Countdown to State of the Industry Panel

While you're waiting for our Jan. 6 State of the Industry panel, get your prognostication fix from this summary of ASBPE New York's recent event, Taking the Pulse of B2B Media in 2009. One prediction from that panel discussion: Tony Silber of Red 7 Media (which publishes Folio:) said debt will make it difficult for large publishers with roots in print to invest in the web. He predicted bankruptcies among such companies will begin in the next month or so.

And here are some 2009 predictions from various media-industry compiled by Folio: magazine.

This interview with NewspaperDeathWatch's Paul Gillin from Michelle Rafter's WordCount blog is also pretty interesting. Gillin mentions that many community newspapers owned by large companies are being shut down -- but are being replaced by web sites started by individuals.

Also see the latest WordCount weekly digital media biz recap for info on the current status of the print-v.-web struggle in the magazine world (believe it or not, print is winning this round), how to be a good marketer, and how Twitter can grow a freelance business. You can also see a video of "The Morbid Major Magazine Song," a musical recitation of publications that have recently gone bust.

1/6/09 update: Watch for Paul Conley's predictions for B2B media in the January/February edition of the ASBPE newsletter.

2/19/09: Members can download a PDF of the January/February 2009 newsletter (276KB). (Nonmembers: View the newsletter archives.)

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Speakers for Jan. 6 State of the Industry Panel Announced

Panelists for our Jan. 6 meeting at the Wellesley Public Library will include:
They'll discuss their outlook on what the coming months hold for B2B publications at a FREE event at the Wellesley Public Library on Jan. 6, 2009. Chapter officer David Brousell, editor-in-chief for Managing Automation, will moderate the panel. Complimentary refreshments will be served.

Date: Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009

Time: Social hour, 6:00-7:00 p.m.; program begins at 7:00 p.m.

Location:
Wellesley Free Public Library – Wakelin Conference Room
530 Washington Street
Wellesley, Massachusetts 02482
phone 781-235-1610
Transportation:

The Wellesley Library is a few minutes from the Turnpike/I-95 interchange and easily accessible from the Wellesley Square stop on the MBTA Framingham-Worcester commuter rail line. The stop is approximately two blocks to the west of the library.
Driving directions.

Parking information:
There is a parking lot in back of the library. There is also an underground parking garage exclusively for library users. If you park in the garage, you may access the library by elevator or a staircase that brings you into a lobby area.
Questions? Want to attend? This event is open to both members and nonmembers. However, please RSVP if you plan to attend the social hour from 6:00-7:00 by emailing Alan Earls at alan.earls@comcast.net. You may reach him by phone at (508) 528-6930.

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Join Us for FREE State of the Industry Panel Jan. 6

Are you ready for 2009?

The year ahead presents unprecedented challenges – and opportunities – for B2B publishing.

Join the ASBPE Boston Chapter for our annual State of the Industry panel discussion with representatives from B2B sales and editorial as well as a media buyer and a reader.

Because budgets are tight, we decided to change the format of this annual event so that you can attend for free. Instead of preceding the panel discussion with a formal banquet, we'll start off with a social hour. Complimentary refreshments and sandwiches will be served.

David Brousell, editor-in-chief for Managing Automation magazine, will moderate the panel.

Speakers will be announced shortly, so check back at this site.

Update, Dec. 16, 2008: Panelists for our Jan. 6 meeting at the Wellesley Public Library will include:
Date: Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009

Time: Social hour, 6:00-7:00 p.m.; program begins at 7:00 p.m.

Location:
Wellesley Free Public Library – Wakelin Conference Room
530 Washington Street
Wellesley, Massachusetts 02482
phone 781-235-1610

Transportation:
The Wellesley Library is a few minutes from the Turnpike/I-95 interchange and easily accessible from the Wellesley Square stop on the MBTA Framingham-Worcester commuter rail line. The stop is approximately two blocks to the west of the library.
Driving directions.

Parking information:
There is a parking lot in back of the library. There is also an underground parking garage exclusively for library users. If you park in the garage, you may access the library by elevator or a staircase that brings you into a lobby area.
Questions? Want to attend? This event is open to both members and nonmembers. However, please RSVP if you plan to attend the social hour from 6:00-7:00 by emailing Alan Earls at alan.earls@comcast.net. You may reach him by phone at (508) 528-6930.

