[IP] Web Magazine Facing Failure

[Dave Farber <dave@farber.net>]

Web Magazine Facing Failure

February 15, 2003
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS




 

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 14 (AP) - The Salon Media Group, the
online magazine publisher, warned today that it might not
survive beyond this month if it cannot raise more money to
pay its rent and other bills.

The company, based in San Francisco, painted a grim
financial picture in a quarterly report filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.

Things are so bad, Salon said, that it stopped paying the
rent for its headquarters in December, prompting the
landlord to issue a demand last month for a $200,000
payment. 

The warning was the latest in a series of dire projections
made by Salon. The company warned late last year that it
might go out of business but then raised enough money to
stay alive temporarily. Salon's troubles caused its stock
to be delisted from the Nasdaq market in November.

Although its news coverage and commentary have attracted a
loyal audience, Salon has not been able to make money. The
company said it lost $1.2 million during the final three
months of 2002, bringing its cumulative deficit to $81
million. 

Unable to drum up enough advertising to pay the bills,
Salon started charging subscriptions to read some of its
stories in 2001. The company began charging fees for all
its content late last month as part of its last-ditch
survival effort. As of Dec. 31, Salon's site had 47,300
subscribers. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/15/business/media/15SALO.html?ex=1046302996&e
i=1&en=9803aa3b1d33fafc



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