U.S. Orders Airlines to Be More Upfront on Fees

Abstract: The government announced a new set of passenger protections on Wednesday aimed primarily at travelers’ growing frustration over airline fees. Although the rules do not set limits on how much carriers can charge for items like bags, ticket changes and seats, they do require airlines to more clearly disclose these and other fees in advertisements and on their Web sites. Ads will have to cite the full price, including government taxes that now are often relegated to the fine print. Other provisions increase the compensation carriers must pay passengers who are involuntarily bumped from flights (from up to $800 to as much as $1,300 for the longest delays). They also require the airlines to refund checked baggage fees if luggage is lost, and require airlines to promptly notify customers of delays over 30 minutes. The provisions impose a four-hour limit on time spent on the tarmac for delayed international flights, expanding a policy that has been in place for domestic flights for a year. The Department of Transportation proposed these and other passenger protections last June, soliciting public comment on the ideas, and ultimately adopted most of the rules under consideration, despite objections raised by the airlines. “Airline passengers have a right to be treated fairly,” Ray LaHood , the transportation secretary, said in a statement Tuesday. “It’s just common sense that if an airline loses your bag or you get bumped from a flight because it was oversold, you should be reimbursed. The additional passenger protections we’re announcing today will help make sure air travelers are treated with the respect they deserve.” The government is trying to deal with a growing frustration for travelers: confusing ticket prices and hidden fees. When the new rules take effect in late August, airlines will have to prominently disclose all potential fees on their Web sites, including surcharges for baggage, meals, canceling or changing reservations and seat assignments. Although the overview of the new rules provided by the Transportation Department did not specify how these fees would have to be displayed during online fare searches or purchases, the government did single out baggage fees — which have become increasingly complicated — for special attention. The new rules require the airlines and ticket agents to refer passengers to up-to-date information about baggage charges, both before and after a ticket purchase. Airlines must also include bag fees in e-ticket confirmations sent to passengers. Another new rule that is sure to spur debate requires airlines and ticket agents to include all government taxes and fees in every advertised price. That would change the longstanding practice of allowing advertisements to list government taxes and fees separately — usually as part of a lengthy, small-print disclaimer. The Transportation Department also noted that it planned to issue a proposal later this year that would require extra fees to be displayed at all points of sale, not just on airline Web sites. That is another hot issue, as travel agencies have been asking the government to force airlines to share fee data with databases that make it easier for customers to compare ticket prices. Since the Transportation Department released a preview of the new rules on the condition that the details not be shared until Wednesday, the airlines’ reaction to the policies could only be gleaned from responses they and their trade associations filed during the public comment period last year. The Air Transport Association , the airlines’ trade group, objected, for instance, to the full-fare advertising requirement, calling the proposal “likely illegal” and pointing out that other businesses like hotels or telecommunications companies were not forced to include government taxes in their advertised prices. “Given the wide and varied practice of unbundling services and advertising such services, it is not clear why the aviation industry should be treated differently,” the Air Transport Association wrote. More pithily, Spirit Airlines said in its filing that forcing carriers to advertise prices including additional fees “would be akin to McDonald’s being required to only advertise burgers including the price of fries and a Coke.” The Air Transport Association also objected to a rule, which was ultimately adopted, that will require airlines to hold a reservation at the quoted fare without payment, or offer cancellations without penalty, for at least 24 hours after a reservation is made. Spirit Airlines wrote that this proposal would be “like allowing a customer at a grocery store to take home a carton of milk without charge, leave it out in the sun and then bring back the spoiled milk the next day.” In a concession to the airlines’ objections, the government did limit the 24-hour rule to reservations made one week or more previous to a flight’s departure date. The Transportation Department also decided not to force airlines to incorporate their customer service plans into their contracts of carriage, which would have given passengers grounds for legal action if carriers violated their service commitments. The department also did not require baggage fee refunds when luggage is merely delayed. Although the Air Transport Association opposed extending tarmac delay limits to international flights, the government adopted this rule, which will apply to domestic and foreign carriers. The Transportation Department cited the extended tarmac delays passengers experienced on foreign carriers during a snowstorm last December at Kennedy International Airport in New York as an “important factor” in its decision. The airlines have warned that this rule will probably increase flight cancellations. That issue is currently in dispute as analysts, airline representatives and government officials debate whether the threat of hefty penalties for tarmac delays for domestic flights has resulted in more cancellations in the last year.

Airlines
Price
Delays
Luggage
Transportation Department


Once Again, Penguins Put an End to the Flyers’ Season

Abstract: After falling behind by three goals in a hostile building, the Pittsburgh Penguins apparently decided that they did not want to play a Game 7 against the Flyers in Philadelphia. The Penguins came back with three goals in the second period before Sergei Gonchar scored the winner early in the third in a 5-3 victory. Sidney Crosby scored twice for Pittsburgh, which eliminated the Flyers from their best-of-seven Eastern Conference first-round series, 4-2. The Penguins also eliminated the Flyers from the N.H.L. playoffs last year, in five games in the conference finals. After the Flyers stayed alive with a 3-0 victory Thursday in Pittsburgh, they could not protect a 3-0 lead at home. They have not forced a Game 7 since losing to Edmonton in the 1987 Stanley Cup finals. Philadelphia was ahead, 3-0, after Mike Knuble and Joffrey Lupul scored 51 seconds apart late in the first period and Danny Briere added a power-play goal 4 minutes 6 seconds into the second. But the Penguins scored twice in the next two and a half minutes to pull to 3-2. Ruslan Fedotenko slid the puck under a sprawled Martin Biron at 4:35, then Mark Eaton swatted the puck out of the air and into the net at 6:32. Crosby tied the game at 3-3 with 3:01 left in the second, and the Penguins took the lead when Gonchar fired a slap shot past Biron at 2:19 into the third. “We’ve had huge rivalries over the years,” said Crosby, who added an empty-net goal in the final minute. “It’s a loud building. They were playing well and the crowd was into it, so to hear a little silence was gratifying.” BLACKHAWKS 5, FLAMES 1 Chicago scored three times in a 1:49 stretch of the first period to take control early in Game 5 of their Western Conference first-round series. The Blackhawks lead the series, 3-2, and can wrap up the team’s first playoff series victory since 1996 on Monday in Calgary. The home team has won every game in this series. Brent Seabrook opened the scoring with a power-play goal 9:19 into the game. A minute and a half later, Patrick Sharp beat Calgary goalie Miikka Kiprusoff with a backhand for a 2-0 Blackhawks lead. Kris Versteeg then collected a loose puck and put it past Kiprusoff 19 seconds later. Chicago outshot Calgary, 15-3, in the first period. Dustin Boyd cut the deficit to 3-1 for Calgary 2:45 into the second. But Andrew Ladd restored Chicago’s three-goal lead less than four minutes later. Kiprusoff was replaced by Curtis McElhinney after allowing four goals on 18 shots. Chicago goalie Nikolai Khabibulin made 19 saves and held the Flames scoreless during a two-man advantage for nearly a minute and a half in the third.

Pittsburgh Penguins
Hockey Ice
Philadelphia Flyers


Mets and Manuel Get No Relief From the Rain

Abstract: Mets Manager Jerry Manuel will never say he is hoping for a rainout. When he puts on a uniform, Manuel said, he is expecting to manage his team that particular day. “When I come to the park, I come to play,” he said before Saturday’s game. “I come to get a game off the schedule, period.” That being said, Manuel did not sound worried when Saturday’s game between the Mets and the Tampa Bay Rays was threatened because of rain. That was because the Mets are in the middle of a stretch in which they play 20 consecutive games without a day off. Their next scheduled day off is July 6. With Carlos Delgado and Jose Reyes on the disabled list, a rainout would have given Manuel the chance to rest the stars he has left — David Wright and Carlos Beltran — without having them miss a game. “Well, the thing that kind of jumps out at me that as difficult as it is without those guys, it becomes even more difficult when the responsibility more or less is placed on Carlos and David,” Manuel said. “And then you have to take in the factor of fatigue and you have to manage that. That’s when it becomes trying.” Gary Sheffield was not going to be in the starting lineup no matter the weather Saturday, but Manuel would prefer if Sheffield could also get a day off without missing a game. Manuel said he was concerned the fatigue might affect the Mets’ performance, specifically Wright’s and Beltran’s, during this stretch of games. “I think we’re definitely fine,” Manuel said. “But I think as we play games in a row, travel, game, day game, night game, that type of thing, that’s where we have to really manage that particular situation. Because you could be playing with two guys that are fatigued and them not being the guys that you anticipate them to be.” Manuel may be right to worry about Beltran, who used to be on the long list of injured Mets. He missed time last month because of a bone bruise in his right knee, but has played in every game for the Mets since June 4. Before Saturday’s game, however, he told Newsday that the knee was still bothering him and that he planned to get a magnetic resonance imaging test soon. Beltran, who was hitting .335 with 8 home runs and 40 runs batted in entering Saturday, has helped keep the Mets afloat since Delgado and Reyes have been out. A rainout would have also given Manuel the chance to let Johan Santana take the mound without the concern of dealing with possible rain delays and unfavorable conditions. Saturday was a pivotal day for Santana, who pitched for the first time since he allowed a career-high nine runs at Yankee Stadium last Sunday. Santana had been dealing with blisters on his left middle finger and left foot, along with a sore back, but Manuel reiterated that Santana’s problems of late — he had a 6.50 earned run average in his previous six starts — were not physical. “I don’t think it’s a matter of a physical thing, I really don’t,” Manuel said. “Again, I think everybody goes through a little slump here and there, and the good ones, they figure a way to come out of it, and I really think he’s one of those that’s going to figure out how to get it done.” REYES ISN’T RUNNING Shortstop Jose Reyes was able to walk briskly through the Mets’ clubhouse, but he said his hamstring had not healed to the point where he could run. Reyes sustained a small tear in his right hamstring tendon while rehabilitating his injured right calf this month in an extended spring training game. He took batting practice and planned on fielding ground balls before Saturday’s game, but the rain prevented him from fielding. But he said his hamstring was not allowing him to run, even at a reduced speed. “I worry about running,” Reyes said. “That’s the key. Before I made it worse, I was taking batting practice and fielding ground balls.” Reyes said he did not know when he would be able to run again, or when he would be able to return to the field. “It’s frustrating because I like to be on the field,” Reyes said. “It’s kind of hard for me.” The ailing Mets have received a boost recently from Daniel Murphy, who is 7 for 13 in the last three games. Before that, he had been 7 for 40. The hot streak, Murphy said, is the end result of a chicken-and-egg situation with his confidence at the plate. “What came first?” Murphy said. “You have to have confidence to hit, but to get hits, you have to be confident.” In this case, Murphy first got a few hits, leading to increased confidence, which led to more hits. He was hitting .256 with 4 home runs and 22 runs batted in before Saturday’s game. “He’s laying off the pitches he should be taking,” the hitting coach Howard Johnson said. “He’s attacking the strike zone.” READY TO GO John Maine and Oliver Perez are scheduled to start Monday night in Florida State League games for Port St. Lucie against Port Charlotte. One will pitch in a previously suspended game; the other will pitch in the regularly scheduled game.

