Nikki Finke

Nikki Jean Finke (December 16, 1953 – October 9, 2022) was an American blogger, journalist, publisher, and writer. She was a consultant to Penske Business Media LLC and senior editorial contributor for PBM run by media owner Jay Penske. She founded and was the chief executive officer of Hollywood Dementia LLC and its website, HollywoodDementia.com, for showbiz short fiction. She also was the founder, editor-in-chief, and president of ''Deadline Hollywood'', a website with original content consisting of her and other veteran showbiz journalists' reporting and commentary on the business of the entertainment industry. The website was formerly known as ''Deadline Hollywood Daily''. In December 2011, she was given the additional title of editorial advisor of parent company Penske Media Corp.

Early life

Finke was born in New York (reported as either Manhattan or Long Island) on December 16, 1953, one of two daughters born to Jewish parents, Robert and Doris Finke. She was raised in the affluent village of Sands Point, New York.

Finke was educated at Buckley Country Day School and the Hewitt School before attending Wellesley College,Mark Shanahan & Meredith Goldstein (February 25, 2010)
"Rapping it up: Matt keeps going"
''Boston Globe''; accessed November 8, 2021. where she studied political science and was the editor-in-chief of the school newspaper.

Career

Finke's first job after Wellesley was in New York congressman Ed Koch's Washington, D.C. office. According to Finke, she decided to become a reporter after seeing how Koch and his staff "would genuflect to journalists". Finke joined the Associated Press (AP) and covered Koch's successful 1977 New York City mayoral campaign, and worked on the AP's foreign desk at the New York City headquarters, Baltimore, Boston, Moscow, and London. Finke later worked for ''The Dallas Morning News''. She joined the staff of ''Newsweek'' as a correspondent in Washington and Los Angeles, then at the ''Los Angeles Times'' as a staff writer covering entertainment and features. Finke became West Coast Editor for ''The New York Observer'' and then '' New York'', where she penned Hollywood business columns. Finke has also written for ''The New York Times'', '' Vanity Fair'', '' Esquire'', '' Harper's Bazaar'', ''Elle'', ''The Washington Post'', ''Salon.com'', '' Premiere'', and ''Los Angeles'' magazine.

Finke wrote her '' LA Weekly'' column "Deadline Hollywood" from June 2002 to June 2009, and began the ''Deadline'' (''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' until September 2009) blog in March 2006 as a daily online version of her weekly column. She described it as her "forum to break news about the infotainment industry."

''The New York Times'' described Finke as "a digital-age Walter Winchell" with an "in your face"Friedman, Jon (June 28, 2006)
In-your-face Finke keeps Hollywood honest.
MarketWatch writing style, who is "feared by ollywoodexecutives".Carr, David.
A Hollywood Blogger Feared by Executives
''The New York Times'', July 17, 2009. ''Deadline'' became a key information portal during the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike, tripling her readership;Stetler, Brian (November 26, 2007)
Alternative Journalist’s Web Site Is Scrutinized for Writers’ Strike News.
''New York Times''Fixmer, Andy and Michael Janofsky (November 26, 2007)
'Toldja': Nikki Finke Has the Scoop on Hollywood Writers Strike.
Bloomberg.com according to the ''Times'', "Finke’s Web site has become a critical forum for Hollywood...But it s thestrike that may have finally solidified her position as a Hollywood power broker". Finke claimed to have worked "almost around the clock" during the strike; in 2009 the ''Los Angeles Times'' noted her announcement of a five-day vacation.Rainey, James.
Being relentless and harsh pays off for Deadline Hollywood Daily's Nikki Finke
''Los Angeles Times'', July 15, 2009.

In 2008 Finke was named on ''Elle'' magazine's 25 most influential women in Hollywood list,Staff report (November 2008). 25 most influential women in Hollywood/ ''Elle'' and to the '' Heeb Magazine'' 100.Staff report (October 2008)
Heeb 100.
'' Heeb Magazine'' In 2009 she sold ''Deadline'' to Jay Penske's Mail.com Media Corp, reportedly for $14 million, under an agreement by which she would continue as the editor-in-chief and President of the website which would feature her reporting and commentary.