Postscript: For some ideas on what B2B publications can do now to weather the recession, don't miss Tonie Auer's recent blog post on the ASBPE National Blog.

For help on a personal level, take a look at this slide show from BusinessWeek.com, 20 Tips for Career Survival: Preventive and Preemptive.

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Check Twitter for Highlights of New Media Webinar

If you missed our Guide to Creating the Next New-Media Resource webinar today, you might want to check out ASBPE's Twitter page for a few highlights from the presentation, plus some related links.

Update, 12/4/08: See a recap of some of the key points from the webinar on the ASBPE National Blog.

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Nov. 17 Webinar: A B2B Journalist's Guide to Creating the Next New-Media Resource

Photo: Harry McCracken
Photo: Joe Pulizzi
On Nov. 17, Harry McCracken and Joe Pulizzi will give advice on launching a successful new-media venture. Read posts by and about McCracken and Pulizzi on the ASBPE National Blog.
The advent of the Internet has made it easier and less costly than ever for writers and editors to connect with a niche audience. It also has dramatically increased the value of their skills, enabling smart writers and editors to reach millions of people, as well as make money doing so, without the backing of a large media company.

During a Webinar brought to you by ASBPE, you'll learn from Harry McCracken, the former editor-in-chief of PC World who has since founded the personal technology blog Technologizer, and Joe Pulizzi, founder and chief content officer of the search community site Junta42, how to:
  • develop an effective marketing strategy to promote your content;
  • identify, and participate in, online conversations that can help draw audiences to your work;
  • use social networking Web sites to reach out to online communities who are likely to value your expertise;
  • leverage the power of "free";
  • and build successful permission-based marketing initiatives.
If you aim to learn how you can create a compelling B2B editorial brand on your own, then we invite you to set aside time for our webinar.

Webinar Details

Date: Monday, Nov. 17
Time:
1:00 p.m. Eastern time
Duration: 60 minutes
To register: Click here.
Cost: This Webinar is $10.00 for all ASBPE members and $35.00 for nonmembers.

About the Moderator

JOE FLEISCHER has more than 12 years of experience as a writer and editor covering a wide range of topics related to customer care. He is a sought-after speaker and moderator at leading customer care events. He has developed and moderated numerous conference sessions, workshops and Webcasts, with the aim of helping companies to improve their communication with customers.

With Brendan Read, Mr. Fleischer is the coauthor of the book The Complete Guide to Customer Support.

About the Presenters

HARRY MCCRACKEN is the founder and editor of Technologizer, a Web site and community about personal technology that reaches 400,000 unique visitors a month. Prior to launching Technologizer in July 2008, he served as editor-in-chief of PC World, the world's largest computing magazine, and its Web site, from 2003 to 2008. McCracken earned American Business Media's Timothy White Award for Editorial Integrity in 2008. He was named to Folio: magazine's Folio:40 list of media movers and shakers in 2008, and was one of min Magazine's 21 Most Intriguing People in 2008. McCracken's PC World editorials won American Business Media's Jesse H. Neal award in 2008.He has appeared as a technology expert on ABC, the BBC, CBS, NBC, the History Channel, and many other TV and radio outlets, and has written for Family Circle, Popular Science, Slate, USA Today and other publications.

JOE PULIZZI, a thought leader, speaker, writer and evangelist for content marketing and custom publishing, is founder and chief content officer for Junta42, a content marketing and custom publishing on-line resource, helping businesses of all sizes learn how to create valuable, relevant and compelling content. Voted American Business Media's "Custom Media Innovator of the Year," Joe is also president of Z Squared Media LLC, a content marketing consulting firm for marketers and publishers. In addition, Joe is coauthor of the book Get Content. Get Customers, which helps teach businesses why and how to create their own compelling content to drive their businesses.

Update, 12/4/08: See a recap of some of the key points from the webinar on the ASBPE National Blog.

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Reed DivestmentWatch Blog Shut Down

For those who didn't here (or see the Folio: blog post from Friday): A site about the Reed sale was shut down. Here are the details from Folio:.

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Article on IDG and Web-Only Publishing

IDG is dropping the print versions of more and more of its publications. Those print pubs that remain are adopting an "online-first" publishing model. In case you didn't see it yet, this article on the topic from The New York Times is worth a read. It talks about IDG's strategy and plans and the pitfalls of chasing page-view stats.