Tampa Bay Rays
Baseball
New York Mets
Santana Johan
Manuel Jerry


For One Production Company, It’s All About the Power of Storytelling

Abstract: “TELL to sell,” once a mantra on Madison Avenue, is making a comeback as marketers seek to engage consumers with compelling stories rather than peddle products in hit-and-run fashion with interruptive advertising like 30-second commercials. A newcomer to the ranks of what are called brand storytellers, which include agencies like 42 Entertainment and Story Worldwide, is being formed by Epoch Films, a company that produces commercials for advertisers like Apple, Nike and Procter & Gamble as well as films like the quirky 2005 comedy “Junebug.” The new company, named Dandelion, is scheduled to be introduced on Monday, when plans call for its Web site ( dandelion.com ) to go live. Epoch is starting Dandelion by acquiring Kirt Gunn & Associates, a boutique interactive agency specializing in nontraditional campaigns for advertisers like Ford Motor, L’Oréal and P.& G. that are replete with webisodes, offbeat Web sites and viral video clips. In fact, the name Dandelion is intended as a better way to describe the dispersive nature of viral videos, which are so named because marketers want consumers to spread them around. “None of us were fans of the notion of content or ideas being ‘viral,’ ” said Kirt Gunn, who has been president at Gunn and will be a managing partner at Dandelion, because “the metaphor of a virus is inherently unpleasant.” “We did, however, want to capture the notion that powerful ideas do self-propagate when the audience is connected by digital technology,” he added. Another benefit of Dandelion, Mr. Gunn said, is that it conveys “the constant reinvention” inherent in interactivity in that “whether it’s blogging, content creation or social media, there will always be new dandelions on the lawn.” Dandelion will be half owned by Epoch and half by Mr. Gunn; the financial terms are not being disclosed. Dandelion will start with 14 employees in New York and Los Angeles and plans are being made for a presence in London.  Epoch, founded in 1989, has about 25 employees in offices in New York, Los Angeles and London along with a roster of directors who work with the company to make commercials and movies. Among them are Matt Aselton, who directed “Gigantic,” a film to be released in 2009, and a series of spots for the Old Spice line of grooming products sold by Procter & Gamble; Phil Morrison, who directed “Junebug” and the popular series of “Get a Mac” spots for Apple; and Jeff Preiss, a partner at Epoch who directed commercials for Monster.com and Nike. Epoch’s directors can “get the selling points across in a fun, interesting way,” said Mark Fitzloff, executive creative director at Wieden & Kennedy in Portland, Ore., who worked with Mr. Aselton on Old Spice. The directors are “super-collaborative,” he added, “and you wouldn’t flinch about bringing them into the ‘pre-pro’ meetings with your client, which is worth its weight in gold.” The reference was to the preproduction process that takes place after a commercial is approved and before filming. Dandelion will let Epoch “go much deeper than what we offer as a production company,” said Mindy Goldberg, president and co-owner at Epoch, who will be a managing partner at Dandelion. “We were seeing the market in the last few years moving more and more toward branded-content creation,” she said, “a model very different from representing a roster of directors and selling them to agencies to execute ideas.” By contrast, Dandelion will follow “an A-to-Z model,” Ms. Goldberg said, “collaborating with the ad agencies to come up with ideas, create the Web sites, the social networking, and tracking it all.” To help accomplish that, Dandelion is signing writers for projects that will integrate brands into the plot lines of stories. Ed Herbstman, who has written for Sacha Baron Cohen’s “Da Ali G Show,” will be the head writer. Among the other writers are Eric Gilliland, of sitcoms like “My Boys,” “Roseanne” and “That ’70s Show”; Scott Sherman of The Onion and the parody “The Dangerous Book for Dogs”; and Charlie Todd, the creator of a roving band of pranksters, Improv Everywhere, perhaps best known for the annual “No Pants” ride on the New York City subway. Some projects from Mr. Gunn and his company have been just as unconventional. For a line of ThermaCare products from Procter, which treat women with menstrual pain, Gunn developed two Web sites, video clips and a fake documentary. They all pretend to be the life’s work of an imaginary institute that studies the make-believe problem of “cyclical nonuterine dysmenorrhea” — i.e., men with cramps. “Kirt got my attention because he was one of the pioneers of storytelling on the Web,” said Ty Montague, co-president and chief creative officer at JWT North America in New York, part of the JWT unit of the WPP Group. “Storytelling is more important than mere entertainment,” said Mr. Montague, who is collaborating with Mr. Gunn on a project to be announced later. “It’s fundamental to what we do.”  Selling by telling also has benefits in an economic downturn, to hear the executives of Dandelion tell it. “We’re in a time when brands have to be more efficient with money,” Mr. Gunn said, “and more considerate of people’s time.” That means marketers telling sponsored stories must be more careful not to breach the fine line between content and commercialism, he added, because “if we just stick products into content, that has the same feeling to consumers as driving down the road and seeing a billboard.” Other Dandelion executives will include Jerry Solomon, managing director, who is also a partner at Epoch with Ms. Goldberg and Mr. Preiss; Tara Averill and Mal Ward, who will share the sales and development duties; Greg Lofaro, director for design and technology; and Greg Schultz, executive producer.

Advertising and Marketing
Writing and Writers
Online Advertising


Sastre Wins Tour de France

Abstract: PARIS — Carlos Sastre has been a contender in the Tour de France for so long that few people thought he would ever actually win it. Despite five top-10 finishes in the last six years, Sastre was widely considered the always-a-bridesmaid rider who could not get far enough ahead in the mountains to fend off the superior time-trialing abilities of other, more well-rounded riders. Two people did believe in Sastre, however, and they turned out to be the most important. The first was Bjarne Riis, the poker-faced manager of the CSC Saxo Bank team and former Tour winner. He said before the start of this year’s Tour that Sastre was the team’s leader. The second was Sastre, who said before the Tour that he went into this season dedicated to not repeating last year’s mistake, when he missed finishing on the Tour podium in part because of his poor performances in time trials. Sastre, 33, put on the final yellow jersey of the 95th Tour de France on the Champs-Élysées on Sunday, one day after a surprisingly strong ride in the final time trial preserved his lead over Cadel Evans, the Australian member of the Silence-Lotto team who was the prerace favorite for the Tour crown. The 21st and final stage, an 89-mile ride into Paris that was capped by eight laps around the city’s most famous boulevard, was won in a final sprint by Quick Step’s Gert Steegmans, who outraced Gerald Ciolek of Team Columbia at the finish to record his team’s first victory this year. Sastre finished the final stage a few seconds behind the sprinting pack and lost seven seconds of his lead, thus ending the three-week, 2,212-mile race 58 seconds ahead of Evans. In third place, behind Sastre and Evans, was Bernhard Kohl, an Austrian rider for the Gerolsteiner team, who finished 1 minute 13 seconds behind Sastre over all. Kohl also won the polka-dot jersey as the best mountain climber, a prize he took with strong performances in the three Alpine stages last week. Kohl’s Gerolsteiner teammate Stefan Schumacher won both of the race’s time trials and spent two days in the race leader’s yellow jersey, a satisfying performance for a team that is losing its title sponsor at the end of the year and is so far without a replacement. Óscar Freire of Rabobank won the green jersey of the points classification, often referred to as the sprinter’s jersey because it is based on points awarded at stage finishes and intermediate sprints along the route. Freire’s victory was especially sweet for Rabobank, which had its 2007 Tour hopes shattered when the team fired Michael Rasmussen during the final week of last year’s race while he was in the yellow jersey. Rasmussen had lied about why he had missed antidoping tests during training before the Tour. The prize for best team and the white jersey for best young rider went to CSC Saxo Bank. Andy Schleck, 23, recorded the best overall time among riders age 25 or under, beating Roman Kreuziger of Liquigas by 1:17. The team prize, which is decided by recording the finishing times of the three best finishers on each team each day, reflected CSC’s effort in holding the yellow jersey for 7 of the race’s 21 days. Sastre became the third consecutive Spanish rider to win the Tour, a pattern that he said reflected luck and a national program that encourages young cyclists. That record reflected some of the sport’s darker history, however. Two years ago, Floyd Landis finished first in the Tour but was disqualified because he failed a drug test after winning the 17th stage. The Tour victory was awarded to Óscar Pereiro, a Spanish rider for the Caisse D’Epargne team. This year, three riders were expelled early in the Tour for failing drug tests, and an entire Spanish team, Saunier Duval-Scott, withdrew after its Italian team leader and the winner of two stages, Riccardo Riccò, tested positive for a new variant of the blood-boosting drug EPO . A fourth rider was found to have tested positive on Sunday just after the Tour ended. Dmitriy Fofonov, a Kazakh rider for Crédit Agricole, tested positive for a banned stimulant after the 18th stage. Fofonov, who finished the race in 19th place over all, was arrested at the team hotel and was fired from his team. Sastre formerly rode for the Spanish ONCE team, whose manager, Manolo Saiz, was at the center of the Operation Puerto doping scandal. After his time-trial victory on Saturday, Sastre was asked how, given the sport’s doping legacy, cycling fans could be sure that any rider was clean, including him. “I believe in clean cycling because I am clean,” Sastre said. “I know all the sacrifices I have made. In the world, there are cheats and there always will be cheats. There are also people who know how to sacrifice and who know how to do the work in a clean way. In our generation and in our society, we cannot eliminate the cheaters, we can only fight hard to reduce them.” Sastre also said he had not spoken to Saiz since leaving the ONCE team, but he said that Saiz was responsible for much of his success because “he taught me how to suffer.” “Manolo taught me the basis to be a professional rider, and he taught me how to train,” Sastre said. “The fact that I am so good in time trialing is due to Saiz.” The antidoping tests at this year’s Tour were administered by the French Anti-Doping Agency rather than, as usual, the International Cycling Union, the sport’s governing body. That was the result of a rift between the company that organizes the Tour and the cycling union, a feud could continue to affect the sport’s racing calendar and antidoping efforts. But it also resulted in what appeared to be one of the most rigorous drug-testing programs in years at the race. Ten to 12 riders were tested every day, two to three times the number in recent years. The antidoping agency drew samples from many riders before the Tour to use as baseline data to compare against during the race, when it also tested riders unexpectedly at odd hours. Riders who were subject to daily postrace tests were also escorted from the time they got off their bikes at the finish of a stage until they provided a blood or urine sample, a practice aimed at thwarting known ways that athletes have spoiled samples or otherwise tried to deceive the drug testers. Team managers like Bob Stapleton of Columbia, whose team won five stages and was therefore subject to many tests, and Jonathan Vaughters of Garmin Chipotle praised the efforts. As surprising as Sastre’s victory is, the 2008 Tour de France is also likely to be remembered for Evans’s failure to live up to the high expectations he had created by finishing eighth, fourth and second in the three previous Tours. But his team did not surround Evans, 31, with enough strong teammates to protect him in the mountains, where he often found himself alone fighting against three or more CSC riders. “CSC had the power in this Tour,” Evans told an Australian newspaper, The Age of Melbourne , after Saturday’s stage. “Every time I looked around I saw CSC riders.” Evans, 31, was clearly disappointed after Saturday’s time trial, in which he finished seventh, gaining only 29 of the 94 seconds he needed to overtake Sastre. But he vowed to be back. “To come in two times second is a bit bitter,” he said. “I will be back next year. I think I have three or four good Tours left in me.”


