Gawker
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twitterati
The Pursuit of Paranoia
Just because you use Twitter doesn't mean they're not out to get you. Starring Sarah Lacy, Elizabeth Spiers, and more! More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by MissCast: So does that mean he looks like a young Harrison Ford or a comic-con loser? 2 Responses | Other threads
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obituary
Fred Baron, father of Rocketboom, clicks "stop"
Fred Baron, a Texas trial lawyer, died last Thursday of cancer. Fellow litigators remember him for the "toxic tort" lawsuits he filed; politicos know him as the man who relocated former presidential candidate John Edwards's mistress, Rielle Hunter, to Santa Barbara, in the hopes of keeping her away from the public eye. But the Internet-obsessed crowd will inevitably think of him as the man who inflicted chesty-news videoblog Rocketboom on them; first, by fathering videoblogger Andrew Baron, then giving his son the funding for his project. Oh, and then suing him over it. Despite that, Andrew sought to have his father given an experimental cancer treatment. Blood is thicker than blogs.
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By Owen ThomasComment by Shadowlayer: Dude if I die try to make it sound more dramatic than it was, specially if it's a tricycle accident... more » | Other threads
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commentards
Internet user wants automatic updates on Andrew Baron's dying dad
Andrew Baron, the founder of videoblog Rocketboom, has reported that his dad, prominent trial lawyer Fred Baron, is dying of cancer. His one chance, an experimental lifesaving drug, was denied by its manufacturer, Biogen Idec. We won't mention how Fred paid to relocate Rielle Hunter, the mistress of former presidential candidate John Edwards, out of hte spotlight. Or how Baron père and fils fought over the funding of Rocketboom, which Fred supplied. No, we'll just point you to this grotesque demand from a commenter on FriendFeed, Peter Huesken: More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by FlakJack: I see an iPhone app on the horizon. Also, maybe they can set up an RSS feed to all... more » | Other threads
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andrew baron
Rocketboom son and dad profess ignorance about Edwards affair
John Edwards has admitted to his affair with "filmmaker" Rielle Hunter, even if he hasn't come totally clean about the shenanigans he and his inner circle of advisors went through to keep it a secret. Elizabeth Edwards has also admitted that she knew about the affair before her husband formally announced his candidacy. But the Baron family — deep-pocketed trial lawyer Fred Baron and son Andrew Baron, who funded his startup Rocketboom from the family coffers — continue to hand-wave about what, exactly, they knew. More »
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By Jackson WestComment by lobotomy42: I'm not so sure I see what the big deal is. more » | Other threads
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journalist math
Twitter users worth $12.26 apiece, in magical make-believe land
In just a few short months, the value of a Twitter user has gone up over 1,200 percent, according to completely arbitrary and illogical calculations. I initially pegged it at around $1 based on the value buyers were willing to pay for Andrew Baron's Twitter account at auction. When Twitter received $15 million in funding, it worked out to around $7.50 per user. Looking at potential revenues, advertising strategist Ben Kunz pegs it at $12.26, based on 2.3 million users, industry averages for cost-per-click ad revenue, and ten ads per user per day. Of course, since Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has declared Twitter.com an ad-free zone, and many Twitter users get messages by means other than the site, the actual revenue-per-user number hovers under zero.
