APBnews.com Sold At Auction

Created in 1998, APBnews.com was well known for its award-winning criminal justice reporting. But the site’s financial woes began in March, when it couldn’t find the capital to finance its budget. By June, the site had amassed $7 million in debts and had only $50,000 in the bank, according to The New York Observer.

The award-winning site laid off all 140 employees, including Pulitzer prize-winning reporter Sydney Shanberg, veterans of The Washington Post, ABC News, the Associated Press and United Press International. Nonetheless, many of those staffers volunteered to keep working until the site solved its financial troubles.

The sale took place at auction at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in lower Manhattan. SafetyTips.com — a Web site discussing safety issues at home and at the workplace — backed down from its original offer of $950,000, but acquired APBnews.com after no higher bids emerged.

“We are pleased with the outcome of the auction and look forward to reviving an extraordinary media and consumer resource,” said SafetyTips.com chief executive Yovette Mumford in a prepared statement.

SafetyTips.com gets the APBnews.com name, its entire Web site and domain names, all of the site’s audio programming, and all of its trademarks and patents.

Proceeds from the auction will be used to pay APBnews.com’s creditors.