From the New York Post:
The Asian investors who are taking over a majority stake in Forbes Media finalized the deal last Friday, officially ending 97 years of family control — but so far the new owners are staying away and leaving their new possession in the hands of current management.And a look from the inside, Lewis DVorkin writing at Forbes:
CEO Mike Perlis, who is being retained, told staffers on Monday that he will hold a Town Hall meeting on Oct. 8 after flying to Hong Kong this week to meet the new owners, including Tak Cheung Yam, head of a diversified holding company, Integrated Asset Management, and Wayne Hsieh, co-founder of ASUSTek, a Singapore-based computer vendor....MORE
Inside Forbes: The Fast Times and Hard Truths About Building a New Model for Journalism
Right after the sale of FORBES was announced, I got a gracious and astute email from an industry colleague I have followed closely for 10 years. He expressed admiration for our accomplishments — the reinvention of a grand old media brand by way of new models for journalism and advertising. Yet, he saw our story as a “cautionary tale” for newsrooms in search of a “simple solution” to their problems. “I never thought you thought it was simple,” he said. “I think others interpret it that way… or rather, wish they could.”Finally, the most amazing stat for a property I figured would go for maybe, high eight figures:
He’s right. Nothing was or is simple about the media industry’s predicament, or our get-it-done-now effort to transform Forbes.com into a publishing platform for journalists, experts and marketers. Every day, I ponder the professional, career and business complexities of it all, especially when I hear that such-and-such plans to start a contributor model or leap into native advertising (Note: I vote for dropping the descriptor “native,” since advertising clearly labeled is marketing and content properly sourced is content).
Over four years (six counting True/Slant, my startup), I’ve “unapologetically” told journalists the time has come to think differently. With the same openness, I’ve pointed out (in my posts and on panels) challenges and shortcomings that are either specific to us or the news industry. In that spirit, here are 10 things we’re still grappling with as we continue to chart our own course:
1) The Newsroom: We’ve replaced a century of time-worn journalistic thinking and processes with the intuitive digital skills of a new professional. They live and breathe the “life,” but skipped the old-world apprenticeship phrase (Where Have You Gone, Bob Feit?). That puts periodic strains on traditional notions of journalistic excellence. Younger journalists also have different workplace expectations, making it imperative that typically slow-to-promote news organizations offer a clearly visible career path....MORE
How Forbes Got to a $475 Million Valuation
