Folio magazine was kind enough to once again ask for my predictions for the upcoming year.
In brief, I told them I expect two things. First, I'm forecasting at least one major ethics flap in B2B. Second, I said that this is the year we'll see B2B publishers begin outsourcing editorial operations overseas.
You can see the details of my predictions, as well as those of a few other folks in the industry, by clicking here.
If you want to see how my fortune-telling skills worked out last year, take a look at items #1 and #2 on the list in this post.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media
Hi Paul. Pretty bleak stuff.
ReplyDeleteAmusingly, you can't leave a comment on the Folio site. Anybody want to make predictions about the evolution of Folio? :)
Know who's missing from this discussion? Editors employed by big publishing companies. Why are they missing? It isn't because they're not watching the evolution of the industry. In fact, I've spoken with several who have really intelligent insights and predictions. Hm....
Hi Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteGood point. I have to confess I hadn't even noticed that no editors' predictions were in the article. That's an oversight on their part ... and on mine.
As for things being "bleak" -- just to be clear: I am feeling a little bleak about ethics these days. But I'm not upset by outsourcing. Like many similar changes in the industry, I see outsourcing as both inevitable and as providing opportunities for many of the more ambitious folks in B2B journalism. Certainly it could get ugly. But it doesn't have to. Outsourcing can be a way to grow a product without spending a lot of cash. Outsourcing can also be a way to do some of the more labor-intensive work (daily copy for Web sites from monthly magazines, for example), while freeing up in-house editorial staff for other stories.