Aug. 9, 2001: While new media is experiencing a renaissance of sorts, only five years earlier it was out of favor. Salon, one of the new media's pioneers — in terms of more literate content rather than business, technology and porn that up until Salon littered the Information Superhighway — barely remained afloat. The company cobbled together a $2.5 million round of venture capital to keep it alive. Earlier in the year, Salon had switched from a free model to a pay Web site format. Pay users were given a first look at new articles and were spared ads. Although most analysts wrote the site off through out the remainder of 2001 and most of 2002, the company remained afloat — although its stock was eventually delisted. It currently remains in operation, and even turned a small profit last year. —Matthew Wurtzel
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