In a move that brought out a collective Moe Sizlack-esque “whaaaa” from the internet community, mainstream media mainstay CBS has announced that it will be buying the web based CNet Network for just under two billion.

The deal is somewhat puzzling, considering many of the factors. CNet, obviously a long resident of internet journalism, is not an entity that one would immediately equate to the aging old media represented by CBS. Equally confusing is the apparent premium that CBS is paying to buy out the company. As some have noted, CBS is paying quite a premium for not only what the market says it is worth, but for what some consider the company to be worth.

While many facets of CNet such as its news podcasts and reporting sites have continued to do well, other branches of the company have taken hits in recent memory. One popular example of ethical questionability was when popular Gamespot Editorial Director Jeff Gerstmann was seemingly fired for posting a lackluster review of a game that had recently bought top tier advertising on the site. While Gamespot and its CNet parents denied the accusations up and down, the innerweb as a whole (right or wrong) has drawn its own conclusions, causing the journalistic credibility of the network has arguably been in a state ethical purgatory ever since.

Similarly, it could be seen as confusing as to why what is seen as an aging company of old media is suddenly interested in the new. Especially one who has had its own journalistic complications in the wake of the departure of former figurehead Dan Rather. Despite the confusion, the deal goes on. Time will tell if the combination of the old and new school will mix, but it doesn’t immediately make sense.

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