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Thoughts on the Reed Business Information Sale

This will interest Waltham-based Reed employees (or anyone wondering about the job pool for B2B editors in New England): On the ASBPE National blog, former Purchasing staffer Tom Temin reflects on what made Reed/Cahners successful, and what might be next for the company now that Elsevier is divesting itself of that division.

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Web 2.0 Resources

Via the ASBPE Chicago blog, a useful post about the site J-Learning and its Journalism 2.0 blog. J-Learning provides information on topics such basic HTML coding, marketing your content, new reporting methods, and blogging. Chicago chapter board member Erin Hallstrom-Erickson makes special mention of the PDF download Journalism 2.0: How to Survive and Thrive. The site map is also a good starting point.

In a related post, Chicago board member Nikki Golden wonders when and how editors will be paid for new web-related duties. And ASBPE members can visit our forums to discuss how we're trained (or not) for new, web-related duties.

And of course, we'll discuss answers to questions about revenue and business models at our Dec. 12 State of the Industry panel, Integrated Media: A Work in Progress.

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Don't Miss the State of the Industry Banquet:
Integrated Media: A Work in Progress

RSVP deadline extended to Dec. 4.

With traditional publishing models under assault, a growing number of organizations are pinning their hopes on a mixed-product portfolio that embraces print, the web and conferences – also known as Integrated Media.

Our panel of experts, drawn from both the publishing industry and the “buy” side, will discuss ideas on:
  • how to align and balance different media to serve a target audience and achieve financial goals.
  • how to assemble, sell, and manage portfolios of print/web/conference products for their audiences,
  • how media buyers see these portfolios, and
  • how readers actually want to consume information.
The panel will be led by David Brousell, editor-in-chief of Managing Automation, and currently includes:
  • Julia King, executive editor, events/national correspondent, Computerworld.

  • Gary Beach, publisher, CIO magazine.

  • David Rudzinsky, vice president and chief information officer, Hologic Inc.

  • Paul Hoy, global manufacturing industry leader, Cognos Inc.
Don't miss this important event.

Meeting Details

Where:
Crowne Plaza Hotel
1360 Worcester Street (Route 9)
Natick, MA 01760
Directions
When: Wednesday Dec. 12, 2007
Networking: 6:00-7:00 p.m.
Dinner: 7:00-7:30
Panel Discussion: 7:30-8:45
Q&A: 8:45-9:15
Tickets include dinner and dessert. A cash bar will be available.

Menu: Grilled Marinated Chicken Breast with Dijon Mustard, Field Green Salad with Sherry Vinaigrette. Dessert: Fresh Fruit and Berries with Vanilla Cream

Cost:
Nonmembers: $75
Members: $65
Tables of 8: $500
Half-Tables of 4: $250
Reservations must be received by Dec. 4. Please mail your check, payable to "ASBPE-New England Chapter," to:
Alan Earls
222 Pond St.
Franklin, MA 02038
For further information or to pay by credit card, contact Alan at 508 528 6930 or email alan.earls@comcast.net.

Update, Nov. 27, 2007: The above has been updated to reflect that Paul Hoy of Cognos Inc. will replace Sharon Ward of Microsoft as a panelist.

Nov. 28: The reservation has been extended by three days, to Dec. 4.

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Updates on CMO, Ethics

An update (admittedly belated) on the now-defunct CMO magazine, which was based in Framingham:

Paul Conley reported last month that former CMO editor-in-chief Rob O'Regan has a blog called Magnosticism, where he blogs mainly about marketing and advertising. But the blog also houses some of the content from CMO. Since CMO's closing, the articles are is no longer available from CXO Media, but the company has given O'Regan permission to reproduce them on his blog.

You may remember that CMO won ASBPE's Magazine of the Year award in its first year in existence.

In the same post, Conley notes that Ryan Block, editor in chief of the blogazine Engadget, has posted an open letter to the industry about IntelliTXT-style pop-up ads that appear on keywords on some web sites' stories.

You can read our previous posts on the subject of IntelliTXT here.

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More on Second Life

Following up on our previous post about the online virtual world Second Life, here's a good article on the subject from BtoB online. The Sept. 10 article, "Second Life has some firms guessing" reports that B2B media company CMP Technology has ventured into the world of Second Life, developing Second Life content for other companies. (Here's the CMP press release announcing the new offering.)

