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Bertelsmann's newest biography is a damning potboiler. The subject? The company's own Nazi collaboration in World War II Germany. Having fessed up to its Third Reich past, how quickly will Bertelsmann be able to leave it behind? That depends on the outlet you're reading.

Bertelsmann's self-fiction had for years cast it as part of the Resistance. According to media outlets, the new report -- commissioned by Bertelsmann -- four years in the making and 800 pages in length, describes Bertelsmann as a Nazi collaborator that made use of Jewish slave labor to print materials distributed to Adolph Hitler's troops. The report also noted that the company's leader at the time, Heinrich Mohn, was a patron of the SS. "Built on a lie," was how the British newspaper the Independent characterized the news. The Financial Times pointed out that Bertelsmann didn't just make money during the rise of the Nazi party. It profited mightily. As the peach paper put it, Bertelsmann's entire success is "thanks to its subservience to Nazi ideology." The London Times chimed in by noting that it was by publishing fare such as "Bombers and Machine Guns Over Poland" that Bertelsmann was able to grow to the empire whose stable of authors now includes Danielle Steele and John Grisham.

As for the company's response, BBC pegged it an apology, but other outlets panned Bertelsmann for a polite but insufficient "expression of regret." "Can you really apologize for the actions of a different generation and what we view as a different company?" the New York Times quoted Tim Arnold, coordinator of the commission's work on behalf of Bertelsmann. Unspun thinks yes, particularly when that generation sided with perpetrators of a holocaust. Most outlets pointed out that Bertelsmann is one of many European companies with Nazi ties. But by way of a comment by Reinhard Wettmann, one of the report's authors, the Financial Times hedged on moral relativism: Bertelsmann's Nazi-era free-market philosophy -- publish what appeals to the widest audience and leave ethical considerations aside -- is a management philosophy as misguided today as it was then, Wettmann theorized.

The Wall Street Journal tipped its reportorial hand, noting that Bertelsmann's past is likely to face further scrutiny and wondering why it took half a century for the company's self-serving legend to be challenged. Interesting follow-up coverage in the London Times profiles Hersch Fischler, the historian credited with first putting Bertelsmann's feet to the fire of its Nazi past. But the New York Post suspects the worst is over for Bertelsmann. "I think people will give them credit for owning up to it," the Post quoted one agent. Then again, what agent wants to hit the pavement looking for new publishers? - Deborah Asbrand

Bertelsmann Acknowledges Nazi Role in Its History
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB103402796114096320.djm,00.html
(Paid subscription required.)

Bertelsmann Offers Regret for Its Nazi-Era Conduct
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/08/international/europe/08GERM.html

Channel 5 Owner Admits Profiting From Nazi Era
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,807060,00.html

Bertelsmann Admits Nazi Past
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2308415.stm

Bertelsmann Owns Up to Boom Era Under Hitler (Financial Times)
http://tinyurl.com/1vje
(Paid subscription required.)

The Dark Secret Kept Hidden For 50 Years
http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/story.jsp?story=340907

Bertelsmann Steps Past P.R. Land Mine
http://www.nypost.com/business/59260.htm

How often do you hear that WorldCom is off the hook? The bankrupt telco will save more than $180 million in marketing costs now that a bankruptcy judge has canceled an expensive four-year advertising contract with AOL Time Warner. Simply stated, WorldCom couldn't afford the deal anymore. WorldCom can't afford the Burger King value menu anymore either, but that's another story.

In the unlikely event the judge didn't buy the "we're broke" defense, WorldCom also assailed the quality of the deal, judging from quotes pulled by Bloomberg. The contract placed WorldCom ads on AOL Time Warner properties "in a manner that is not favorable," said WorldCom's court papers, which also called the deal "unnecessary and costly." The agreement was forged in June 2001, arguably late enough in the bubble-bursting era that "unnecessary and costly" should have been out of style already.

The New York Post used the news to grind an ax labeled "AOL accounting." The Post story began, "At least one of the AOL advertising deals under investigation by regulators may now be on the scrap heap," and focused on AOL's possible overstatement of ad revenue, possibly including WorldCom ads. The Post wasn't the only outlet to bring up AOL's questionable ad deals, but some others also pointed out the obvious: WorldCom knows a thing or two about funny bookkeeping, too.

It's also obvious that this isn't good for AOL, whose ad revenue is as washed up as Vanilla Ice. AOL wasn't complaining, however. It just asked the judge to end the contract effective this week, not Sept. 13, the day WorldCom filed its motion. The judge agreed, so WorldCom is liable for $2 million more than it wanted to pay. Unspun hates it when the business press shrugs off millions as small change, but even we must ask how much of a difference $2 mil could make to either company at this point.

There was more WorldCom news this week -- isn't there always? The Washington Post devoted the second half of its article to an attempt to fire the WorldCom board member Stiles Kellett, famous for leasing a corporate jet for $1 per month. The New York Times reversed the formula, leading with Kellett and finishing with AOL and miscellaneous. The Times' sources said Kellett stays for now, because the WorldCom board members don't have the power to dismiss one of their own. Maybe if they convinced a judge they can't afford him... - Jen Muehlbauer

Judge Terminates WorldCom-AOL Deal
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A62735-2002Oct8.html

AOL For $182.25M In Ad Deal
http://www.nypost.com/business/59246.htm

WorldCom Can Cancel Ad Deal, Judge Says (Bloomberg)
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-worldcom9oct09,0,3871229.story

WorldCom Out of AOL-TW Ad Deal
http://www.atnewyork.com/news/article.php/1478801

Court Lets WorldCom Out of AOL TW Deal (Financial Times)
http://tinyurl.com/1vka
(Paid subscription required.)

WorldCom Can Scrap AOL Ad (Reuters)
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1106-960196.html

WorldCom's Board Won't Oust Member
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/09/business/09TELE.html

WorldCom May Pay Some Legal Fees (AP)
http://www.sunspot.net/business/bal-worldcom1008,0,4281602.story

Ports Ordered To Reopen; Judge Calls For an 80-Day Cooling-Off Period (Seattle Times)
http://tinyurl.com/1vk9

Tyco Demands a Refund: Seeks Millions From Dethroned Exec
http://www.nydailynews.com/business/story/25433p-24067c.html

1,700 Job Cuts at AT&T Cable (Rocky Mountain News)
http://tinyurl.com/1vk8

Winnick Blew It
http://www.nypost.com/business/59241.htm

Generation Wrecked (Fortune)
http://tinyurl.com/1vkj

Drug Spending Falls As Co-Payments Rise
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A62836-2002Oct8.html

Diller, Bronfman, Press Fooled?
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,65049,00.html#2

Wall Street to Slash More Jobs (Wall Street Journal)
http://www.msnbc.com/news/818606.asp

Microsoft Eases Up on Digital Recordings
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-microsoft9oct09,0,845125.story

Copyedited by Jim Duffy (jimduffy86@yahoo.com).

Advertising: Erik Vanderkolk (erikvanderkolk@yahoo.com).

Editor and publisher: Jimmy Guterman (guterman@vineyard.com).

Media Unspun is produced by The Vineyard Group Inc.
Copyright 2002 Media Unspun, Inc., and The Vineyard Group, Inc.
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