Axel Springer to Acquire Controlling Stake in Business Insider

Abstract: Henry Blodget was seen as a pariah after the dot-com boom. The digital media boom has been much kinder. On Tuesday, it was announced that Business Insider, the online publication he founded in 2007, had sold a controlling stake to the German media conglomerate Axel Springer for $343 million. Mr. Blodget declined, in an interview, to say how much money he personally made from the deal. But it was most likely more of a windfall than he could have reasonably expected 12 years ago. In 2003, after leaving his job as a senior Internet analyst at Merrill Lynch, he agreed to pay $4 million to settle accusations that he had promoted some companies’ stock in public while disparaging them in private. As part of the agreement, he was barred from the securities industry for life. “I don’t see today as a redemption,” Mr. Blodget, 49, said by phone Tuesday, adding that he had worked daily, with others willing to give him a chance, to rebuild trust. “But I did have a tremendous fall. I was very ashamed of the way I left Wall Street, and I certainly did not want to leave public life that way.” He will stay on as Business Insider’s chief executive and editor in chief. The sale of Business Insider, which features a mix of business, political and general-interest news, and occasional photo slide shows of seemingly mundane experiences , represents the highest price for a digital media company since The Huffington Post was sold to AOL for $315 million in 2011. It follows what some have seen as the emergence of new titans in the media, and others have seen as a potential digital media bubble. Vice has recently been valued at more than $2.5 billion, BuzzFeed at $1.5 billion and Vox and The Huffington Post at about $1 billion each — all figures many times greater than their annual revenue, traditionally the measure for valuing a business. The deal for Business Insider was the latest move by Axel Springer, one of Europe’s largest newspaper publishers, to aggressively extend its reach into digital and English-language media. Mathias Döpfner, Axel Springer’s chief executive, said in an interview that the acquisition was aimed at increasing his company’s audience and helping it become a major player in digital publishing in the United States. It follows smaller investments, and a partnership with the website Politico for European political coverage. The valuations had given him pause, he said. “Of course you always think about that, we all have this experience of 2000 in our memory,” he said, referring to the dot-com bubble. “But it’s interesting how people are changing their views.” Journalism, once largely dismissed in the digital landscape, he said, has shown that it could be a vital and lucrative business online, even if it is not yet precisely clear how. Last year, Axel Springer said its digital businesses generated more than half of the company’s annual revenue and 70 percent of its operating profit of 507 million euros, or $569 million. Business Insider adds considerable audience — about 76 million unique users a month — to Axel Springer’s 122 million, Mr. Döpfner said, making his company one of the largest digital publishers in the world. “Reach is first,” he said, “then follows monetization, then follows profits.” Google and Facebook, he said, did not immediately make money either. He denied speculation that Axel Springer had opted to buy Business Insider after a recent attempt to buy The Financial Times failed at the last moment; it was sold instead to the Japanese media company Nikkei for $1.3 billion. “Really these things were separate deals,” he said. “We invested in Business Insider before we entered into serious talks with The F.T.," he said of a smaller stake the company had previously taken in the publication. Business Insider, he said, is a digital native, which comes with distinct advantages. “Having said that, had The F.T. been available at a reasonable price the combination would have been good,” he said. Axel Springer, which also publishes Bild, Europe’s largest-circulation daily newspaper, as well as the German newspaper Die Welt, said it would acquire 88 percent of Business Insider, increasing its stake to 97 percent from 9 percent. The remaining 3 percent of Business Insider is owned by Bezos Expeditions, the personal investment vehicle of Jeffrey P. Bezos, the founder and chief executive of Amazon. (The deal is subject to approval by European and American antitrust regulators.) Business Insider’s revenue this year is expected to approach $50 million, the majority coming from digital ad sales. Axel Springer executives said that they expected sales to increase at least 30 percent a year until 2020. The deal will not mean an immediate transformation for Business Insider, the site’s chief operating officer, Julie Hansen, said in an interview. “They haven’t purchased the company to consolidate, or create synergy,” she said. “It’s really all about making an investment in what they think is the growth area of the future.” The company will continue its expansion plans, she said, including a general interest site called Insider and a new German-language edition of Business Insider. Mr. Döpfner, a former editor of Die Welt, praised Mr. Blodget as a creative, but disciplined, editorial and business leader. “And his own history, the sad chapters of his career, mean he has this kind of extra motivation to show that he can do it," he said.

Business Insider
Henry Blodget
Newspaper
Axel Springer Verlag
Mergers and Acquisitions
Mathias Dopfner


Can’t Decide? Look for the Label

Abstract: For a study recently published in The Journal of Consumer Research, 61 college students were led into one of two simulated magazine stores. Each “store” had the same 144 magazines, but those in the first store were grouped into three categories, using plaques on the shelves. Magazines in the second store were separated into 18 categories, like “computing,” “crossword” and “bridal.” When the students were later asked to estimate the variety of magazines available, those who visited the second store gave higher answers than those who visited the first store. In another study, students who chose from a coffee menu liked their choices better when the menu grouped the coffees into categories, even if the names were meaningless — for example, “Lola’s.” Sheena S. Iyengar, a professor of management at Columbia who was one of the study’s authors, said categories make it easier to consider an array of options. “I can handle more choices if you categorize them for me than if you just give me the choices,” she said. ALEX MINDLIN

Journal of Consumer Research
Consumer Behavior
Labeling and Labels


Oregon Slips Past St. Joseph’s; Texas A&M Needs Two Overtimes

Abstract: SPOKANE, Wash. — With about 90 seconds remaining, trailing by 1 point, Oregon zipped the ball around until it found Dillon Brooks, its best shooter, open on the wing. St. Joseph’s players kept swiveling their heads, trying to keep up and stay in position, but with this Oregon team, no matter where the ball landed, it would not have been ideal. Brooks rose and coolly drilled a 3-pointer. In the waning moments, St. Joseph’s had the ball, trailing by 3, in the hands of their best player, DeAndre’ Bembry. But again, the Ducks’ depth bothered the Hawks. Trying to create something near two Oregon defenders, Bembry fumbled the ball away, and that allowed the Ducks to hold on and beat St. Joseph’s, 69-64, on Sunday and advance to face Duke in the round of 16 in the West Region. Brooks led the top-seeded Ducks with 25 points, shooting 4 of 7 from 3-point range. But contributions came from all seven Ducks who played. Tyler Dorsey scored 14 points and secured the turnover Bembry gave up. Elgin Cook added 18 points and threw down an intimidating dunk in the first half. Chris Boucher made three acrobatic blocks. Led by Bembry, the eighth-seeded Hawks made a run in the second half, building a 7-point lead with about five minutes remaining. But the Ducks’ depth proved too much, as they went on a 13-4 run, capped by that 3-pointer Brooks nailed from the wing. After it went in, his teammates, all of those Ducks who had contributed along the way, mobbed him together. TEXAS A&M 92, N. IOWA 88 Alex Caruso scored 25 points as Texas A&M overcame a 10-point deficit with less than 30 seconds remaining in regulation to come back for a victory in two overtimes against Northern Iowa in Oklahoma City. The win put the third-seeded Aggies (28-8) in the round of 16 for the third time in program history, the first since 2007. They will play Oklahoma. Danuel House scored all 22 of his points in the second half and overtime. Jeremy Morgan had career highs of 36 points and 12 rebounds to lead the 11th-seeded Panthers (23-13), who led by 69-59 in the final minute of regulation before committing four turnovers in the final 29 seconds to allow the comeback. (AP) VILLANOVA 87, IOWA 68 Since Villanova arrived in Brooklyn last week, the Wildcats have been shadowed by questions about their recent inability to advance past the round of 32. The albatross became tiresome. Over the past four days, players opened news media sessions trying to give courteous answers, acknowledging their recent stumbles. But as the hours wore on and different variations of the same questions were repeated, their heads hung low, the smiles disappeared and they grumbled through replies on how they did not want to be defined as underachievers. The second-seeded Wildcats’ most potent retort came Sunday afternoon with a dominating win over seventh-seeded Iowa in a South Region game at Barclays Center. Josh Hart led the way with a game-high 19 points. “It’s definitely a sigh of relief,” the senior Ryan Arcidiacono said. “I just think the biggest thing is I’m honestly just done answering the questions about getting past the second weekend.” Villanova will play No. 3-seeded Miami in the round of 16 on Thursday in Louisville, Ky. SETH BERKMAN SYRACUSE 75, MID. TENN. ST. 50 Few expected to see either team playing in the second round of the N.C.A.A. tournament. Syracuse had needed the equivalent of a favorable roll in the men’s basketball selection committee room one week earlier even to be in the bracket. And Middle Tennessee State had to accomplish probably the biggest upset of the tournament to advance to the round of 32. Both teams played with the extraordinary ferocity of competitors who do not want to lose with house money, with much shouting after makes and profanity after errors. But in the end, 10th-seeded Syracuse (22-13), the major-conference power playing its 100th N.C.A.A. tournament game, outlasted 15th-seeded Middle Tennessee (25-11), 75-50, pulling away in the second half in St. Louis. Syracuse plays 11th-seeded Gonzaga on Friday in Chicago. The Syracuse senior Michael Gbinije led all players with 23 points, including 9 on 3-pointers. Forward Tyler Roberson, a junior, contributed 12 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists. The Blue Raiders started 1 for 6 from behind the 3-point arc, then 2 for 9, and finally 3 for 11 in the first half. It was not solely a matter of Middle Tennessee losing its touch. Syracuse is a nightmare matchup for many opponents. Few teams combine Syracuse’s commitment to an unorthodox defense — Coach Jim Boeheim’s 2-3 zone — with the athleticism and the size to execute it. MARC TRACY OKLAHOMA 85, V.C.U. 81 Buddy Hield scored 19 of his 36 points in the final eight minutes to help No. 2-seeded Oklahoma (27-7) hold off No. 10-seeded Virginia Commonwealth in Oklahoma City in the West Region. Hield, who did not score for more than 10 minutes to start the game, made 9 of 12 shots in the second half after going 2 for 8 in the first. Hield, a senior guard, scored at least 30 points for the 11th time this season. Melvin Johnson scored 18 of his 23 points in the second half, JeQuan Lewis scored 22 points, and Michael Gilmore added 12 for V.C.U. (25-11). (AP)