The article also talks about some Second Life's limitations and how companies are working around them. Most notably, system slowdowns and crashes start to happen when event attendance reaches about 60 attendees. (It's interesting to note that even a large company like Intel typically gets only 15 to 20 people attending its Second Life forums, though.) The piece also mentions alternatives to Second Life. Deloitte U.S., for instance, is using one virtual world to recruit employees; a custom-developed application lets prospects participate in a game where they solve business problems. And, perhaps most important, the article sheds some light on what metrics can be used to measure ROI for Second Life projects.

Also see:

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Upcoming Conferences on Digital Media

Two conferences on new media are coming up soon:

Nov. 28-Dec. 1, Boston
Effective Strategies for Media Companies: Navigating the New World
This program offered by Harvard Business School will focus largely on business strategy. The course is designed for "mid-level and senior media executives at the business-unit or corporate level," according to the HBS web site, and it's priced accordingly; the cost is $5,750, but that covers tuition, books, case materials, accommodations, and meals. You must apply to be admitted to the program; admission is based on professional achievement and organizational responsibility.

Dec. 10-11, New York
Web Video Summit
The conference has two tracks:

The summit takes place at New York's Roosevelt Hotel (where August's ASBPE National Editorial Conference was held). If you register by Nov. 21, prices are $595 for a one-day pass or $995 for both days; after Nov. 21, they go up to $695 and $1,095 respectively. An exhibit-hall pass is free through Nov. 21 and $50 after that.

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Ethics Guidelines in the Digital World

Noelle Skodzinski, the editor of Publishing Executive magazine, attended our National Editorial Conference and wrote an excellent editorial about our session on web ethics. It's called " 'Pay to Play' OK in the Digital World?"

In it, she points out that many media companies produce webinars or webcasts that are sold to a single sponsor. Sometimes that sponsor even is in charge of the content. She notes:
Some editors (including those with high editorial standards), say, "As long as the content is useful for my audience, I'm OK with this." After all, the sponsorship enables the content to be provided to the audience free of charge.
And:
As long as it is transparent to the audience that the webinar is paid for by the sponsor(s), putting that sponsor on the panel seems to be an accepted practice among many reputable companies. If the content is useful, what’s the difference? In other words, if the content is useful, then ‘pay to play’ is OK, right? A lot of editors could (and do) create some really usefulprint content based around their print advertisers, too. Does that make it OK?
As Skodzinski points out, the ASBPE code of ethics doesn't address this specific issue with regard to webinars or webcasts. Section IV, Part B, item 3 of the ASBPE ethics code does say this about advertiser-sponsored sections or supplements in print:
3. The Editorial Role. The editorial staff should not assign, write, edit, design, or lay out special advertising sections or supplements. However, editors should review, revise, and approve for publication any advertising section or supplement to ensure that editorial standards are followed.
Transferring those same standards to the web, as Skodzinki suggests doing, would seem to mean that editors would not appear in or help produce webcasts sponsored by a single advertiser.

It could be argued that this directive, from Part A of that same section, should govern webcasts:
A. Single-Sponsored Issues

1. Labeling and Appearance. In the case of an advertiser sponsoring an entire issue, full disclosure must be made of the relationship in a prominent part of a publication’s pages, e.g. the cover, table of contents, or in a special introduction by the editor or publisher. Special care and explanation must be given to readers to avoid the appearance of editorial content being affected by the sponsorship.

2. Use of the Logo. In a single-sponsored issue, the publication’s logo may be used, but the editorial content must be held to the same standards that apply for a non-single-sponsored issue.
But in Section VII, the code has this to say about web site content:
The editorial department should control all editorial content on a publication’s digital publication, including Web site, blogs, e-newsletters, digital magazines, and others. Standards such as accuracy, attribution, fairness, and balance applying to a publication’s printed editorial material also apply to a publication’s Internet or digital presence.
And later on in the same section:
Special advertising sections online should also be clearly identified.
It seems clear to me that any given piece of web content -- including an audio podcast, webinar, or video -- should either follow the rules for web content cited immediately above, or else follow the rules set forth for an advertiser-sponsored section in a print publication. The guidelines for a single-sponsored issue would not apply, because the advertiser is not sponsoring the entire web site, but an individual piece of content on the site -- in essence, it's the same thing as if an advertiser were to sponsor an individual story in the print magazine in which it is also quoted.

