I really think this is an awful form of “hedged” reporting. Why dont you guys also add the term “potentially”. Every startup “may” raise funding at some point in time. It should be reported once the investment has been made or you should cite sources.

In October you guys said Meravideo was “close” to raising $1.5M VC. where are they now ? probably still not raised as they have not done PR.
http://www.contentsutra.com/entry/meravideocom-close-to-getting-15mn-vc-funding

I agree with Javed. But these guys are trying to be ahead of the curve by announcing “potential deals”.
However it is also up to us to analyze such information.
Just like when any other founder says that he/she has the “term sheet” !

Javed, slight point of disagreement.  While there is value to plain vanilla reporting of what happened, there is value to know what is around the corner.  If this is not confirmed by the principals involved in the deal, the use of “may” and “possible” is important for the reader to differentiate between “whisper” and “fact”.  There is still value to knowing about the “whispers”.

If the deal is yet to be signed, the practice is to write “may”. We have named the investor here, which makes the story credible. They are source-based information, and nobody comes on record since there are NDAs and other confidentialities involved. Our job is to get / smell news ahead of it’s actually happening.

We have done several such stories which have come true in the past. Some examples below.
1. Mauj- WestBridge funding
2. MakeMyTrip - SAIF, Sierra, Helion funding
3. JustDial - SAIF funding
4. Nazara - WestBridge funding
5. AOL India launch
6. Sanjay Trehan moving to NDTV as CEO

News is not just about what is happening. It is also about what might happen and it is reporting on the future or what could be the result of certain actions today what makes things interesting otherwise all the news media (newspapers, magazines, radio, TV and the Internet) would have the same content.

Not only that this kind of reporting also assists individuals and companies in making decisions which they are mulling on.

Therefore I do not agree with Javed that only once something has been done it should be reported and not what is likely to happen. It would make news so boring.