Buddy Hield
College basketball
Virginia Commonwealth University
University of Oklahoma
NCAA Men's Basketball,March Madness
University of Oregon
St Joseph's


Ochoa Is L.P.G.A.’s Top Player for Fourth Year in a Row

Abstract: RICHMOND, Tex. — Two of the more low-key players on the L.P.G.A. Tour turned into drama queens Monday, taking their battle for player of the year honors right down to the last hole of the final tournament on the 2009 schedule. Jiyai Shin, a rookie bidding to become the first South Korean to win the award, stood off the green on the 54th hole of the rain-shortened L.P.G.A. Tour Championship. She needed to make a birdie chip to unseat Lorena Ochoa, the three-time defending player of the year. Her attempt rolled to within inches of the cup, enabling Ochoa, who minutes earlier had made a 16-foot birdie putt at 18, to successfully extend her reign by a single point. Playing in the group in front of Shin, Ochoa carded a five-under par 67 to finish second, one place better than where she stood at the start of the round at the Houstonian Golf & Country Club. Shin, who began the day eight points ahead of Ochoa in the player of the year standings and one stroke ahead of her on the leader board, shot a 73 and finished in a tie for eighth at 210. The winner was another rookie, Anna Nordqvist, who carded a 65, the second-lowest round of the day, for a 54-hole total of 13-under 203. “I got the great honor to play with Jiyai today,” Nordqvist said, adding: “She put herself in a good position. Just Lorena played the best today and she had a great year.” It is a testament to the tour de force that was Shin’s debut season that Nordqvist, 22, did not miss a cut in 17 events and won two events, including the L.P.G.A. Championship, but could not keep up with Shin in the rookie of the year race. “So close,” said Shin, who was trying to become the first rookie since Nancy Lopez in 1978 to finish as the top player and the top rookie in the same season. With so much on the line, Shin’s strokes veered off their intended course. After missing only two fairways in her first two rounds, she drove into the left rough on the first hole of her third round, a sure sign of nerves. All year, the 21-year-old Shin had shown a deft touch on the greens. On Monday, her putts continually slid past the hole or lipped out. “My putting was so bad,” she said. “I have lots of chances for birdies, but everything missed.” She tightened up, she added, when the putts did not fall. “Just unlucky, I think,” she said. Like Shin, the 28-year-old Ochoa won three titles this year. For anybody else, that would qualify as a career season. For Ochoa, who had averaged seven victories the previous three years, it felt like a minislump. Midway through the year, she let go her longtime caddie, Dave Brooker, and hired Greg Johnston, who had previously worked with Juli Inkster and Michelle Wie. Ochoa said she was proud to retain the player of the year trophy in a year in which so much in her life changed. Next week, she will marry Andrés Conesa, the chief executive of the airline Aeromexico, one of her sponsors. After the wedding, Ochoa will move out of her parents’ house in Guadalajara to live in Mexico City with Conesa, who has three children under 14 from his first marriage. “It’s been a tough year in many different ways,” Ochoa said, “but the important thing is I’m at the top.” Nordqvist took the lead at the 10th hole. Shortly after, Ochoa made a birdie to grab a share of second while Shin sat in seventh. If they had finished that way, they would have shared player of the year honors. “For sure I was aware,” Ochoa said. “But at the same time, I was just trying to win the tournament so I didn’t have to worry about how she finished.” Ochoa’s birdie on the last hole was clutch, but salvaging a bogey 4 on No. 17 after her tee shot landed awkwardly in a greenside bunker and she failed to punch out her second shot was what she will remember. “That was a great save,” she said, adding, “I’m just really proud the way that I finished.” Ochoa stood next to Johnston at the back of the 18th green and watched Shin miss her chip and Nordqvist seal the win. She embraced Johnston and then, as Shin came off the green, Ochoa wrapped her in a hug. “I think for both of us,” Ochoa said, “it was almost not fair, you know, losing or winning.” After coming oh-so-close to dethroning Ochoa, Shin talked to reporters after her round while absently fingering the earrings dangling from her lobes. They were small silver crowns.

Golf
Ochoa Lorena
Ladies Professional Golf Assn
Awards Decorations and Honors


Illinois: Skirting Tough Choices, State Passes Budget

Abstract: The state legislature sent a new budget to Gov. Pat Quinn on Friday that Democrats, who are in the majority, acknowledge puts off tough decisions about whether to slash spending or find new revenue, including possibly making Illinois’ temporary tax increase permanent, until after the November election. Senate Democrats approved the approximately $35.7 billion 2015 spending plan, which the House passed earlier in the week, with no Republican support. The vote came as the legislature faces a Saturday deadline to adjourn. Senator Dan Kotowski, a Democrat and budget negotiator, said legislators would have to either find more money in the next year or cut at least $4.4 billion in expenses. Mr. Quinn and other Democratic leaders wanted to extend Illinois’s temporary income tax increase, which is set to roll back in January. But House Democrats, all of whom face re-election in November, could not get enough votes to do so this session.

Illinois
Budget
US Politics
Patrick J Quinn


Gannett Picks Head for Newspaper Unit

Abstract: The Gannett Company , owner of USA Today, named Robert J. Dickey president of its newspaper division on Wednesday, succeeding Susan Clark-Johnson, who is retiring in May. Mr. Dickey, 50, was a senior group president of Gannett’s Pacific Group and chairman of Phoenix Newspapers, the company said. Gannett, based in McLean, Va., is the largest American newspaper publisher. Mr. Dickey takes charge of 83 daily newspapers, their Web sites and most of Gannett’s nondaily publications. As part of the change, the company renamed the unit Gannett U.S. Community Publishing. USA Today is led by Craig A. Moon, who also oversees The Detroit Free Press.

Newspapers
USA TODAY
Appointments and Executive Changes
Gannett Co


N.H.L. General Managers Approve 3-on-3 Overtime

Abstract: Three-on-three overtime was approved by N.H.L. general managers, although final approvals are still needed. No decision has been made on whether to add time to the extra session, which is currently four-on-four, or begin overtime three-on-three. ■ Cory Schneider made 35 saves in earning his fifth shutout of the season, and the host Devils beat Pittsburgh, 2-0. The Devils have gone 9-3-2 in their last 14 games to keep their faint playoff hopes alive. ■ Jonathan Toews scored twice and assisted on two Marian Hossa goals to lead the host Chicago Blackhawks past the slumping Islanders, 4-1. Toews recorded his first four-point game this season as the Blackhawks won their third straight and improved to 7-1-1 since Feb. 24, when their leading scorer, Patrick Kane, broke his collarbone against Florida. The Islanders lost their season-worst fourth straight.

Devils
Chicago Blackhawks
Islanders
Ice hockey
NHL
Pittsburgh Penguins


U.S. Mortgage Program Stalling, Data Shows

Abstract: A major effort by the Obama administration to keep homeowners out of foreclosure may be reaching its limits long before the crisis abates. The government’s loan modification program has helped about 300,000 defaulting households get permanent new loans , according to federal data released on Monday. But that is only a small fraction of the estimated four million households in danger of foreclosure and of the 1.7 million households that the governments thinks would qualify for the program. Begun only a year ago, the Making Home Affordable Program already seems to be running low on applicants. The number of borrowers that enrolled in the trial phrase in April was only about a third of the number that signed up in September. There are several possible reasons for the scarcity in applicants. Some borrowers may feel it is more financially advantageous to default, pay nothing for many months and then walk away from the house. Others may have committed fraud when getting their mortgage and are reluctant to come forward. And many may simply be unaware of the program. More than 637,000 households are now in the trial phase of the program, during which borrowers need to consistently make their payments. Many in that phase do not survive to a full modification, when a permanent new loan is secured. The number of failed trials, 278,000, is nearly as great as the number of successful ones. “The program is dying,” Calculated Risk , a popular financial blog, said after examining the data. David Stevens, assistant secretary for housing in the Department of Housing and Urban Development, said the program was “in transition.” The data released on Monday was collected by the department and the Treasury. The administration is now requiring loan servicers to verify the income of households at the beginning of the trial rather than at the end. That is expected to enable more households to graduate to full modifications by ensuring they have the income to keep up with payments on the new loans. In the meantime, Mr. Stevens said, “We expect the number of those in trial modifications to increase again.” The modification program has been heavily criticized for a slow start, something administration officials acknowledge is true. Julia R. Gordon, senior policy counsel for the Center for Responsible Lending in Washington, said the pace was still glacial. “There are millions of people in trouble on their mortgages, and for whatever reason, we’re not moving quickly enough to help them,” she said. “This is a sword of Damocles hanging over the housing market.” For borrowers who get permanent modifications, payments are reduced by about $500 a month, but that might not keep them out of trouble. While permanent modifications have been canceled for only about 1 percent — presumably after they did not make their new payments — many struggle under a high debt load. Median debt payment in April for borrowers with permanent modifications was 64 percent of their gross income, up from 61 percent in March. Debt includes not only mortgage payments but also taxes, insurance , homeowner or condominium fees, alimony, car leases and second mortgages. The modifications reduce the interest payment of the borrower and often extend the term of the loan as well. Sometimes payment on a chunk of the principal is postponed. New government programs to deal with the crisis include encouraging lenders to forgive some of the principal owed. Another program facilitates short sales, in which the borrower owes more than the house is worth. These programs do not yet have a track record. Mr. Stevens said the modification program should be considered in the context of the administration’s broader efforts to shore up the housing market. These efforts included keeping a lid on home mortgage rates, a tax credit and refinance programs for those who owe more than their house is worth. “We were dealt the worst foreclosure crisis we had seen since the Great Depression ,” Mr. Stevens said. “The modification program was created without any framework or reference point, but it has had significant impact.”

