Dina Pule is feeling the love, and she’s not happy about it. South Africa’s communication minister says she has been the target of a 10-month “smear campaign” by the Sunday Times, which included a proposal of “love” from a friend...
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Photograph by Nadine Hutton/Bloomberg
In South African Digital TV Shift, Claims of Love Offers and Graft
Why YouTube Is Fighting Russia Over a Halloween Video
A rather standard how-to YouTube clip is causing a stir in Russia after becoming the focus of a dispute between the government and the video site. The three-minute clip, which provides instructions for applying scary Halloween makeup, was banned at...
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Photograph by Carl Court/AFP via Getty Images
Eclipsing the Sun: Murdoch’s British Tabloid to Erect Paywall
Britain’s best-selling daily, The Sun, is putting up a paywall later this year. That means fans of the tabloid — known for topless “Page 3″ girls and headlines like “Harry The Nazi” (when Prince Harry wore a Nazi outfit to...
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Photograph by Graham Barclay/Bloomberg
Coming to a Screen Near You: Virtual Product Placement
Careful viewers of Indian soap opera “Pavitra Rishta” might think that husband and wife Manav and Archana are fans of Tilda, a brand of packaged rice. There it is, after all, on the shelf. Anyone watching the show being filmed,...
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Photograph by Barry Winiker
After selling off assets, New York Times Co. is left with two chiefs tasked with managing its finances.
The New York Times Has Two Chief Financial Officers
(Update: New York Times Co. reorganized its staff the day after this story published to eliminate the redundant CFO positions.) New York Times Co. has too many people at the top. After it sells the Boston Globe, the company will...
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Photograph by Michael Nagle/Bloomberg
The New York Times is hoping to attract young readers by meeting them where they hang out.
Hey Kids, Forget Netflix! Come Party With The New York Times
The New York Times has plenty of paying readers, about 1.61 million as of September. But if there’s something the Times wants more than paying readers, it’s young paying readers. It wants kids out of college willing to plunk down a few bucks...
Read more »Europe’s Airwave Auctions Wrong, Says Deutsche Telekom Chief
When a government is buried in debt, making money from thin air sure sounds like a good idea. The U.K. and the Netherlands were among the latest European countries to sell wireless frequencies — the right to use certain airwaves...
Read more »Netflix Sees the Need for Speed in Becoming Next HBO
What took HBO decades to build, Netflix thinks it can achieve in a much shorter time. As the online streaming service tries to become the next HBO by focusing more heavily on original content, such as the critically acclaimed “House...
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Photograph by Aidan Crawley/Bloomberg
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings still hasn't recovered from a series of past mistakes that he attributed to "arrogance."
Netflix Still ‘on Probation’ With Customers, Hastings Says
More than a year after triggering a cyber-revolt among his subscribers, Netflix Chief Executive Officer Reed Hastings said he’s only halfway to redemption. “You might say we’re on probation at this point, so we’re out of jail,” Hastings said during...
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Photograph by Globe Photos/Zuma Press
Ben Curtis, Dell's pitchman a decade ago, is now an actor and producer. But he's open to returning to his glory role.
‘Dell Dude’ Says He Can Fix Dell
Ben Curtis, the actor made famous by his role in Dell commercials early last decade, says he’s got the solution to the problems that led Michael Dell to seek a leveraged buyout: Resurrect the “Dell Dude.” Dell was an unstoppable...
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