Audio pioneer Sidney Harman, 91, has agreed to buy Newsweek for a reported $1. He will, however, take on the newsweekly’s liabilities and operating costs. It follows close on the tails of Bloomberg LLP’s acquisition of Businessweek in 2009, raising the question of whether running once formidable print publications has become a hobby for aging media tycoons. Newsmax, Avenue Capital, Fred Drasner, OpenGate Capital and Thane Ritchie were among the suitors that either dropped out of the running or were deemed unacceptable to Newsweek’s former owner, The Washington Post Company.

The Washington Post Company Agrees to Sell NEWSWEEK to Sidney Harman – Newsweek.

Just finished Switch by Chip and Dan Heath of FastCompany. An interesting read about how to effect change. Some interesting case studies. Takeaways: 1) Offer concrete steps in your proposal and make them bite-sized (i.e. modest); 2) Sometimes you need to change the environment to make change happen; 3) Sometimes you need to make people feel the need for change – don’t just offer rational reasons. Sometimes people need to “feel it.” It’s a pretty quick read. It’s low on the “touchy-feely personal empowerment scale,” thankfully.

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Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange talks about the leaking of Afghanistan documents to his site. Wikileaks (http://www.wikileaks.com) is an interesting model. It’s content is routed thru ISP’s in country with a high level of privacy protection and the path is said to be roundabout to prevent tracking leakers. Assange himself keeps mobile as he feels that he is personally tracked by intel agencies.

This month, Gotham Media launched its GreenTECH series with a panel on the business of GreenTECH. Among the topics discussed by a panel of innovators and investors was the importance of creating a business plan (and a business) not dependent on government subsidies. The business has to stand on its own.

Moderator

Richard Nachmias Audit Partner, Technology Sports Media Practice, Eisner LLP

Panelists

Ron Gonen Founder and Chairman, RecycleBank

Howard Morgan Partner, First Round Capital

Micah Kotch Director of Operations NYC Acre

Nilda Mesa Assistant VP, Environmental Stewardship, Adjunct Professor Columbia University

Pat Sapinsley Principal, Good Earth, Inc.

Uri Zucker Manager, GreenDesk

Event Sponsor

In 2003 Ron Gonen started RecycleBank while still at Columbia Business School. The company enables municipalities to enroll their residents in a program that monitors and gives them credit for recycling. They can bank the points and then trade them in for goods and services. Ron’s bottom line is that companies in the green space cannot rely or base their business plans on government subsidies. They need to have solid business plans.

Sponsored By

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• Los Angeles’ Scene Just Got Greener: The Green Youth Movement Announces Partnership with RecycleBank to Rid the City of Waste (eon.businesswire.com)
• Los Angeles Launches RecycleBank AT LA LIVE EARTH FESTIVAL (thegreengirls.com)