CNN, a unit of Time Warner, is in talks to purchase Mashable, a social media and tech news site.
Reporting from SXSW Sunday night, Reuters financial blogger Felix Salmon speculated that the acquisition is likely to cost CNN some $200-mln. Salmon added that although Mashable.com boasts 20 million unique monthly visitors and is a respected brand in the industry, the move may prove to be a risk for CNN. (As those who follow the industry may remember, the last time a news organization bought out a tech news site, it did not go so well. To read about the AOL-TechCrunch quagmire, see here.)
What even the naysayers agree on, however, is this: If the acquisition were to go through, it would speak volume to the weight a traditional news outlet is placing on the still nascent social media and tech industry.
In reverse order, the world learned last Friday that the 28-years old former Obama campaign organizer and co-founder of Facebook Chris Hughes announced now held majority stake over the 98-years old The New Republic. He will be assuming the role of the magazine’s Editor-in-Chief and Publisher effective immediately.
We know this because Hughes tweeted out the good news @chrishughes (“I am honored to take on the role of Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of TheNew Republic”), an apt move for The Kid Who Made Obama President.
What’s next, Facebook buys the New York Times?
(Source: Reuters TV)
