Jumat, 15 Februari 2008

MainStreet Weird Intersection Of Money, Life

By David A. Utter - Wed, 02/13/2008 - 8:04am.

MainStreet more like TheStreet's back alley

Amy Winehouse and HIPAA? Nicholas Cage and umbrella insurance policies? Surprisingly enough, this isn't about a news-scraping blog stuffed with dodgy affiliate ads.

Jim "Mad Money" Cramer's brainchild, TheStreet.com, has a new neighbor. Called MainStreet, the website brings together odder pairings than anything ever seen in Hollywood.

The current top story features Britney Spears. Writer Laura Moran touched on the troubled popster's legal issues, after mentioning her preparation for a global tour. Then, believe it or not, the story gets even stranger.

Spears' travails lead into a discussion of financial planning and effective record keeping. A single comment on the story demonstrated the impact of the importance of retaining tax records: "I think Britney is still super-cute!"

Charles Schwab and Toyota might agree, as prominent sponsors of MainStreet. "Every article – whether it's a cautionary celebrity tale, a rags to riches story, politics, fashion or just plain fun – will have a secondary focus on improving your personal finances," says the site.

ReadWriteWeb writer Josh Catone thinks MainStreet crosses the line of good taste, especially in the case of a story about the late Heath Ledger.

"The whole site feels a bit too opportunistic to me, and rather than using news as a learning opportunity, MainStreet.com seems more like a site exploiting the tragically public lives of celebrities in a novel way," Catone said.

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