Skodzinki has also posted on her blog about this issue. And in reading it, to my embarrassment, I realize that we have failed to comply with our own code of ethics in this blog. Specifically:

G. Blogs and Other Online Features or Publications

These should be ... have easily understood user guidelines, includingn general rules, etiquette, privacy issues, and related policies. Statements concerning expected decorum and the control of an editorial moderator or supervisor over the blogs or other online discussion forums should be explained.
We have not posted a specific policy here. The ASBPE bloggers are working with the national officers and members of the ethics committee to come up with a formal policy. But in the meantime, here are the general guidelines I've been operating under:

1. All views expressed are the individual author's and may not reflect those of ASBPE.

2. All comments submitted to the blog by users are moderated by the blog editor (for the ASBPE Boston blog, that's me). Commenters are allowed to post anonymously, without signing up for a Blogger ID, but the blog's authors reserve the right not to publish those or any other comments that don't meet certain criteria. For instance, comments containing personal attacks will not be posted. In addition, spam or advertisements will not be posted, nor will comments whose main purpose seems to be to plug a particular product or service (at the discretion of the blog's editor).

3. As for privacy, ASBPE will not collect your contact information from this blog. Privacy for those who subscribe to this blog via email is governed by the policies of FeedBlitz, the third party that provides that functionality.

Please post any comments or questions here, or direct them to me at mspizziri at rcn dot com.

Update, 9/25/07: I forgot to add that Publishing Executive has sent an e-mail survey to its readers on some of the issues brought up in Noelle Skodzinki's editorial, and the results will be published in the next issue and posted on PubExec.com, too.

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Should Business Editors Get a (Second) Life?

Second Life is a computer fantasy world where people assume alternate identities in order to visit virtual space stations and vampire castles. So you'd think this was one online trend business editors could skip. But according to Rob Freedman and Dave Levinson, you'd be wrong.

Freedman and Levinson spoke at the Central South-East Region Azbee Awards banquet on July 12 in Washington D.C. Freedman is immediate past president of ASBPE and has written a book called Second Life Business Strategies, to be published by McGraw-Hill. Levinson is the CEO of Cranial Tap, a firm that builds Second Life sites for business clients. Their talk was summarized in a post on the the ASBPE D.C. blog.

The two pointed out that businesses like IBM and Coldwell Banker are already starting to use Second Life, and B2B magazines could do the same. For instance, Feedman said, a homebuilder magazine could sponsor a virtual workshop on building techniques, demonstrating in a realistic recreation how to install solar panels on a roof.

Other reasons B2B editors should pay attention to what's going on in Second Life (and other virtual worlds that are emerging):
  • The mass consumer market is interested in virtual worlds. That's undeniable, given the success of Second Life. The site has garnered millions of users since its launch in 2003.

  • Businesses are making money serving customers in Second Life. "Some entrepreneurial users generate a six-figure income based on the objects they create and sell," the blog post quotes Levinson as saying.

  • Virtual worlds are a global phenomenon. Right now, Second Life can be translated into 12 languages. That gives it potential to reach an international audience.

  • Virtual worlds are a way to reach a younger audience. Why should you care? Because that's the audience of the future. Rob Freedman argued that the next generation of readers "will be totally acclimated to virtual environments." As one audience member suggested, they may even require new interfaces such as virtual worlds before they're even willing to consume new content.
Read the full recap of Freedman and Levinson's talk, from the D.C. chapter blog.

Also see:

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Who Is Tomorrow's Reader?

Last Wednesday night, the Boston/New England chapter held a banquet for the Northeastern region Azbee award winners.

Because there will be a second banquet for the Northeastern region in New York City on Thursday to honor those winners, full details on regional award winners won't be on the ASBPE web site until Friday. What we can tell you that there were 2,600 entries to the competition this year, and the Northeastern region is the most competitive of the four. And we can tell you which magazines are in the running for regional awards.

We also can share the comments of our guest speaker at the banquet, journalist and Boston University professor of communication John Carroll. Carroll started off by pointing out that three of the four segments in bustines-to-business publishing -- events, custom media, and e-media -- have been thriving. Only print revenues have remained flat. We all know that, but what do we do about it?

"What you don't know is who today's students--your future audience--are," Carroll said. And as a teacher, he has come to know those future media consumers--and their media habits--intimately. He shared with the banquet audience what he saw as the four most salient characteristics of the next generation.

Characteristic #1: "They are their own producers. They have nothing against traditional media, they just have no use for you. They have 'The Daily Me' " -- news that meets their interest criteria, aggregated on personalized pages on sites like Yahoo and MSN. "Instead of radio, they have iPods. Instead of TV, they have You Tube. Instead of reading columnists or listening to commentators, they write their own blogs."