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By Jackson WestComment by raincoaster: Great, awesome. Now, who do I see about getting a loan against my Twitter sock puppet accounts? more » | Other threads
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commenter of the day
Robin Wauters
Our featured commenter, Robin Wauters, has one question for you about the latest spat between Mahalo's Jason Calacanis and Rocketboom's Aaron Baron: More » -
we read twitter so you don't have to
Andrew Baron and Jason Calacanis have beef
In this corner, Andrew Baron, cofounder of hot videoblog mess Rocketboom, challenging Mahalo founder and incumbent blowhard champeen Jason Calacanis. Baron lands the first blow, citing Mahalo's "flat" traffic. Calacanis counters with some trash talk and then a body blow to Baron's privileged upbringing. Baron complains to the ref that the "trust-fund baby" charges were below the belt. Meanwhile, Calacanis argues with the judges that Baron shouldn't get the point on the Mahalo traffic jab. After the jump, the action continues. More »
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By Jackson WestComment by emnem: @Dogzilla22: That is fucking hilarious. "mah peeps gonna pimp it 'round, yo. mah peeps dey PIMP dat ho!" Jason, shouldn't you be writing... more » | Other threads
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Fred Baron
Rocketboom-Rielle Hunter links exposed
What do Rocketboom's Andrew Baron and John Edwards's fling Rielle Hunter have in common? They're both videobloggers who live off of trial lawyer Fred Baron's largesse. Financing from Fred, Andrew's dad, got Andrew's Rocketboom videoblog off the ground. Add to that his contributions to the Edwards campaign, including paying to move Hunter to a new home in Santa Barbara, away from the limelight. And most damningly, Baron Sr. may have arranged for Baron Jr. to do video work for the Edwards campaign — simultaneously boosting his favored candidate and his son's business. More »
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Comment by WasatchMan: Poor Amanda. Lost out Edwards' attentions to a chick twenty years older. more » | Other threads
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lawsuits
How daddy's money paid for Andrew Baron's Rocketboom
Here's a story far more interesting than anything you'll watch on YouTube: A prodigal scion of a wealthy family, pitted against his powerful father and an ambitious blonde. It's not a pilot for a new courtroom procedural — it's the tale of Andrew Baron's Rocketboom, an online-video startup held up, inexplicably, as an example of the potential of the medium. Sony's seven-figure deal to distribute Rocketboom is seen by some as evidence that the industry is growing up. But what it really tells us is that having access to a credit line backed by Daddy is as sure a recipe for success online as it was in the old Hollywood. The exciting plot twist: Baron's father was not always happy about the arrangement. We've only learned how daddy-dependent Rocketboom was because Fred Baron loaned his son's company a total of $810,300.40, and then took it to court in order to force repayment last year. If you think it's strange for a father to go after his own son's company in court, then you don't know the elder Baron. More »
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By Jackson WestComment by somerandomdude: I have to agree with Andrew, his dad Fred has done a lot of good. For example, has anyone... more » | Other threads
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confirmed
Rocketboom, which still exists, signs distribution deal with Sony
Rocketboom founder Andrew Baron, who didn't invent the Internet, video, or Internet video, but did prove back in 2006 that its possible to become Internet famous with quick, quirky edits and a pretty girl's face, has announced a "seven-figure" distribution deal with Sony, TechCrunch reports, confirming a rumor we floated earlier this summer. Sony will distribute Baron's show over its PS3 videogame consoles, PlayStation Portables, and Bravia I-Link TVs.
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Comment by giania: Great, another craptacular addition to the useless PS3 online store. more » | Other threads
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party report
Founders Club partiers revel in the view from the top
HEARST TOWER, NEW YORK — Far from the sweaty, screaming fans that attended Digg's Brooklyn meetup Wednesday night, the suits of the Alley and Valley gathered last night on the top-most floor of the Hearst Tower for another Founders Club party to celebrate each others' transcendent splendor. All night, giant screens at either end of the party played clips from Citizen Kane, the barely fictionalized biopic based on the life of Hearst Corp.'s own founder, William Randolph Hearst. There wasn't a Hearst in the crowd, but there were those who aspire to be him. Blog moguls like PaidContent's Rafat Ali, Gawker Media's Nick Denton and AlleyCorp's Henry Blodget mingled. New Gifts.com CEO Jason Rapp attended, as did Digg cofounders Kevin Rose and Jay Adelson. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's mentor, Valley bad boy Sean Parker, was rumored to be in the crowd as well. Jimmy Wales, cofounder of the world's most comprehensive list of William Randolph Heart's angry responses to Citizen Kane, attended with Andrea Weckerle on his arm. Photos below. More » -
rocketboom
Andrew Baron bags a Rocketboom distribution deal
