
articles, interviews and other resources about developments
in the industry. eBookNet.com was originally launched
by Nuvomedia, Inc., the Rocket eBook developer, before the
company was sold to Gemstar. The website's employees
Wade Rousch (the editor)
and Glenn Sanders have been let go.
4-3-01
- Internet.com, a
portal for Internet professionals,
has announced layoffs of up to 15% of its workforce (60 to 70
employees) accross its collection
of internet and technology websites. Some of the Internet.com
owned websites include ClickZ.com, VCWatch.com, ASPNews.com,
WDVL.com, EarthWeb.com and atnewyork.com.
Internet.com's stock has also recently plunged to new lows and
now trades in the $3 to $4 range.
Source: New York Times 4-3-01
- MSNBC reported that AOL Time Warner
employees are nervous about the possiblity of
another round of layoffs. The article also reports
infighting among AOL Time Warner executives.
An AOL Time Warner spokesperson denied the
layoff rumors.
Source: MSNBC 4-3-01
- Advertising Age, a publication for advertising
professionals published by Crain Communications, has laid off
10 of its 90 employees (7%).
Ad Age blamed the layoffs on slowdowns in the advertising
industry.
Source: CBS MarketWatch 4-3-01
- Wine.com, an online wine retailer, has cut
a large part of its workforce. 160 (65%) of its
245 employees have been laid off. The company has content
deals with wine-related publications including
Decanter and Saveur.
Source: CNET 4-3-01
- Digital Media On Demand Inc., a provider of digital
content security, has laid off about 50% of its 40
employees.
Source: LocalBusiness.com 4-3-01
- Inktomi, a provider of search engine software, has
cut 260 jobs -- about 25% of its workforce.
Source: CNET 4-2-01
- March First, an Internet consulting firm, has
announced another round of layoffs. In this round
1,700 employees were laid off.
Source: CNET 4-2-01
- Digital Goods, a provider of digital content
marketing services, has cut 19 jobs (30%), bringing its
workforce down to 44.
Source: LocalBusiness.com 4-2-01
- WordArchive.com, a website that promised to share advertising
revenues with non-fiction writers, appears to be out of business.
The only content on its website now is the message, "This account
has been disabled.. To have the account restored, contact
Customer Service."
The website was designed and owned by Seventynine Ltd
based in New Zealand.
4-2-01
- Hungry
Minds Inc., the book publisher formerly known
as IDG Books, is seeking a possible sale of the company
or of specific assets. The company also reported a decrease
in earnings and that it is in default of its credit facility.
Hungry Minds publishes the For Dummies, CliffNotes
and Frommers books and recently announced
Hungry Minds a la Carte, a deal with iUniverse.com that lets
customers mix and match chapters from different Hungry
Minds titles.
4-2-01
- A sale of new economy business magazine
Business 2.0 is pending and staff of the magazine
are starting to leave the publisher Imagine Media.
Nancy O’Neill, who was hired as president of Imagine
Media in June, 2000, resigned on Friday. Future
Network, the owner of Imagine Media, announced
cutbacks and
magazine closings in February of this year.
Source: Industry Click 4-2-01
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