Mortgages
Foreclosures
Housing and Real Estate
United States Economy
Subprime Mortgage Crisis


Age Is a Factor in Sentencing, but the Degree Varies Widely

Abstract: In a case involving an 87-year-old man convicted of racketeering, a federal judge in Manhattan rejected a plea for leniency last year, giving the man a five-year sentence. The judge in this case had a special perspective: He was 84 himself. But in another case this spring, an 85-year-old man who admitted providing sensitive military information to Israel was spared prison by a judge, who cited the man’s advanced age and said sending him to prison would “serve no purpose.” In the 12 days they spent deciding the fate of Brooke Astor’s son, Anthony D. Marshall , the jurors said they did not make much of his age. But now that Mr. Marshall, who is 85 and had quadruple bypass surgery last year, has been found guilty of a variety of charges, his age can be expected to have some bearing on his sentence — though it almost certainly will not serve as a get-out-of-jail-free card. Because he was convicted of first-degree grand larceny, which is a felony, Mr. Marshall faces at least a mandatory sentence of one year behind bars (the most would be 25 years). But given his age and his physical ailments — he missed several days of the trial because of his health — and various possible legal options, it seems reasonable to question how much time Mr. Marshall will spend as an inmate. In Mr. Marshall’s case, Justice A. Kirke Bartley Jr. of State Supreme Court in Manhattan, who is scheduled to sentence Mr. Marshall on Dec. 8, has relatively little wiggle room to keep Mr. Marshall out of prison because of the state’s mandatory guidelines. Mr. Marshall’s grim reality is nothing new; courts are regularly confronted with the recently convicted who are octogenarians, and who often have ailments associated with that age. But judges in New York have not been reluctant to impose real prison time on elderly defendants, like John J. Rigas, 80, who received a 15-year sentence, later reduced to 12, for his part in the Adelphia fraud case. “Here’s why age should be considered,” said Gerald L. Shargel, a lawyer who represented Oscar S. Wyatt Jr., 83, who received a year and a day for violating the rules of the United Nations oil-for-food program. “It’s a pretty cruel end to a life if a person’s going to die in jail, when you don’t have a family member, a loved one, to hold your hand or see you through it,” he said. For Justice Bartley to spare Mr. Marshall prison time, he most likely would have to throw out the jury’s verdict in the interest of justice, a step that judges almost never take. Mr. Marshall’s lawyers are expected, at the very least, to ask Justice Bartley to allow their client to remain free until all appeals are exhausted. Beyond that, there is not much Mr. Marshall’s defense team can do other than hope that an appellate court finds in his favor. “You can be sure that we’re looking into all the avenues that can be pursued,” said Kenneth E. Warner, one of Mr. Marshall’s lawyers. Mr. Marshall’s best chance to avoid prison probably would have been a plea deal before trial, but there were never any serious negotiations. As an inmate, Mr. Marshall may still be able to spend some nights in his own bed. If he receives the minimum sentence, he would be immediately eligible for the work release program, which allows inmates to spend a certain number of days each week out of prison so they can work, said Linda M. Foglia, a spokeswoman for the state’s Department of Correctional Services. Mr. Marshall, who would most likely be placed in a minimum- or medium-security prison with barracks-style housing that holds up to 60 inmates, would be one of the oldest prisoners in New York: Fewer than 1.5 percent of the state’s inmates are older than 65, according to Ms. Foglia. In the past, some judges have taken creative steps to spare an elderly defendant. Leslie Crocker Snyder, a former State Supreme Court justice in Manhattan, said that in one of her cases, the Rockefeller drug laws required her to sentence a man in his 80s to 15 years to life for a low-level offense. So she asked the prosecutors if they would consent to vacating the verdict and allow the man plead guilty to a lesser charge for a shorter sentence. They did, she said. But that was a “highly unusual” move, said Ms. Snyder, who would not address the Astor case specifically. John W. Moscow, a former prosecutor in the Manhattan district attorney’s office, said he decided against trying Clark Clifford , who was indicted in the B.C.C.I. case , because he was 86 and had had quadruple bypass surgery, and his doctors said he could not spend more than two hours a day in court. But Mr. Moscow said he would not feel sorry if Mr. Marshall had to serve some time. “Tough,” Mr. Moscow said. “The law does not make an exception for him.” Leonard F. Joy, the federal defender in New York, said that for the oldest defendants even a short prison term “may very well be a life sentence.” “Of course, when you get to be that age, you ought to know better,” added Mr. Joy, who is 79. The age issue arose in May when a federal judge in Manhattan was asked to spare an 85-year-old New Jersey man from going to prison. The defendant, Ben-Ami Kadish, hobbled into the courtroom and admitted providing classified United States military documents to an Israeli agent in the early 1980s. (He pleaded guilty to a lesser offense.) His lawyer, Jack T. Litman, cited Mr. Kadish’s poor health and other factors. “He is in the very twilight of his life, and to separate him from his wife even for a short period of time would be devastating to both of them,” Mr. Litman argued. The judge, William H. Pauley III, saying that prison “would serve no purpose,” fined Mr. Kadish $50,000 . In the case of Ciro Perrone, a captain in the Genovese crime family, the 87-year-old mobster confronted a judge not much younger than he was. Mr. Perrone had been convicted in a racketeering case, and faced about six years in prison. His lawyer asked for one year, citing Mr. Perrone’s age and health, and noting that Mr. Perrone’s wife had Alzheimer’s disease. In court papers, federal prosecutors in Manhattan called the proposed sentence “ludicrously lenient.” The judge, Robert P. Patterson Jr., 84, imposed a five-year sentence. Then he addressed the defendant. “Let me just say, Mr. Perrone, I’m not too young either,” the judge said. “And I have a wife who suffers from Alzheimer’s, so I know what you go through.” But he said this type of crime was serious, and warranted a “significant enough sentence” to deter such conduct. “Having said that,” Judge Patterson said, “I feel for you and I wish you the best.”

Elderly
Marshall Anthony D
Sentences (Criminal)
Astor Brooke
Decisions and Verdicts
Prisons and Prisoners
Crime and Criminals
Bartley A Kirke Jr


Rights Groups Criticize Speedy Deportations

Abstract: WASHINGTON, Feb. 19 - As the Bush administration rapidly expands its efforts to detain and deport illegal immigrants, human rights groups warn that people fleeing persecution are increasingly vulnerable to being deported to their home countries. In 2005, a bipartisan federal commission warned that some immigration officials were improperly processing asylum seekers for deportation. The commission made recommendations to ensure that the system of speedy deportations, known as expedited removal, had adequate safeguards to protect those fleeing persecution. But one year later, only one of the commission's five recommendations has been put into effect. Meanwhile, domestic security officials have expanded the expedited removal program, in which illegal immigrants are swiftly deported without being allowed to make their case before an immigration judge. Immigration lawyers at the Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project in Harlingen, Tex., say asylum seekers are already falling through the cracks. They say Border Patrol agents have improperly placed several asylum seekers into deportation proceedings without informing them of their right to seek refuge in the United States. Domestic security regulations require Border Patrol agents to ask all illegal immigrants apprehended if they fear being sent home. Immigrants who say yes are supposed to be exempt from expedited removal until it can be determined by a judge whether they have a credible fear of persecution. But in October, Meredith Linsky, who directs the pro bono group in Texas, notified immigration officials that Border Patrol agents had placed a 22-year-old woman from Honduras into expedited deportation proceedings without asking whether she feared return. Immigration officials intervened to stop the deportation to allow the woman to be given a "credible fear" interview. Domestic security officials say such cases are extremely rare. "If they exist at all, I am very confident that they are very small and very isolated," said David V. Aguilar, chief of the Border Patrol. "The training of our agents is very involved, and there are safeguards in place within the process to ensure that nobody drops through the cracks." But Mark Hetfield of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, the federal commission that released a study on expedited removal in 2005, said the government's decision to expand expedited removal without first fixing its flaws left asylum seekers at risk. In September, domestic security officials announced that they would detain and summarily deport illegal immigrants apprehended along the border with Mexico. (Until then, expedited removal was primarily used to deport illegal immigrants who arrived by plane or by sea.) In January, the policy was expanded to include the border with Canada. The policy, which is intended to address national security concerns by stemming the flow of illegal immigrants, is currently directed primarily at illegal immigrants from countries other than Canada or Mexico. "We were pretty explicit that expedited removal should not be expanded until the flaws we identified were fixed," said Mr. Hetfield, who directed the study. "Yet none of the problems we have identified have been fixed, save one." This month, domestic security officials put into effect one of the commission's most important recommendations, naming the Department of Homeland Security's first senior adviser for refugee and asylum policy to help ensure that adequate safeguards for asylum seekers and refugees are in place. The new adviser is Igor V. Timofeyev, who came to the United States as a refugee from Russia. He joined the department from the law firm of Sidley Austin in Washington and previously served as associate legal officer for the president of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, clerk for the Supreme Court and clerk for the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Mr. Timofeyev said the department took the commission's recommendations seriously and was studying them to determine what action should be taken. Last week, he met with staff members from Human Rights First, an advocacy group, and with officials from the United Nations, two groups that have raised concerns about the expedited removal process. "Just the fact that I'm here is an illustration of the fact that the department and Secretary Chertoff take the recommendations seriously," Mr. Timofeyev said, referring to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. "These issues will not fall through the cracks. "We want to close the border to people who want to do us harm, but we also have to keep the door open to people who want to come here legitimately," Mr. Timofeyev said. "People who are legitimate refugees from persecution, they should certainly be able to come to this country." Domestic security regulations require that immigration officials refer an illegal immigrant for a credible fear interview if the immigrant indicates "an intention to apply for asylum, a fear of torture or a fear of return to his or her country." The commission found, however, that even when its experts were present to observe, immigration officials failed to refer illegal immigrants to credible fear interviews 15 percent of the time, including in cases in which the immigrants expressed fear of political, religious or ethnic persecution. The study also found that asylum seekers were often treated like criminals while their claims were evaluated; they were strip-searched, shackled and often put in solitary confinement in local jails and federal detention centers. And it reported disparities in who was granted asylum, depending on where asylum seekers sought refuge, what country they were from or whether they had a lawyer. Among other recommendations, the commission said that domestic security officials should clarify the often conflicting instructions given to Border Patrol and airport inspectors about how to handle asylum seekers, and should routinely videotape border agents when they interviewed asylum seekers. The group also suggested that domestic security officials send anonymous field testers to see whether agents were following procedures; expand access to legal representation for immigrants; improve detention conditions; and release asylum seekers from detention when they posed no flight risk or security risk. "The changes are long overdue at this point," said Eleanor Acer, director of the asylum project at Human Rights First. "And yet, despite the fact that the commission found significant problems, the expedited removal process has been expanded over and over again."

