Salon.com Launches New Sections and Redesign

Posted on May 26, 2000

Salon.com, an Internet media company, has announced the launch of Salon Business, a site reporting on business and finance, and Salon Shop, a shopping and ecommerce gateway. Additionally, Salon.com implemented a network-wide redesign that includes expanded broadband integration and new site navigation.

Salon Business features daily commentary and reporting on business and personal finance with an emphasis on the information industries -- entertainment, media, broadcasting, technology, publishing, fashion and advertising. The site is edited by Andrew Essex, who has covered entertainment and media for Entertainment Weekly, the New Yorker, the New York Times and other publications. Diane Seo, formerly of the Los Angeles Times and Foxnews.com, has joined Salon Business as senior editor. The site features Salon.com staff writer Eric Boehlert on the music and TV industries; staff writer Craig Offman on book publishing; media columnist Sean Elder; finance columnist Steven Bodow; advertising columnist Ruth Shalit; and Hollywood columnist Gregg Kilday.

``There's a huge appetite for business and financial coverage online. Salon Business will offer more colorful and critical journalism than can be found elsewhere,'' said David Talbot, Salon.com's chairman and editor in chief.

Salon Shop, a new ecommerce gateway, is a site for finding the best products on the Web. The site showcases Salon.com staff reviews and recommendations on books, movies, food and wine, fashion and technology. It also features information on the latest products from Salon.com's 14 affiliated merchants and partners, and offers special discounts to Salon.com users.

Says Salon.com's CEO and president Michael O'Donnell, ``During the last two Christmas seasons, we featured a Holiday Gift Guide and secured numerous e-commerce merchants and promotional partners. With trustworthy recommendations from our great editorial staff, we've created a valuable year-round resource for Salon.com users.''

Other editorial additions include the launch of Salon Sex, featuring articles about sex and romance by writers with a penchant for honesty and literary flair. The site includes a bi-monthly column by Salon.com columnist Virginia Vitzthum, ``Naked World,'' a daily news feature by Jack Boulware; and a regular column on the week's sexiest movies. Salon Sex will be edited by Karen Croft, former editor of Salon Health & Body.

Also new is a bi-monthly sports column by Allen Barra, currently a columnist with the Wall Street Journal's Weekend Edition. Barra's new column, which debuted this month in Salon News, will alternate with additional sports commentary by Salon.com staff writers Gary Kamiya and Gary Kaufman.