It has been a tumultuous week! In past six days, I have gone from elation to absolute despair to now slowly inching into depression. On Friday last, I woke up with a sense of ominous doom. The tom-toms said that Red Herring was on very thin ice. TheDeal.com broke the story (after all how long does it take for details of travel from executive suite to news room - my guess is nano seconds) and basically started a chain of events, which led to the eventual demise of Red Herring. Other more respectable news organizations, The New York Post and The Wall Street Journal picked up on the story and when there was an all-Fish meeting on Friday, March 1, 2003, it was all over. Despite everyone’s best efforts the magazine closed and now I find myself pounding the pavement looking to start all over again.What’s even more surprising is the venom of other media organizations that jumped on the opportunity to kick the sick puppy even more. I wonder whose obit will Matt Rose right the next time. Or what will San Francisco Chronicle’s Dan Fost do next? I think the low point was today when an old friend, Nick Denton called our writing embarrassing. That truly is below the belt, after all whatever the circumstances of Herring’s demise might be; Red Herring’s editorial was its strength. The obvious glee with which Herring’s death has been reported, many forgot that this was the same magazine, which called the bursting of the telecom bubble much before the NY media and Wall Street caught on to the hype. Herring first exposed Enron’s problems! The magazine won many awards; its writers worked hard, and editors even harder. It was part of the Silicon Valley Culture, whose time has come and gone. Herring archives still live online at RedHerring.com. The stories just speak for themselves.
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