DEPORTATION
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS
BUSH GEORGE W
ASYLUM (POLITICAL)
IMMIGRATION AND REFUGEES
FREEDOM AND HUMAN RIGHTS


Al Jazeera America Executive Files Bias Suit

Abstract: Al Jazeera America may have shut down last week but that has not protected the network from further unwelcome news. The network’s executive vice president of finance, Anand Gupta, filed a lawsuit on Thursday in Federal District Court in Manhattan asserting that he had not been given a promised promotion and salary raise because of racial discrimination. In the suit, Mr. Gupta also laid out specific details about how much the network suffered financially in its brief existence. In the network’s first year on the air in 2013, the suit asserts, citing tax returns, it had a net operating loss of $250 million, and in 2014 it lost an additional $335 million. Mr. Gupta, who is Indian, said Al Jazeera America’s chief executive, Al Anstey, had reneged on a promise made by his predecessor, Ehab Al Shihabi, that would have elevated Mr. Gupta to the position of chief financial officer. Mr. Gupta also asserted that the network had tried to push him out of his job after he formally complained about Mr. Anstey. He is seeking lost wages and damages, among other things. Al Jazeera America announced in January that it was shutting down, saying it did not have a sustainable business model . It is owned by the global news organization Al Jazeera, which is facing its own challenges and recently eliminated 500 positions. In the suit, Mr. Gupta asserts that, among other freewheeling spending habits, the network continued to pay more than $11,000 a month for an apartment intended for Mr. Shihabi, which went empty after he was ousted last year. It also asserts that Al Jazeera America is responsible for more than $800 million in the process of winding down, if it pays out its contracts to cable operators in full. “We strongly disagree with the allegations made in Mr. Gupta’s complaint, which contains many factual inaccuracies, and we intend to vigorously defend the company’s position,” Molly Morse, a spokeswoman for Al Jazeera America, said in a statement on Friday. She said the former network “firmly believes it acted appropriately and properly in its interactions with Mr. Gupta at all times, and Mr. Anstey has worked tirelessly to ensure that all employees were treated fairly during their employment since he came on board last year.” Al Jazeera America’s final broadcast was 10 days ago, which seemed to put a bookend on its short and turbulent life . Mr. Shihabi was let go after employees spoke about a “culture of fear ” within its newsroom. The network was sued by two former employees last year who complained about Al Jazeera’s work environment.

Al Jazeera
Anand Gupta
Lawsuits
Discrimination
Race and Ethnicity
Layoffs
Closings
Indian American


Record Bid of $16 Million at Auction Lands a Horse With No Name

Abstract: The biggest wager in racing was made Feb. 28 at Calder Race Course in Miami, on a day when the horses were not running. That is when Demi O'Byrne, representing the European-based breeding and racing operation known as Coolmore, made the winning bid of $16 million for an unraced horse by the sire Forestry at a sale of 2-year-olds. It was the most money paid for a horse at auction, easily exceeding the record $13.1 million set in 1985. The colt does not yet have a name, but he has a reputation, a good pedigree, perfect conformation and a brilliantly fast workout to his credit. Coolmore has bet $16 million that all of that will add up to the horse's being a hit not just on the racetrack but in the breeding shed, where the real money is made in thoroughbred racing. Considering that the North American record for career earnings by a racehorse is $9,999,815, set by Cigar, it is virtually inconceivable that the unnamed colt will earn his purchase price back on the track. Most likely, no one at Coolmore is expecting him to top Cigar's record. Rather, the Coolmore partnership, which consists of John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith, is hoping the colt does well enough on the track to command the type of stud fees that will justify a $16 million purchase. "In order to earn back his purchase price, he's got to be worth $15 million as a stallion, which means he has to be able to go to stud for a $50,000 stud fee," the breeding expert Bill Oppenheim said. "In order to do that, he might not have to be a Classic winner, but he has to be a very high-class Grade 1 winner." The odds are not in favor of that happening. Oppenheim said that even with the best sires, the chances of any one offspring winning a Grade I stakes race are about 1 in 25. But if the horse wins the Kentucky Derby or a top race like the Travers Stakes, he will earn back his purchase price many times over. The 2000 Kentucky Derby winner, Fusaichi Pegasus, cost $4 million at a 1998 yearling sale, a price that has turned out to be a bargain. Anyone breeding to him must pay $125,000, and he is bred to about 200 mares a year. But many other pricey horses sold at auction have been disasters. Seattle Dancer, the yearling colt who sold for $13.1 million, earned about $150,000 on the track and did little as a sire. Snaafi Dancer, the third-most expensive horse auctioned, never raced and was infertile. He sold for $10.2 million as a yearling. But the odds of success may not be so long for the $16 million horse. In recent years, more breeders and consigners have been taking their well-bred horses to sales for 2-year-olds. As opposed to yearlings, a 2-year-old is old enough to run a short distance for observers. A fast workout time can sometimes be more important than a horse's pedigree and is often an excellent indicator of future success. When the colt bought by Coolmore worked an eighth of a mile in 9.8 seconds at Calder, it was obvious he was going to be one of the stars of the sale and would turn a tidy profit for the owners Randy Hartley and Dean DeRenzo. They had purchased the colt a year earlier as a yearling for $425,000. "It was probably a little bit faster than what we expected," DeRenzo said of the workout. "But that's the way he's been throughout his training career, just a top, top horse. He was well in hand in the work. It's a once-in-a-lifetime situation when they have that much ability and they can show it to you in February." By the time the bidding reached the $2.5 million mark, the only players left were Coolmore and Darley Stud, which is operated by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, a member of the ruling family of Dubai. Coolmore and the Maktoums have locked horns many times in the past in sales rings, with members of both groups showing a willingness to pay almost any price for a horse they really want. Perhaps egos had as much to do with the astronomical bidding as did the colt's pedigree or workout. "The marketplace is a lot different now than when Seattle Dancer went for $13.1 million," Oppenheim said. "Then, there were people on all sides of the pavilion bidding on the horse. Today, there are only two groups who will spend this kind of money. With this horse, it was the gunfight at the O.K. Corral." Coolmore has yet to announce who will train the horse, but it has said it will race in the United States, presumably with Todd Pletcher, who trains most of Coolmore's top horses. Perhaps as soon as this summer in Saratoga, the colt will have his first start, and the racing world will begin to find out if this was $16 million well spent, or one of the biggest losing bets in racing history. "He was just special, I thought," O'Byrne said. "Time will tell, but he's a very good-looking horse." When asked whether the colt was worth $16 million, O'Byrne was succinct. "He better be," he said.

HORSES
CALDER RACE COURSE
KENTUCKY DERBY
COOLMORE STUD
PLETCHER TODD
SMITH DERRICK
HORSE RACING
PRICES (FARES FEES AND RATES)


Respect for His Elder, With a Caveat

Abstract: Dear Diary: Having boarded a crowded uptown subway train at Fulton Street headed toward home, I stood in front of a 20-something man with the hope that in recognition of my white hair, he would offer me his seat. Nothing happened. He was immersed in his cellphone and earphones. I waved my hand in front of him to get his attention. “When I was your age,” I said, “I gave my seat to 87-year-old passengers.” He rose, gave me his seat and said, “When I am your age, I hope to be more subtle.”


