Editing Automatic Media

{{Short description|Former web content site}}
'''Automatic Media''' was a web content site in 2000 to 2001.

==Foundation==
Automatic Media was created in July 2000 as a joint venture between [[Suck.com|Suck]] and [[Feed Magazine|Feed]], two [[online magazine]]s,<ref name=wingfield>{{Cite news|last=Wingfield |first=Nick |title=Pioneering Webzines join forces |work=ZD Net |accessdate=2014-11-21 |date=2000-07-09 |url=http://zdnet.com.com/2100-11-522048.html |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20040816163711/http://zdnet.com.com/2100-11-522048.html |archivedate=August 16, 2004 }}</ref> after the publications had raised $4 million in [[venture capital financing]] from [[Lycos]] Ventures LP. Automatic Media's first acquisition was [[Alt.culture]], an online encyclopedia of alternative culture focused primarily on internet fads. Automatic Media allowed its member sites to use a shared advertising sales force, technologies, and administrative resources. The sites maintained distinctive brand names and editorial voices, but engaged in heavy cross-linking and advertising for their partner sites. In January 2001, Automatic Media announced its first original venture, [[Plastic.com]]. Plastic sought to minimize operational costs by running entirely on user-contributed stories. Its staff initially consisted of four people.

==Demise==
Less than a year after its foundation, Automatic Media's subsidiaries declared [[bankruptcy]], citing "an inability to secure additional financing".<ref name=mariano>{{Cite news
| last = Mariano
| first = Gwendolyn
| title = Feed freezes its e-zine
| work = CNET News
| accessdate = 2008-02-01
| date = 2001-06-08
| url = http://www.news.com/2100-1023-268152.html?legacy=cnet
}}</ref> Feed and Suck both announced that they were firing their staffs, and would no longer produce content.<ref name=rosenberg>{{Cite news| last = Rosenberg| first = Scott| title = More lights go out on the Web| work = Salon| date = 2001-06-10 |url=http://www.salon.com/2001/06/09/suck_feed/}}</ref> It was also announced that Plastic would continue with a skeleton staff working [[pro bono]], although its fate was uncertain until bought by one of suck's original founders [[Carl Steadman]].

==Impact==
Automatic Media's echoed the failure of many other web content sites. The failure of these sites disproved the common notion that the [[World Wide Web]] would make it easy for independent media sites to publish and distribute content for cheap compared with the cost of putting out print magazines.<ref name=wingfield /> Combined with the questions raised by other [[Dot-com bubble|dot-com]] collapses, investors were now questioning whether advertising alone could sustain the enormous and often underestimated costs of producing and hosting original material.

==References==

{{reflist |2}}

==External links==
*[http://www.metafilter.com/comments.mefi/8143 A MetaFilter Thread] on the rumors of Automatic's closure
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080307075255/http://archive.salon.com/tech/log/2001/06/08/feed/index.html A Salon.com article] on the end of Suck and Feed ([https://web.archive.org/web/20080307075354/http://archive.salon.com/tech/col/rose/2001/06/09/suck_feed/index.html Editorial] by [[Scott Rosenberg (Journalist)|Scott Rosenberg]]; [https://web.archive.org/web/20080307074903/http://archive.salon.com/audio/col/tech/2001/06/15/tech/index.html audio version])
*[https://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2001-06-11-net-mags-feed-suck-shut-down.htm A USA Today article] on the history of Automatic Media

[[Category:Defunct websites]]
[[Category:Online publishing companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Defunct online companies of the United States]]