Lucky to attend the Founders' Club party, we bumped into Rocketboom creator Andrew Baron last night. Baron told us Rocketboom will sign a "fat" deal with a major content company as early as today. "Is that phat with a ph?" asked a bystander about the boast. "Fat in all meanings of the word," Baron said. "I just don't want to jinx it by saying who it is." He held up his hand and made a C with is thumb and forefinger to indicate, what, "a fat stack of cash?" I asked him. "Exactly." We asked if the deal was with Quincy Smith and CBS, because of Smith's deals for Wallstrip and Moblogic. "No, someone bigger than CBS," Baron said. Our second guess? Viacom. We haven't heard a no on that one yet. More »
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Comment by TomNocera: If it isn't with Viacom then who? I can tell you with certainty that Baron's content deal is not going... more » | Other threads
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vlogs
Host Joanne Colan Leaves Rocketboom
According to a source at the Creative Artists Agency, host Joanne Colan is leaving Rocketboom, one of the Internet's first prominent news videoblogs. During her tenure, Colan never managed to transform the show (directed by creator Andrew Baron) from a quirky but inscrutable cult favorite into a mainstream online news source. (See for yourself below by watching today's weird episode.) Nor did she achieve the same web fame as her predecessor Amanda Congdon, who left a job with ABCNews.com last year. More »
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By Nick DouglasComment by Barce: I still care about Rocketboom. INTERNETS 4 LIFE. more » | Other threads
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conferences
My young, white, and nerdy boys, let me show you them
CAMBRIDGE, MA — There's still hope, future. A full half of the people behind ROFLcon, the world's largest concentration of Internet-inspired pop-culture trends in one room, are female. Or, as they might put it, IRL LULZ 50% XX! As it's now officially impossible to host a tech-related conference without asking, Where are the women?, a "commenter" posed this to the morning's first all-guy panel. "Girls just have better things to do," answered Kyle "Paperclip to House Guy" MacDonald. Other possible explanations? More »
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Comment by raincoaster: @Patricia2: It's just that women are underrepresented in the circle jerks which have controlled the public perception of the internet.... more » | Other threads
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self-demotion
Andrew Baron accelerates Twitter's descent into spam platform
Twitter has won kudos for being relatively resistant to spam. That may change. Rocketboom founder Andrew Baron, not pleased with the level of interaction his account has generated, has put it up for sale on eBay.It would be silly to just delete this account I have here, especially if there is someone out there that had like interests and had something to say or wanted to get involved in some relevant conversations.
By "something to say," we assume Baron means "something to sell" — after all, why else would someone up the current bid of $1,525? In order to reach Baron's 1,635 followers with breakfast updates and cat photos? More »
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By Jackson WestComment by dshah: What kind of crazy person would bid this kind of money for a Twitter account? What nefarious objective might they have? Who... more » | Other threads
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andrew baron
Rocketboom creator takes on Calacanis
Jason Calacanis's human-powered search engine Mahalo is "fundamentally flawed," says videoblogger Andrew Baron. Well, we could have told you that: It's basically Yahoo's directory, 12 years too late. But Baron, best known for creating Rocketboom, trashed Calacanis's service not for its lack of originality, but for its lack of critical applause. "Mahalo is not a worthwhile product," Baron wrote, "I have never seen a single positive review of the site." What's got the guy so worked up? More »
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Comment by Longitude: I like how the dogs are so genetically f-ed with that their breathing is impacted, the fold in their skin... more » | Other threads
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party report
Founders Club, MC Hammer take over SNL studios
Digital media types here in New York are always looking for a reason to celebrate their own achievements. A couple of months ago, a few of them began calling themselves the Founders Club and decided to start holding mixers around town. Last night, NBC hosted the latest in the series on the set of Saturday Night Live. Who showed? Mostly wantrepreneurs looking for a VC teat to suckle, of course. But I also ran into Digg CEO Jay Adelson, pictured above; a definitely not-pictured angel Ron Conway, who dodged my camera; a Facebook "founder"; and MC Hammer. More » -
trends
Declaring e-mail bankruptcy
NICK DOUGLAS — "If you've sent me an email (and you aren't my wife, partner, or colleague), you might want to send it again." So says Fred Wilson, venture capitalist, declaring e-mail bankruptcy today on his blog. He's not the first high-profile person to take this measure. Here are three other notables who've given up on their e-mail (the most famous of whom reportedly white-lied) and three who found a better way. More »
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By Nick DouglasComment by pra: This is truly pathetic. Is giving up the only strategy these people can manage? I'll deal with their email... more » | Other threads
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diggbait
The nine most surprisingly great business moves of 2006
NICK DOUGLAS — Good deals are obvious. Great deals are not. News Corp's $580-million purchase of MySpace was "Murdoch's Folly" no more when Google paid $900 million to power MySpace search. In that spirit, here are the top nine business moves from 2006 that don't make sense — at first. Below, the video that started Deal #1. More »
