An otherwise flattering WWD piece from Jacob Bernstein about Nikki Finke had to go down the crapper simply because "a legal question about whether one blanket 'yes you can tape [the conversation]' covered all subsequent follow-up interviews." The since-removed column (reprinted elsewhere) credited Finke with breaking all sorts of industry news – garnering the sort of attention and influence most bylines crave – and painted her as a strong and principled lass who doesn't have time for corporate bullshit. (Should we all be so lucky!)
It was Bernstein's alluding to Universal Studios prez Ron Meyer and former HBO chief Michael Fuchs being two of her most worthwhile sources (she's friends with both) that got him in the most trouble … but, um, who doesn't rely on knowledgeable insiders time and again?
After the piece ran, a slew of Finke-fueled WWD corrections followed "WWD made several corrections" before the story was ultimately removed from WWD.com. Tomorrow, says Keith Kelly, the industry trade will announce it stands by its story, but will keep it offline because of the whole "off the record" issue. (An issue that has more to do with not wanting to deal with this debacle any longer than it does with certain conversations being labeled OTR.)
Editorial Director
Oh yeah, Nikki Finke is soooo tough. But really all she does is break a lot of b-rated tidbits. She leaves it to the LA Times to break the really tough stories, like the one about the HBO smuck who beat up his girlfriend in Vegas. The LA Times– not Finke– broke the news about the smuck's past history of sexual abuse and how HBO covered it up.
Better to ask Finke what she knows but DOESN'T write. Like the sexual shenanigans of a certain Hollywood trade publisher… Yeah, what about that!!
[...] Poland weighs in. Jossip. Kate [...]