Characteristic #2: "They are fearless navigagtors of the Internet. This is coming from someone who's never used an ATM—I'm hoping to be the Cal Ripken of Luddism," he noted. They have no problem giving out personal information, such as date of birth, in order to register for a web site.

Characteristic #3: "They're virtually unconcerned about privacy issues, and they don't understand why anyone would be worried about it," said Carroll. "Their attitude is, 'They're going to get that information and you're not going to stop it.' All this leads to a particular frame of mind when you are trying to deal with these younger people They are not like you and me."

Characteristic #4: "They don't understand the value of a free press," Carroll said. "They don't get the role of a watchdog. They don't trust the press, they don't like the press, and they don't believe the press. ... They don't understand why the First Amendment is important. They don't understand why anyone would go to jail to protect a source."

The idea that young people are really media savvy isn't quite accurate, Carroll concludes. What they really are is media saturated. "They don't understand that MTV is a series of commercials interrupted by ads. They don't understand that their cell phones are running them, and not vice versa. When you ask them who's going to report on the conditions at Walter Reed Hospital, it doesn't occur to them [to think about that], because they don't know about the Walter Reed story."

How do you reach these people? "I don't have a real boffo finish," Carroll admitted. "But you have to convince them of the value of what you do ... that you're a real business, that you're important. ... They don't understand what they're going to lose if traditional media go by the boards. It doesn't strike them that it would be any big deal. You try to convince them that [professional media outlets are] essential to their well-being, to the well-being of a functioning democracy.

"It's not that they don't care, it's that they've never thought about it before," Carroll points out. But when you explain it to them, they do start to understand. "[R]e-establish a sense of importance of the news business, because I think it's disappearing. It's too easy to look at the negative and dismiss the news business overall," he said.

He added: "If it doesn't work out, there's always teaching. Give me a call."

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IntelliTXT Ads Back at ZD

After removing paid links from within stories on some of its sites, Ziff Davis is again using the IntelliTXT service on at least one site. This time it's PC Magazine's site. (For me, at least, it took a few seconds after the page loaded for the links to show up. They're the green links within the story text.)

I'll let Paul Conley tell the story.

The backstory is here and here.

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Was PC World Editor's Resignation Another Instance of Fuzzy Edit/Sales Standards On the Web?

According to this Folio: magazine article, Harry McCracken's temporary resignation as editor-in-chief of IDG's PC World is more evidence of the uncertainty in some quarters over who controls editorial.

According to the Folio: article, McCracken resigned after PC World CEO Colin Crawford pulled a column titled “Ten Things We Hate About Apple.” According to a report on Wired, Crawford also told editors PC World's product reviews were too critical of vendors, especially advertisers, although IDG disputes that claim; Wired later excerpted a forum post by a PC World staffer who said the issue was that Crawford killed the article without even consulting McCracken. The article has now been published, and McCracken is back in his old position. Crawford, who was just promoted to the CEO position in March, has now been moved to a position as executive vice president, online (before becoming CEO, Crawford was senior VP- online). IDG announced that it is searching for a new CEO for PC World and Macworld.

Folio: likens the episode to the controversies over IntelliTXT paid links appearing within editorial copy (see here and here). A quote from Matt Kinsman's article:
It’s a situation that is in danger of becoming common. Unlike print, where content is physically managed by the editorial team, online just about everyone has access to content and a perspective—inappropriate or not—of what to do with it.
Related articles:
(Note: McCracken was on the ASBPE Boston/New England chapter board before moving to California to work in PC World's offices there.)

Updated May 14, 9:21 p.m.

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Update on IntelliTXT

Sorry to be slow getting to this, but anyone who hasn't been reading Paul Conley's blog might not have heard that Ziff pulled the IntelliTXT paid links that were appearing in some of its properties' online articles.

Meanwhile, CMP started using the links, but then stopped.

For more on what IntelliTXT links are, see previous post.

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Are Magazines, Web Sites Just "Ad Platforms"?

An update on this week's earlier post:
Here's a paragraph grabbed from Weaver's article:
Meredith's president of its publishing group, Jack Griffin, summed up the new direction of today's large magazine publishers when talking about his own company: "What we're doing is equipping Meredith to be a robust marketing-communications provider."

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