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By Nick DouglasComment by rice: Didn't Apple start shipping Intel in 06? I am now just waiting for MacBookPros to pre-bundle Bootcamp *and* Vista.... more » | Other threads
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rocketboom
Unboomed: Drew Baron on the loss of his Bunny
A marketing maven e-mails in from a Future of PR conference, where he's listening to Andrew Baron, the producer of online news show Rocketboom avoid mentioning his former host, the famously pretty Amanda Congdon, who quit this year, sparking an embarrassing public feud with Andrew. (The two have threatened each other with legal action over Amanda's disputed share of 49% of the show. Meanwhile, the chattering class has wondered which would suffer more from the breakup.) More » -
rocketboom
Morning deals: Win a date with Netflix's money
- Is it that big a deal that Netflix offered a million-dollar bounty for anyone who improves its movie recommendation engine by 10%? Wait, how do you even measure the accuracy of movie recommendations? Who cares, the media's eating it up as if they get a finder's fee. (If you win this contest after reading it on Valleywag, you do owe us a finder's fee: a lifetime subscription to "Netflix: Porn Edition." [NY Times]
- Rocketboom video blog founder Andrew Baron (pictured) sells another week of ads for $80,000, says he sells $4,000 a month in t-shirts alone, then does some classic "If only we got a fraction..." math to justify a possible subscription model. A fine business model, but didn't Drew spend the last year decrying "Old Media?" Ads and pay-per-view are as old as Cable TV. [MarketWatch]
- Aw, nobody likes PayPerPost, a service so mercenary that even blog network exec Jason Calacanis called it "stupid and evil." BusinessWeek calls the company "unrepentant" when it announces that the company (which pays bloggers to write about products and services) just took a $3 million venture capital investment. The bright side: There's no way this company will earn enough to satisfy its investors, so at least it'll get as screwed as the bloggers whose reputations it ruins. [BusinessWeek]
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By Nick DouglasComment by David Quiec: Calacanis sez "Here we go again... another idiot tries to "revolutionize" marketing by paying people off to shill for a... more » | Other threads
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andrew baron
Divorce Court: Rocketboom stars to go at it
Rocketboom founder Andrew Baron hasn't given up the fight with recently fired-or-quit news anchor Amanda Congdon over the 49% stake she claims to still hold in the popular video blog (earlier coverage here). In fact, a week ago (I know, we are so late to this), Drew said he's taking her to court. In his blog, Drew says: More »
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By Nick DouglasComment by baby4mommy: I used to watch Rocketboom everyday. After Amanda was fired/left I watched the first three new Rocketboom episodes. They were... more » | Other threads
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rocketboom
Sing-along: Don't you vlog me baby
The star has gone, the glamour's worn thin, and Rocketboom's former vlog host is already fading from memory after her public fight with her producer Andrew Baron (scroll through this page for background). In celebration of Amanda Congdon's rapidly ticking 14th minute of her 15 minutes of fame, Valleywag presents "Don't You Vlog Me, Baby." More »
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By Nick DouglasComment by irinaslutsky: you actually just made me relive 6th grade singing in my bathroom to myself in the mirror. SO. that was... more » | Other threads
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rocketboom
Midyear predictions: Rocketboom hooks up, Ballmer holes up, Wozniak shapes up
Just like Christmas in July, New Year predictions deserve a mid-year refresher — especially since Valleywag wasn't here for New Year's. Valleywag predicts that by the end of 2006: More »
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By Nick DouglasComment by ResearchZilla: and then sun ceo schwarts attempts to bring back the mullett... more » | Other threads
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rocketboom
Rocketboom's headed for a legal battle
Everyone's acting like Rocketboom's producer and ex-host have gone their separate ways, as if the fight is over. But it's just about to begin. More »
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By Nick DouglasComment by Conrad: I'm not surprised Andrew thinks that this is a minor glitch - Amanda leaving could be the best thing to... more » | Other threads
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andrew baron
Just be glad they didn't spell it "Andrew Barren"
Take a look at this clip from MSNBC's article about Amanda Congdon, who recently left Andrew Baron's show Rocketboom to go on a media spree: More » -
amanda congdon
UnBoomed: Amanda says Andy can't be her friend
Rocketboom's former host is still telling her side of the story to the media. It's all starting to look a little mean, since her former partner Andrew Baron offered an olive branch this morning on Rocketboom. More » -
andrew baron
Rocketboom wants Amanda Congdon back
The nation's hottest video blog is back, and it's snappy. Rocketboom interim host Joanne Colan (pictured here holding a symbol for triumph) displays the polish and ease that many viewers felt long-time host Amanda Congdon lacked. More »
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By Nick DouglasComment by pobrien: I couldn't disagree more, where Amanda was tongue in cheek, she at least came across as genuine, interested, and having... more » | Other threads
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amanda congdon
Reader poll: Did Amanda Congdon's boobs make her famous?