No. 5 Villanova Survives on Freshman’s Isaiah Armwood’s First Basket

Abstract: The first field goal of Isaiah Armwood’s college career was a big one. Armwood, a freshman reserve, hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 17 seconds left, rallying No. 5 Villanova over George Mason, 69-68, on Thursday in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off in San Juan. The Wildcats (3-0) trailed by 13 points in the first half and by 68-66 in the final minute. Armwood then hit his only shot, connecting from the top of the arc. The Patriots (2-1) did not get off another shot. Villanova’s Scottie Reynolds scored 18 points but had eight turnovers. In the tournament opener, Paul Williams hit the go-ahead 3-pointer and went 4 for 4 from the free-throw line in the last minute to cap Dayton’s comeback 63-59 win over No. 21 Georgia Tech (1-1). Williams finished with 13 points for Dayton (2-0), which got 19 points from the reserve Chris Johnson. KENTUCKY 102, SAM HOUSTON ST. 92 DeMarcus Cousins had 27 points and 18 rebounds to help No. 4 Kentucky win at home in the Cancun Challenge. Patrick Patterson had 20 points and 9 rebounds, and John Wall added 21 points and 6 assists for the Wildcats (3-0). Sam Houston State (2-1) was led by the senior guard Corey Allmond, who had 37 points and made a Rupp Arena record 11 3-pointers. The Bearkats made 18 of 38 3-pointers. KANSAS 94, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 44 Tyrel Reed hit four 3-pointers for 12 points and No. 1 Kansas (3-0) had a 23-0 first-half run for its 43rd straight home win. MINNESOTA 75, UTAH VALLEY 51 The freshman Rodney Williams had 17 points, 6 rebounds and 4 steals in his first career start, helping No. 24 Minnesota (3-0) defeat Utah Valley (1-2). Women OHIO STATE 92, WEST VIRGINIA 69 No. 3 Ohio State scored the first 17 points and was directed by the sophomore point guard Samantha Prahalis of Commack, N.Y., who had 14 points and 12 assists, in the semifinals of the Preseason W.N.I.T. The Buckeyes (3-0) will play host to Oklahoma State on Sunday in the championship game. Jantel Lavender led Ohio State with 19 points. GEORGIA 75, CHATTANOOGA 57 Jasmine James, a freshman guard, scored 25 points and Ashley Houts added 21 for No. 16 Georgia (2-0). The Lady Mocs (1-2) were paced by 20 points from Shanara Hollinquest and 15 by Jenaya Wade-Fray. ARIZONA STATE 82, YALE 46 Becca Tobin scored 14 points and No. 14 Arizona State (2-0) held Yale scoreless for 9 minutes in the first half while Yale missed 12 shots and had 6 turnovers. DUKE 69, GA. SOUTHERN 42 Jasmine Thomas scored 12 points to lead No. 11 Duke (2-1) in its home opener. J’Lisia Ogburn led Georgia Southern (1-1) with 11 points. NOTRE DAME 68, MICHIGAN ST. 67 Ashley Barlow scored 18 points and hit a tie-breaking free throw with 10 seconds left, lifting No. 5 Notre Dame over No. 21 Michigan State. The Spartans’ Aisha Jefferson missed a jumper from the lane with four seconds to go.

Basketball
College Athletics
Villanova University
George Mason University
University of Arizona
New England Patriots
Georgia Institute of Technology
Pennsylvania State University
University of North Carolina-Wilmington


Economists Lower Sights on Growth

Abstract: WASHINGTON — Wholesale inventories in the United States fell unexpectedly for a second straight month in June, prompting economists to trim their second-quarter economic growth estimates. The Commerce Department said on Friday that wholesale inventories fell 0.2 percent after declining 0.6 percent in May. This was weaker than the government had assumed in its advance estimate of the second-quarter gross domestic product published last week, which put growth at a 1.7 percent annual pace. Inventories are a crucial component of G.D.P. changes. As a result of the unexpected decline in stocks at wholesalers in June, economists pared their estimates for second-quarter G.D.P. growth by one-tenth of a percentage point. They had raised their estimates to as high as a 2.5 percent pace after manufacturing inventories in June came in slightly higher and the United States trade deficit narrowed more than the government had estimated in its first G.D.P. reading. Jim O’Sullivan, chief United States economist at High Frequency Economics in Valhalla, N.Y., said the June wholesale data “subtract a little from the likely upward revision to second-quarter real G.D.P. growth.” Barclays lowered its second-quarter G.D.P. estimate to a 2.4 percent pace from 2.5 percent. JPMorgan now expects growth will be revised to a 2.2 percent rate instead of 2.3 percent. Wholesale inventories in June were pulled down by auto stocks, which tumbled 1.5 percent, the most since December. Stocks of electrical goods, hardware, paper, metals and apparel also fell. “This softer inventory accumulation in the second quarter is modestly favorable for third quarter growth,” said Daniel Silver, an economist at JPMorgan in New York. Sales at wholesalers rose 0.4 percent in June after increasing 1.5 percent in May. The rise in June was below economists’ expectations for a 0.7 percent gain.


Airbnb Purged New York Listings to Create a Rosier Portrait, Report Says

Abstract: In December, Airbnb released a trove of data that showed about 95 percent of its hosts in New York City were playing by the rules. But an independent report released Wednesday cast a shadow on that rosy picture, claiming that the company “misled the media and the public” by removing more than 1,000 listings from its site in November before making available the data. Murray Cox, one of the co-authors of the report, describes the site he founded, Inside Airbnb, as a tool for exploring the company’s impact on residential communities. The report portrays the December release as a cynical attempt to garner good press, and says that listings of multiple homes by hosts on the site have already begun to proliferate again, just months after the purge. In an email, Nick Papas, an Airbnb spokesman, said that those kinds of abusers were not representative of most of its hosts, and said that as of Feb. 8, 94 percent of hosts in the city had only one active listing on the site. The company released the original data on the heels of a pledge to “build an open and transparent community.” Its goal was to show the news media, the public and New York policy makers that its local users were, for the most part, hard-working residents looking for an honest way to supplement their incomes. In response to the Inside Airbnb report, Nick Papas, a spokesman for the company, emphasized that picture of users in the city. “The vast majority of our hosts are everyday people who have just one listing and share their space a few nights a month to help make ends meet,” he wrote in an email Wednesday. He continued, “Airbnb is an open people-to-people platform where listings come on and go off throughout the year.” Data for the independent report was sourced from two separate sets, one collected by Mr. Cox, and the other by the technology writer Tom Slee, who recently wrote a book titled, “What’s Yours Is Mine: Against the Sharing Economy.” The data that informed the report is available for download . Matt Mittenthal, a spokesman for New York’s attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, said, “If this analysis is accurate, it appears that Airbnb is again trying to downplay the number of illegal apartment listings on the site.” “Airbnb continues to show a blatant disregard for New York laws designed to protect the rights of tenants and prevent the proliferation of illegal hotels,” he added. State law bans apartment rentals of fewer than 30 days unless a permanent occupant is present, meaning that short-term, full apartment rentals are illegal. A host with multiple listings cannot be present in multiple locations at once. Airbnb has a history of removing listings in bulk in New York. In 2014, it got rid of more than 2,000 listings in response to an affidavit filed by Mr. Schneiderman that said two-thirds of all apartments listed in the city were illegal. In June, Mr. Schneiderman’s office provided the names of 124 hosts with a minimum of 10 listings on the site to city agencies. A spokesman for Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office said in December that those agencies had begun to assemble cases against violators and that results would soon be announced. In an email on Thursday, the same spokesman, Wiley Norvell, said that the city had put “significant new resources into enforcement.” “We’re very concerned by reports the data shared with the public by Airbnb excluded many questionable listings,” he said. “Accurate sharing of information is nonnegotiable in our work to protect the public.” David Ordal, the chief executive of Everbooked, a firm that helps users of sites like Airbnb optimize their pricing schemes, said that the site frequently removes listings in batches, citing similar instances in Los Angeles and Portland, Ore. “Airbnb is walking a fine line — they’re trying to be in compliance with local laws, but they’re also trying to spread their ‘sharing economy’ platform,” Mr. Ordal said. “It’s an easy thing to do in principle, but there are a lot of gray areas, and this is one of them.” Mr. Slee, the technology writer, said that the removal of so many listings right before the release of the data damaged the trust that the company hoped to build in New York and elsewhere. “Airbnb is making its business model depend on regulations changing in cities around the world,” he said. “Cities need to be able to trust Airbnb if they’re going to do that.”

Airbnb
Inside Airbnb
Hotels
Rent
NYC
Real Estate
Housing
Eric T Schneiderman


England Faces the 4th Test While Waiting for Freddie

Abstract: If the Irish playwright Samuel Beckett — the only Nobel Prize winner to have played cricket well enough to appear in the game’s annual Wisden’s Cricketers Almanack — were alive today he might just be tempted to pen a masterpiece called “Waiting for Freddie.” It is a ritual English cricket goes through for the last time but one this week as it waits for news of the fitness of giant all-rounder and national treasure Andrew (Freddie) Flintoff before the fourth Ashes test against Australia, which starts Friday at Headingley stadium, Leeds. Flintoff, who has announced that the fifth and final five-day test of the Ashes at The Oval, London, later this month will be his last, is getting his wounded knee through the series on a mix of willpower and injections. The reasons that England is prepared to put up with this uncertainty over its limping warrior have been clear in the past two matches, in which it has taken a 1-0 series lead after being outplayed in the first test at Cardiff. In the second test at Lord’s, London, Flintoff produced a galvanic spell of fast bowling on the final morning, wrecking a promising Australian run chase and giving England its first victory over the old enemy in eight matches. At Edgbaston, Birmingham, this week he was less effective as a bowler, but turned the match with his batting. When he came in at 168 for 5, England was struggling. By the time he was out for 74 — England’s top score made at almost a run per ball — it was well on top and Australia had to battle to ensure a draw. Quite how much he matters is shown by England’s calling up two men as possible replacements. Should he fail to start, the likelier replacement is Steve Harmison, the one Englishman who matches his ability to upset top-class batsmen with bounce. The intriguing alternative is Jonathan Trott, a specialist batsman who has yet to play a five-day test and had not figured in previous speculation about likely call-ups. If he plays, Trott would be the third South African-born player among England’s top six batsmen. A fourth, Kevin Pietersen, has been ruled out by an Achilles tendon injury. He also has Australian connections. He is related to Harry and Albert Trott, who both played for Australia in the 1890s, although unsure of the precise nature of the relationship. He is undoubtedly in form, averaging only a little under 100 runs to each dismissal for his county team, Warwickshire, this season. England’s other choice is in bowling. Stuart Broad has huge all-round potential and has batted well, but offered little threat as a bowler. Ryan Sidebottom, whose left-arm swing bowling would offer another angle of attack in the style to which Australia is most vulnerable, has been added to the squad. Australia must hope that reports of the demise of Headingley as a paradise for swingers have not been exaggerated. Its batsmen have struggled desperately against Jimmy Anderson when conditions favor swing but otherwise have experienced few difficulties. There could be no complaints that it held on for the draw at Edgbaston. England just about deserves a series lead, but 2-0 would be a travesty. It has undoubtedly had the edge at Lord’s and Edgbaston but was never nearly as dominant as Australia was at Cardiff, where it was thwarted by the weather. England’s fear will be that Australia will take momentum from its escape at Edgbaston, just as England did from its reprieve at Cardiff. The emergency opener, Shane Watson, performed above expectations with two fine innings of more than 50, while the troubled paceman Mitchell Johnson looked much more like his old self. Australia is in danger of losing more than the Ashes. The annual revision this week of the International Cricket Council’s world team rankings, taking out all results more than three years old, has left it extremely vulnerable at the top. South Africa will take over first place, ending six years of nonstop Australian dominance, unless the Aussies win both the remaining matches. If Australia loses the series, it will also drop below Sri Lanka and India. England will remain fifth whatever happens — but does not really much care, as long as the tiny, storied urn is returned to it at some time between now and the final day of the series on Aug. 24.


