Thanks to everyone who?s gotten in touch re the International Business Times aka IB Times.
You?ve provided a lot of helpful information so please keep it coming.
Based on your input, I?ve also modified my description of the IB Times staff to make it less harsh. No longer are you young, unqualified reporters. You?re young, inexperienced and sometimes unqualified reporters.
What else? Some of you seem to think IB Times is actually making money. No, no, NO. Sources in the ad department say it?s a very hard sell, which is not at all surprising given the state of the industry. ?(Read this story about the?HuffPo?if you want more insights into the economics of downmarket aggregators, and then compare and contrast.)
Scanty ad revenues and no subscriptions mean the only thing that can possibly be keeping IB Times afloat is its investors.?So, the next questions are who?s investing in the International Business Times and why?
In the past, there were two main reasons why people invested in the news business:
- To make money, which, unfortunately, is way, way harder than it used to be.
- Because being a publisher is fun and you get to mingle with famous people like the President and Beyonce, and maybe even wield political power.
More recently, quite a few investors have funded news agencies for a third reason:
- Because it?s a good way to get press accreditation that allows you into lock-ups, where governments release critical economic data that can move markets. Hedge fund and prop traders find this information valuable enough that they?re willing to set up an entire fake news agencies, costing millions, just to get their hands on it. (See CEP News, Need to Know News (NTKN) and, possibly, RTT News, World Business Press Online and Econolive.)
Given all this and the fact that Dev Pragad is a specialist in high speed data communications, I?d like to ask all you ?IB Times?insiders if you know of any attempts to get national press gallery accreditation in Washington or London? As far as you know, does IB Times have any reporters in any country covering things like job stats, GDP growth? Is anyone anywhere in lock-ups for IB Times?
What else? I?d really like to pinpoint how the IB Times crew got connected to the god squadders. Could Tracy Davis be married or related to your boss Johnathan Davis? I know Davis is a common name, but still ?
As I?ve mentioned before I do not believe that Etienne Uzac, Johnathan Davis and Dev Pragad are practicing evangelicals looking for world media domination to spread their Christian agenda. I think they have a sound business reason ? involving financial markets ? for wanting to set up a news agency and, for whatever reason, they ended up getting their funding from whoever?s paying Olivet University?s bills.
Finally, please remember not to believe everything you read on LinkedIn and other websites, where it?s very easy to make shit up. ?Just because someone says they worked somewhere doesn?t mean they actually did. Also, if they?re claiming to be an engineer or an MBA, where did they actually get those degrees? It?s significant if they leave it out because that kind of thing is very easily fact checked. And, of course, don?t forget that IB Times is losing money not helping fund the purchase of multi-million dollar campuses. It?s the other way around no matter what you read in the papers.
As always, don?t be afraid to tell me you think I?m wrong. It wouldn?t be the first time. Leave a comment or contact me at ann.brocklehurst@gmail.com.
Related posts:
- Internet chitchat about Etienne Uzac and Enrico Guillaume of International Business Times (IBTimes.com)
- The Christian connection: Ties between International Business Times (IBTimes.com) and Olivet University
- International Business Times (IBTimes.com) is yet another curious news organization
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