How to read a tabloid newspaper
Tabloid newspapers are alien to the Valley. A scandal sheet like the New York Post rarely covers tech — and those are the only days you read it. We understand that it's jarring. Here's how to decode the Post's recent report on Microsoft's attempt to cobble together a Yahoo board.
The Post:
Microsoft has been so cagey about the candidates it plans to nominate to Yahoo!'s board that speculation is mounting that the software giant actually doesn't have anyone lined up.
The invisible footnote: Our once-cooperative sources at Microsoft don't see any reason to keep us updated on negotiations. Here's a reason: Talk or we'll make up things and call it "speculation." We won't make up nice things.
The Post:
The word on Wall Street and in technology circles is that the Redmond, Wash.-based company has had a list of candidates drawn up since early March, but that the company is having difficulty getting people to sign on.
The invisible footnote: See? Because you haven't told us anything, everything is a possibility! Guess which possibilities we're going to emphasize.
The Post:
The deal is seen as a make or break deal for Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who has staked both his reputation and the company's ability to do battle with Web titan Google.
The invisible footnote: Seen by whom? New York Post readers, now. Some of them on work on Wall Street!
The Post:
Other sources familiar with the matter dispute that Microsoft is having trouble putting its slate together, noting that the company has signed up 10 board candidates and two alternates and is ready to pull the trigger on nominating them if and when it has to
The invisible footnote: Microsoft PR people spoke to us, but refused to have their comments attributed and wouldn't give us the board members' names — so we'll just report that they don't have any, and bury their spin at the bottom of the article.
