AOL CEO addresses troops, but not Yahoo
CNET News.com's Jim Kerstetter contributed to this blog.
In a memo apparently intended to ease the nerves of AOL employees, Chief Executive Randy Falco broadly outlined the Time Warner business unit's position in the marketplace without directly addressing the elephant in the room: Yahoo.
In recent days, reports have resurfaced that Yahoo is either in partnership or merger talks with the struggling Time Warner unit. But in his memo sent out to employees, Falco never actually addresses Yahoo, Microsoft, or the machinations reported in recent days.
Instead, he talks about AOL's current standing in advertising, publishing, and social media and waxes generally optimistic about the company's future.
"It's clear that the industry is in a state of extreme flux," he writes in the memo, which showed up on Silicon Alley Insider Thursday. "Each day brings new rumored combinations of companies. But what's not surprising is AOL's appeal in this rapidly changing environment.
"We know that strong, profitable companies have more control over their own fate," he goes on to say, without ever doing anything to answer the questions that are surely circling through the minds of AOL employees right about now. "We still have more work to do toward this end. So I want to ask you today to stay focused on the work at hand: continuing our transformation of AOL into a global advertising-supported Web business."
Leslie Katz, senior editor of CNET's Crave, covers gadgets, games, and most other digital distractions. As a co-host of the CNET News Daily Podcast, she sometimes tries to channel Terry Gross. E-mail Leslie. 
- Typical
- by TV James April 11, 2008 8:38 AM PDT
- Some M.O. years ago with Time Warner (specifically have knowledge about Warner Bros. Online, Warner Bros. Studio Stores) - deny everything and attempt to placate and hope that no one leaks the real story to F'd Company or some other publication before you roll in with the wheeled carts of assemble-it-yourself banker's boxes, security guards and HR teams and flown-in high-level suits and then summon each team to 8:15 meetings in the conference rooms.
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(3 Comments)If they're taking the time to tell everyone that everything's ok, then everything is not ok.