Gawker’s Appeal in Sale May Be Its E-Commerce Potential

Abstract: The Gawker Media Group is up for sale. The question now is not just who will buy it, but what exactly they will be paying for. The company on Friday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and announced the beginning of an auction process to sell itself. The decision came after a year of escalating controversies and setbacks at Gawker, culminating in a $140 million legal judgment in a lawsuit by Hulk Hogan and the revelation that the suit had received financial support from the Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel. But while company’s public image — and troubles — have centered around its aggressive and boundary-testing flagship news site, Gawker.com, potential buyers may be interested in a less visible part of its business: e-commerce. In recent years, Gawker Media has tried to build up its e-commerce revenue — earned from lucrative commissions taken from referrals to sites like Amazon — as a hedge against an increasingly uncertain online news environment, in which platforms like Google and Facebook take ever-larger shares of advertising revenue. In this alternative view of Gawker, its Lifehacker service site , or Kotaku, a video game site , are seen not just as publications. With audiences presorted by interests and demographics, they also become prime venues for product recommendations and affiliate links. In that way, they resemble something between news sites and Gawker’s commerce-centric blog, Kinja Deals . (Sample headline: “The New King Of the Coffee Makers Is On Sale Today.”) Generating more revenue through e-commerce was a strategy the company adopted several years ago as a way to maintain financial independence, in contrast to competitors who were backed by venture capital. In 2014, the company was already generating around $10 million from consumer transactions; in an interview in April, Gawker’s founder, Nick Denton, claimed that e-commerce revenue “now covers our editorial spending.” But while that kind of revenue was growing, Gawker Media’s commerce plans never fully came to fruition. The effort was hindered by an obsessive focus on developing Kinja, the company’s internal content management and commenting system, as well as the creation of numerous subsites with distinct brands, according to a person briefed on the company’s financial situation who spoke on condition of anonymity. Now, with financial independence off the table, Gawker Media’s e-commerce operation may nonetheless play an outsize role in determining the company’s fate. Vivek Shah, the chief executive of Ziff Davis, a technology publisher that entered a first bid for the company — reportedly between $90 million and $100 million — wrote in a memo to staff that “like us, GMG is heavily active in driving commerce-based revenues, and has an impressive publishing and commerce platform with Kinja.” Mr. Denton also referred to the consumer component in his own announcement. While affirming his site’s commitment to “telling the true stories that underpin credibility with our millions of readers,’’ he also wrote, “a combination would marry Ziff Davis’ strength in e-commerce, licensing and video with GMG’s premium media brands.” Ziff Davis, a major presence in the pre-blog technology and gaming press, filed for bankruptcy itself in 2008, and is now, in a substantially different form, a subsidiary of the internet services and publishing conglomerate j2 Global. The company’s interest in a deal was fueled by Gawker’s portfolio of tech, lifestyle and gaming sites that together, through e-commerce and advertising, make up 85 percent of Gawker Media’s total revenue, according to another person briefed on the finances. If it was difficult to imagine Gawker Media, the persistently antagonistic outsider, as part of a larger and more risk-averse company, Mr. Shah’s memo provided some clues. “The additions of Gizmodo, Lifehacker and Kotaku would fortify our position in consumer tech and gaming,” Mr. Shah wrote in his memo. “With the addition of Jalopnik, Deadspin and Jezebel, we would broaden our position as a lifestyle publisher.” The memo did not mention Gawker.

Gawker
Bankruptcy
Gawker.com
Lifehacker
Kinja
Nick Denton
Ziff Davis
Mergers and Acquisitions
E Commerce


Phil Hughes Delivers Victory for Yankees

Abstract: Phil Hughes departed the Yankee Stadium mound nearly two weeks ago to lukewarm applause, with fans seemingly unsure whether a mild sign of progress was worthy of their cheers or still merited their disapproval. Hughes had struggled throughout the first month of the season, and Yankees fans were growing restless about his inconsistency. There was no debate on Saturday afternoon. When Manager Joe Girardi removed Hughes with two outs in the eighth inning of the Yankees’ 6-2 victory against the Seattle Mariners , the fans rewarded Hughes with a standing ovation. They did so for good reason: Hughes had just pitched his finest game of the season. It was his third consecutive start with marked improvement, reversing course from a forgettable April when Hughes’s spot in the rotation appeared vulnerable. “As far as a turning point, it’s hard to get any worse than the beginning of the year,” Hughes said. “You build on every start.” Hughes held the Mariners scoreless through the first six innings. Besides a seventh-inning home run from Mike Carp, the listless Mariners offense generated few scoring opportunities against him. At seven and two-thirds innings, it was Hughes’s longest outing of the season, and the one run he allowed was his lowest total in a game this year. For Hughes, the key to the May turnaround has been embracing a “reliever mentality.” It started against the Baltimore Orioles on May 1 with a suggestion by the pitching coach Larry Rothschild, who said he should focus on his fastball and curveball. Instead of diversifying his repertory as many starters do, Hughes mimicked his success as a relief pitcher by embracing what he does best. He also used his changeup to great success Saturday and stayed away from his cutter against a left-handed-heavy lineup. Catcher Russell Martin said the newfound approach had also helped Hughes’s pitching mentality because he was “not holding back at all.” Martin noticed that Hughes’s fastball had more life and arrived in Martin’s glove with more velocity. Martin and Hughes discussed focusing on pitching inside against left-handers to induce weak swings and open up the outside of the plate for times when he needed it. “Going as long as you can as hard as you can, because he was so successful coming out of the bullpen locating everything,” Girardi said of Hughes’s approach. “It’s just been an attitude that we want him to take on.” Girardi noted that Hughes’s progress was especially important in fortifying the starting rotation because the bullpen is weaker without closer Mariano Rivera. If the team can consistently rely on Hughes to pitch into the later innings, the Yankees can proceed with an element they lacked earlier this season. Of course, it also helps when the offense scores runs. The Yankees got all they needed Saturday in the second inning, when Mark Teixeira, Raul Ibanez and Martin each hit a double before Jayson Nix homered to break an 0-for-20 skid and give the Yankees a 4-0 lead. All four runs scored with two outs. “Those are the runs that kill teams,” Girardi said. The Yankees added a run in the fourth on Ibanez’s home run to deep center. It was his fourth home run in four games, a scorching streak that has made the Yankees’ lineup even more potent. Robinson Cano extended his hitting streak to 10 games when he singled home Derek Jeter in the eighth inning for the final run, helping the Yankees to their fifth win in six games. Five of the runs came against the former Yankees pitcher Hector Noesi. When Girardi was asked Friday about their former top prospect Jesus Montero, whom General Manager Brian Cashman sent to Seattle in the off-season in exchange for pitcher Michael Pineda, Girardi made sure to mention that Montero was not the only piece the Yankees surrendered in the deal. They also lost Noesi, who pitched in 30 games and made two starts for the Yankees last season. Noesi allowed five runs and six hits in seven innings Saturday. The Yankees were willing to deal Noesi, but they have always been reluctant to deal a pitcher with Hughes’s talent. Hughes’s promise has been on display at times and confounding at other times, and the fans had recognized both extremes. On Saturday, Hughes, 25, showed the promise the Yankees have expected of him. The crowd of 43,954 at the Stadium affirmed the performance the best way it knows. “The fans are great at showing you when you don’t do so well,” Hughes said, “and they’re great about letting you know when you did do well.” INSIDE PITCH Andy Pettitte will pitch in Yankee Stadium on Sunday for the first time since the 2010 playoffs when he starts the final game of the series against the Mariners. Pettitte returned to the Yankees during spring training after a year of retirement, and Joe Girardi said the thought Pettitte could last 100 pitches. “I kind of expect him to be what he was in 2010,” Girardi said. “I don’t know if that’s quite fair after taking a year and a half off, but that’s what I know.” To make room in the rotation, David Phelps was sent back to the bullpen.

Seattle Mariners
Baseball
New York Yankees
Hughes Phil
Ibanez Raul
Noesi Hector


Pixar Chief’s Book, ‘Creativity Inc.,’ Grips Hollywood’s Imagination

Abstract: What is the secret to making more of the good stuff? Every so often Hollywood embraces a book that it senses might provide the answer. When Michael S. Ovitz ran the Creative Artists Agency, he had everyone reading “The Art of War.” Then came the book-on-tape version of “The Kid Stays in the Picture,” by Robert Evans, a former Paramount mogul. Now comes “Creativity Inc.” by Ed Catmull, the longtime president of Pixar Animation Studios, which he co-founded. Subtitled “Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration” and written with Amy Wallace, Mr. Catmull’s book is quickly becoming the latest bible for the show business crowd. Visit certain divisions of the Walt Disney Company, which owns Pixar, and you will see “Creativity Inc.” on almost every desk. (Trying to impress the brass explains only some of those copies.) Entire departments at William Morris Endeavor are reading it. Over at 20th Century Fox, fans include Steve Asbell, executive vice president for production. “Thank you, Mr. Ed Catmull for such a thoughtful and nuanced take on managing creativity (Inc!),” Mr. Asbell wrote on Twitter . It is not just movie people. Nancy Dubuc, chief executive of A&E Television Networks, emailed her entire staff encouraging them to read Mr. Catmull’s words of wisdom. “It’s a great affirmation that we are absolutely on the right track,” she wrote. Mr. Catmull’s book, which jumped onto the New York Times best-seller list after its April 8 release by Random House, outlines how to manage a business that runs on imagination. Among his tips: People at all levels of a creative company should be allowed to speak to each other without going through hierarchical channels. Hollywood is either about to get a lot better at delivering hits, or a lot of people are going to be using Mr. Catmull to explain why failing is all in a day’s work.

Books
Creativity Inc.
Creativity
Ed Catmull
Pixar Animation Studios
A&E