On November 5, 2013, ''Deadline Hollywood'' announced Nikki Finke's departure. On June 12, 2014, she launched NikkiFinke.com. On August 3, 2015, she launched HollywoodDementia.com as a site for showbiz short fiction written by her and other insiders. ''The New York Times'' said, "Ms. Finke finds herself facing a daunting new chapter in her career: a plan to leave journalism and write and publish fiction about the entertainment industry.""There is a lot of truth in fiction," she said. "There are things I am going to be able to say in fiction that I can’t say in journalism right now." Patrick Goldstein, a former ''Los Angeles Times'' film industry columnist, told ''The New York Times'' that "everyone n Hollywoodis secretly full of trepidation about what Nikki’s new site will be like. Will it be literary short stories, or will it be fiction as a thin disguise for the truth?"

On May 11, 2016, ''Deadline'' printed Finke's remembrance at how she founded ''Deadline Hollywood'' on the occasion of the website's 10-year anniversary. "When I started ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'', as it was called way back in 2006, I needed a quicker way to report breaking entertainment news than my weekly newspaper column. So I bought the URL DeadlineHollywoodDaily.com for 14 bucks and change. I didn’t set out to be a disruptor. Or an internet journalist who created something out of nothing that put the Hollywood trades back on their heels, and today, under Penske Media ownership, is a website worth $100+ million. Or a woman with brass balls, attitude and ruthless hustle, who told hard truths about the moguls and who accurately reported scoops first."

On February 1, 2017, Finke rejoined Penske's media company.

Reception

In 2006, Finke's ''LA Weekly'' columns won First Place in the Alternative Weekly Awards in the category of "Media Reporting/Criticism, Circulation >50,000".Finke's 'Deadline Hollywood' columns in ''LA Weekly'' win 2006 Alt-Weekly Award

In 2007, Finke won the Los Angeles Press Club's Southern California Journalism Award for "Entertainment Journalist of the Year" with the judges commenting: "Reading Nikki Finke’s salaciously candid coverage of Hollywood and its inhabitants almost feels like a guilty pleasure. She mixes the news with fearless finger-wagging that’s just fun to read no matter the subject. She tackles the industry monoliths without the kiddy gloves and she seems to have command of the beat."Southern California Journalism Awards
/ref> In the 2007 AltWeekly Awards, ''Deadline'' won Second Place.Altweekly Awards 2007

A studio executive said of Finke, "She's very, very, very, accurate, extraordinarily so—you have a supposedly private conversation with two other people, and it's on her site within an hour." Charlie Koones, former ''Variety'' publisher, called her a "once-in-a-generation talent".

However, others questioned Finke's "harsh tone", "summary executions", "penchant for innuendo and unnamed sources", and allegedly giving better coverage to "her favorites" and frequent sources, such as Ari Emanuel and Ronald Meyer. In 2008 she was criticized for first posting a Sony press release and then adding her own analysis which contradicted the release without updating the time stamp, and in early 2009 Finke was accused of retroactively altering a ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' report about the director of the third ''Twilight'' film.Goldstein, Patrick.
Summit hires new 'Twilight' director, right? Wrong!
''Los Angeles Times'', March 12, 2009.

Personal life and death

In 1974, Finke became engaged to Jeffrey W. Greenberg. They were married from 1980 until their divorce in 1982.

Finke died in Boca Raton, Florida, on October 9, 2022, aged 68, following a long illness. She was survived by her sister and extended family.

See also

* Film criticism
* E-zines

References

External links

*

Hollywood Confidential: How ''L.A. Weekly's'' Nikki Finke Gives the Industry What it Deserves
''Los Angeles'' magazine
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* Articles
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Finke, Nikki
1953 births
2022 deaths
20th-century American Jews
20th-century American journalists
21st-century American Jews
21st-century American journalists
American bloggers
American columnists
American publishers (people)
American women bloggers
American women chief executives
American women columnists
Associated Press reporters
Jewish American journalists
Journalists from New York (state)
People from Sands Point, New York
Wellesley College alumni
20th-century American women writers
21st-century American women writers