Pando Abruptly Fired Two High-Profile Lefty Writers Without Notice or Cause
Like the buying and selling of venerable newspapers like so many baseball cards by the investor class, usually followed by changes based on the new owner's whims, this firing of David Sirota, a major lefty investigative reporter and Ted Rall, a nationally recognized editorial cartoonist, makes me wonder if the for-profit sector can be trusted as the home of real journalists.
A lot of these arbitrary actions could be avoided if journalists worked at non-profits or cooperatives, instead of relying on the favor of corporations and spoiled trust fund babies.
In February, Pando raised $1.2 million in financing from some powerful venture capitalists, including Accel Partners and Founders Fund, both of which invested in prior funding rounds.
Sirota's scoop about Chris Christie breaking anti-corruption laws was shared and liked 10,000 times on Facebook. According to Quantcast, Pando is only pulling in 859,000 monthly uniques globally and 579,000 uniques in the U.S.
An anonymous source alerted Valleywag to the firings. Neither Rall nor Sirota would comment on why they were fired. But there was a consensus among sources that the decision was not related to budgetary concerns. "It was completely from Sarah Lacy. Paul was the executioner. Apparently it came from complaints from investors in Pando," according to one Valleywag source. "Sarah basically said there was not enough tech and too much politics."
http://valleywag.gawker.com/pando-abruptly-fired-two-high-profile-staffers-without-1595758189
blm
(113,052 posts)Their DC Bureau broke the cooked Iraq intel books, then the Downing Street Memos.
yurbud
(39,405 posts)It's highly relevant to this topic.
I know when the Tribune Company bought the LA Times, the fired lefty columnist Robert Scheer, and replaced him with TWO right wingers, which pretty much was the last of regular reading of that paper.
blm
(113,052 posts)I saw it coming when Bushies pals started buying shares in KRT. I never believe in coincidences when Bush Family and their cronies are involved.
"Private Capital Management, which is run by the portfolio manager Bruce S. Sherman, is a subsidiary of the brokerage firm Legg Mason. The firm has increased its holdings of newspaper stocks since 2000, a period of considerable uncertainty in the industry.
Mr. Sherman's firm holds a 19 percent interest in Knight Ridder, which is otherwise widely held.
Private Capital Management is also the largest outside shareholder in The New York Times Company and has large positions in Belo, Gannett, Media General, McClatchy, Journal Register and Lee Enterprises. With $32 billion in assets under its direction as of June 30, Private Capital Management was ranked by Nelson Information as the second-best money manager, based on its returns over 10 years.
The firm has occasionally taken activist stands on investments. Mr. Sherman declined to be interviewed."
KoKo
(84,711 posts)Pando Daily fires David Sirota after hard-hitting stories on national pension thievery.
Posted on June 25, 2014 by Ken Previti
Ken Previti:
David Sirota may be best known for his expose of Gov. Chris Christie, but active and retired teachers know him best for revealing the obscene profits made from pension theft and the wage theft forced upon teachers mandated to pay into pension funds they are assured will not be there if and when they retire. If this doesnt prove that the power of hedge fund managers and corporations has control over even the free press, then nothing will. Sirotas loss is a loss for us all.
Originally posted on Fred Klonsky:
No journalist has done more to expose Wall Street designs on public pensions than David Sirota.
When I need to make the argument that the assault on public pensions is not just a local Illinois issue, I have Sirotas work to point to.
He was a staff writer for the Silcon Valley internet web site called Pando Daily.
No longer.
He was fired over the weekend.
Today The Gawker reports:
Over the weekend, Pando fired two of its hardest-hitting editorial staffers, David Sirota and Ted Rall, both nationally syndicated veteran journalists. Sirota recently broke a big story about Chris Christies administration awarding pension contracts to hedge funds, private equity groups, and venture capital firms whose employees donated to the governors reelection.
In February, Pando raised $1.2 million in financing from some powerful venture capitalists, including Accel Partners and Founders Fund, both of which invested in prior funding rounds.
yurbud
(39,405 posts)nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)KoKo
(84,711 posts)But to see them Fire Sirota and Cartoonist, Ted Rawl...says there's more to this. They trash Greenwald and Intercept....while they fire two Progressives because their investors told them to do it?
Not looking good for them.
nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)yurbud
(39,405 posts)for a bigger paycheck, then get the cord cut.
KoKo
(84,711 posts)freedom along with the others that joined the team. We don't know if the money was better or it was a little better but the freedom to report was more important.
Really miss Taibbi's voice.