It's been official policy at Valleywag to allude to Amanda Congdon's breasts without blaming them for her stardom. But every other blogger and reporter says that they're the reason Andrew Baron chose her to host his video blog, Rocketboom. More »
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By Nick DouglasComment by GreenLeaves: That is just plain sad: according to the results of this vote, 82% of Valleywag's readership are either male or... more » | Other threads
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andrew baron
Rocketboom still a dud, bloggers running out of headline puns
Rocketboom, the world's most popular video blog, enters its third post-Amanda-Congdon day with no new episode, despite producer Andy Baron promising one at 9 AM Eastern Time. Well, look at the clock. I'll keep asking until I get an answer: Andy, since you do all the work on the show, switching anchors should be no big deal, right? More » -
rocketboom
Rocketboom dies on the launchpad
Magical Wednesday Update: Rocketboom still a dud, bloggers running out of headline puns. (But this post is still worth reading.) More »
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By Nick DouglasComment by Nick Douglas: Tiger Stanley, a reader who's having trouble with his comment account (sorry Tiger!), says: Just wanted to point out that this... more » | Other threads
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andrew baron
UnBoomed: Rocketboom breaks, and it's all Andy's fault
Escalating his battle with exiting host Amanda Congdon, Rocketboom producer Andy Baron blogged that he does nearly all the work on the popular video blog. "I have Produced every single episode," he says. "I have found/picked over 90% of all of the stories that we have ever used." He even takes credit for Amanda's frantic chair spins and head bobs that freaked out so many viewers. More »
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By Nick DouglasComment by Jackson West: As any blog impresario will tell you, putting pasty, chubby white guys in front of cameras does not an internet... more » | Other threads
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andrew baron
UnBoomed: The Andy-Amanda video wars
After Rocketboom host Amanda Congdon took her spat with producer Andrew Baron public on her blog, Andrew never posted a reply on his blog. Instead, he talked about it at a conference. More »
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By Nick DouglasComment by Blackjack: Yeesh, Andy's got a voice like a whistle. I don't get the whole "we're a small company, we can't move across... more » | Other threads
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rocketboom
UnBoomed: Rocketboom hires host from MTV
It only took Rocketboom producer Andrew Baron a week to replace host Amanda Congdon. And, as Amanda accused, he's so old media — new anchor Joanna Colan is an ex-MTV Europe VJ. Huffington Post's media blog, Eat the Press, reports the story but admits that Andy won't confirm the hire. He does confirm that Rocketboom goes back on the air Monday. More » -
rocketboom
UnBoomed: Amanda calls Andrew "old media"
The New York Times gets new quotes from Amanda Congdon after the Rocketboom vlog anchor split with founding producer Andrew Baron over escalating arguments about the show's direction. Now that Rocketboom is rich and famous, Andrew wanted his power back and tried to muscle Amanda out of her 49% share of the show — which is, like, so last decade. More » -
rocketboom
UnBoomed: New Media split finally covered by Old Media
Two major news outlets run full stories on the Congdon-Baron split at Rocketboom today, demonstrating that this story is more than blogger gossip. More » -
amanda congdon
UnBoomed: Analyzing the Congdon letter
Former Rocketboom anchor Amanda Congdon raised the tension in her professional split with producer Andrew Baron last night with a lengthy blog post titled "For the record." After making her case in the intro, the popular vlogger publishes an entire letter from Andrew to her, with the responses she'd sent to him. More »
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Fri Jul 10
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