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Nikki Jean Finke (December 16, 1953 – October 9, 2022) was an American blogger, journalist, publisher and writer. She also was the founder, editor-in-chief and president of Deadline Hollywood, a website with original content consisting of reporting and commentary on the business of the entertainment industry by her and other show business journalists. She founded and was the chief executive officer of Hollywood Dementia LLC and its website, HollywoodDementia.com, for showbiz short fiction.
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 college newspaper.
In 1975, Finke joined the Associated Press (AP) and covered Koch's successful 1977 New York City mayoral campaign. She then 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 the West Coast Editor for The New York Observer, and then New York, where she penned Hollywood business columns. She also wrote for The New York Times, Vanity Fair, Esquire, Harper's Bazaar, ELLE, The Washington Post, Salon, Premiere and Los Angeles.
Finke joined the New York Post in 2001, but was fired in early 2002, after she reported that The Walt Disney Company was destroying documents related to a licensing dispute. She then sued Disney and the Post for $10 million, alleging the companies had colluded to suppress coverage of the story; she received an out-of-court settlement. Afterward, LA Weekly hired her and began running her column "Deadline Hollywood". In 2006, she began the Deadline ( Deadline Hollywood Daily until September 2009) blog 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 Hollywood executives".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 TimesFixmer, 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 is strike 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'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. Alt URL 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". Finke said "There's a lot of truth in fiction", and added "There are things I am going to be able to say in fiction that I can't say in journalism right now".
On May 11, 2016, Deadline printed Finke's remembrance at how she founded Deadline Hollywood on the occasion of the website's ten-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."
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.
Finke's health declined in her later years, primarily from complications of diabetes. She died at a hospice facility in Boca Raton, Florida, on October 9, 2022, aged 68.
Career
Finke's first job after Wellesley was in New York congressman Ed Koch's Washington, D.C. office. She decided to become a reporter after seeing how Koch and his staff would show deference to reporters.
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 reporting." In the 2007 AltWeekly Awards, Deadline won Second Place. Altweekly Awards 2007
Personal life and death
In 1974, Finke became engaged to Jeffrey W. Greenberg. They were married from 1980 until their divorce in 1982.
See also
External links
Categories: 1953 Births, 2022 Deaths, 20th-century American Jews, 20th-century American Women Journalists, 20th-century American Journalists, 20th-century American Women Writers, 21st-century American Jews, 21st-century American Women Journalists, 21st-century American Journalists, 21st-century American Women Writers, American Bloggers, American Columnists, American Publishers, American Women Bloggers, American Women Chief Executives, American Women Columnists, Associated Press Reporters, Deaths From Diabetes In Florida, Jewish American Journalists, Journalists From New York City, New York Post People, People From Sands Point, New York, Wellesley College Alumni, Writers From Manhattan
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