Mario Sundar's Speakeasy

Well, it’s here already. The Blogosphere Smackdown of the month between traditional journalists (who sensationalize) and bloggers (who question that)… and this smackdown involved Digg too. So, here are the juicy details:

The Business Week Smackdown
Contenders: Journalists vs. Bloggers
Time Frame: In Progress

Summary:

At 29, Rose (read Kevin Rose — Digg) was on his way either to a cool $60 million or to total failure. So far, Digg is breaking even on an estimated $3 million annually in revenues. Nonetheless, people in the know say Digg is easily worth $200 million – Business Week

Business Week Cover: “How this kid made $60 million in 18 months.”

$3 million in revenues and they’re breaking even. That means no meaningful profits. That’s the first hint no one has made $60,000,000. Their gross revenues aren’t even anywhere close to that number. And let’s leave out the “people in the know say it’s easily worth” fantasy numbers. And certainly don’t use those numbers to do the math that makes the cover – Jason Fried

There is a word for this kind of business journalism, and it is: awful. The reader has no idea who these “people in the know” are; they could easily be people associated with the company who have an interest in inflating its worth – Scott Rosenberg

If you like web celebrity smackdowns check out my earlier piece: Top 5 Blogosphere Smackdowns.

Filed under: Business Blogging