Tony Lentino's 'Whaleoil 2.0' site back on
Wellsford multi-millionaire hiring reporters and ... drone operators.
After a Dirty Politics lull, it looks like the online news site bankrolled by Tony Lentino is back on, or at least back in the spotlight.
Last night radio journalist Jessica Williams (whom I guessing won't be polishing her CV), tweeted: "Want a job? Working for Cameron Slater? Because Freed.nz, which I'm reliably informed is his new venture, is HIRING. Polish that CV!"
A quick trip to DNC.org.nz reveals that Freed.nz is indeed registered to Lentino's Instra Corporation, with another of his companies, Springhall Estate, listed as the contact. And Freed.co.nz, which clones Freed.nz, is registered to Throng co-founder Regan Cunliffe, one of those in orbit around the new news site.
For now, Freed.nz doesn't have anything beyond an email contact address, and email alert sign-up, and this text:
We're hiring! Here are some of the vacancies we need to fill:
News Editor
Chief Reporter
Production Editor
Filing Editor
Political Editor (Wellington based)
Senior Reporters
Junior Reporters
Data Journalists
Drone Operators
Video Editors
Camera Operators
Office Administrators
Receptionist
Personal Assistants
Graphic Designers
IT Support
Earlier, a person associated with the project told NBR it would be "much more than Cam" and "not Whaleoil 2.0".
If the above list is an indication, then the new site will certainly have many more staff than Whaleoil founder Cameron Slater.
It's not immediately clear how "Drone operators" would fit into the picture.
It could Freed is after a lot of overhead footage. Or maybe they're putting together some kind of offensive strike capability against rivals.
Seriously, it all looks pretty high-tech.But if Cam figures large on Freed, the new site's challenge could be more low-tech: over-coming the Dirty Politics allegations that he's taken money from lobbyists, without disclosing it, to push various corporate interests.
Lentino has not responded to various NBR approaches about Freed, and did not respond to a request for comment this morning.
Earlier, Slater refused to comment on the business model, but told NBR funding was sufficient for a year and advertising would not be needed (during the Dirty Poltics controversy, a couple of companies boycotted Whaleoil, or at least took the broader step of taking all political blogs off the list of thousands of possible places where Google's ad network could serve their ads).
Slater said Whaleoil would continue and the two sites might break stories together.
Who is Tony Lentino?
Lentino with his sister Vinnie Hill at Mega's January 2013 launch party (Chris Keall)
Antonio "Tony" Lentino made his fortune from his current company, Instra Corporation, which sells domain names (internet addresses) worldwide.
In January 2013 he told NBR revenue was around $20 million and that the privately-held company was "very profitable."
He also owns a helicopter rental company, whose wares have often ferried Kim Dotcom.
Instra is based in Melbourne. Lentino was raised across the Tasman, and speaks with a strong Aussie accent. But he was in fact born in NZ, and now lives on Spinghall Farm, a 404-hectare property on Wellsford north of Auckland.
It was on his farm that Lentino met Dotcom when he hosted a drag racing event on his property's airstrip, he told NBR. The pair have very different personalities. Lentino is laid back and Dotcom of course totally OTT. But they bonded over a shared love of fast cars, and online business opportunities.
After Kim Dotcom's January 2012 arrest, Lentino spent hundreds of thousands paying the rent on the accused pirate's Coatesville mansion, and his family's living expenses, before the German's funds were partially unfrozen.
When Mega launched a year later, Dotcom and Lentino said they saw potential synergies between Mega and Mr Lentino's core business Instra, but the plan never came to anything.
Lentino was Mega's first CEO, temporarily filling the position before Vikram Kumar was recruited as the file sharing service's first full-time head. He was also the new company's largest shareholder for a time.
Lentino quit his stake in May ahead of Mega's controversial reverse listing on the NZX (now scheduled for November 28 after a series of delays), telling NBR, "I got involved two and half years ago because of principles and that is also why I left."
If he has dirt on Dotcom, and is inclined to spill it, it could appear on Freed.
But, earlier, Cameron Slater told NBR Lentino had broader motivation.
The Wellsford multi-millionaire was frustrated at the quality of news and journalism in New Zealand, Slater said.
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Tony Lentino's 'Whaleoil 2.0' site back on
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