According to latimes.com, Nikki Finke, founder of the entertainment site Deadline and veteran journalist, has passed away at the age of 68 years old. According to a representative for the family, Finke died on Sunday morning in Boca Raton, Florida after fighting a prolonged illness. Finke was well known for exposing secrets in the industry, first through her L.A. Weekly Column, Deadline Hollywood, which eventually evolved into a website. She founded Deadline Hollywood Daily in 2006 and the website was primarily a one woman operation until 2009, when Penske Media Corp. acquired it and then hired Finke as chief editor. A 2011 Times piece stated Finke as the “most feared writer” in Hollywood.
Finke wrote a 2016 column where she reflected on Deadline’s 10th anniversary in which she stated, “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, f— you attitude and ruthless hustle, who told hard truths about the moguls and who accurately reported scoops first. I did recognize that showbiz coverage could change, because the digital platform leveled a playing field that had previously belonged to Variety and the Hollywood Reporter. Back then, the trades were slow to embrace the idea that trees no longer had to die for a media outlet to be influential.”
Finke grew up in Long Island village of Sands Point, New York graduating from Wellesley College in Massachusetts. She worked as a correspondent for the Associated Press, first in Moscow, then in London. She also worked for other major publications such as Newsweek, New York Magazine and the L.A. Times. She also secured a freelancing position with the New York Post covering entertainment news.
Finke is survived by her sister, Terry Finke Dreyfus, and her brother-in-law, James, and nieces Sarah Greenhill and Diana Leighton.
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