"Skillset is important. But mindset is most important."
That's a quote from Rob Curley, one of the sharpest guys working in media today, writing about what the next generation of journalists needs to bring to the job interview. You can read the rest of Rob's thoughts by clicking here.
Or you can just wait until I speak at the College Media Advisers convention in March, at which time I'm likely to steal many of Rob's ideas.
(My thanks to The Guardian's are at the sharp end" of the changes in our industry. I assure you all, if I have anything at all to contribute to the conversation, I stole it from Rob, Howard, Steve, Rex, Mindy, Matt, Adrian or any of the dozens of other folks, all much sharper than I, that populate the journalism blogosphere.)
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media, journalism education
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
A second wind for Second Life
I was on the road last week visiting clients and friends in several cities. And nearly everyone I spoke with asked me about Second Life.
Now when a media phenomenon that I love becomes so pervasive that everyone I know wants to know my opinion about it, I get a little nervous. Sure, perhaps the subject at hand has reached the tipping point and has become less of a trend and more a permanent part of our lives. Certainly that's the experience I've had as an advocate for blogging, external links and a few other things. And as a general rule, that's a wonderful thing.
But it's also possible that when a phenomenon becomes mainstream it loses something. Perhaps it's exclusivity. Perhaps it's the sense of being cool and ahead of the curve. But something important can get pushed out the door as the crowds rush in.
The first time I spoke to journalists about Second Life was a little more than a year ago. I showed some screen shots. I said I saw enormous growth opportunities for journalists in Second Life. And I talked about one of the newspapers that had appeared there -- a real publication that covered a virtual world.
But I got the feeling that the audience thought I was nuts. Or at least a little silly.
But things change. Time passes. And eventually real-world journalists discovered the virtual world. Late last year both Reuters and CNET opened bureaus in Second Life. An entrepreneur opened a virtual porn magazine. Corporate America found the place too. And even a Congressman took up residence. And soon flying through Second Life began to feel quite a bit like walking through the real world.
And somewhere in there, I lost interest.
But things change. Time passes. And last week Second Life decided to open up its source code.
(You can read more about the decision here and here.) And although I am not a developer, and I have no intention of trying to do anything with the code, I was absolutely thrilled by this news.
Here's why: As wondrous as Second Life is, it has never been what it promised to be -- a virtual world. It was, instead, a virtual room. Albeit a very, very big room.
I don't know what a new and open Second Life will look like. Perhaps the change will be monumental. Perhaps not.
But I do know this -- I'm more excited about Second Life than I have been in a long time.
Because now, just like in the early days, it feels like anything can happen there.
For a look at an earlier post of mine about Second Life and online communities, click here.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media
Now when a media phenomenon that I love becomes so pervasive that everyone I know wants to know my opinion about it, I get a little nervous. Sure, perhaps the subject at hand has reached the tipping point and has become less of a trend and more a permanent part of our lives. Certainly that's the experience I've had as an advocate for blogging, external links and a few other things. And as a general rule, that's a wonderful thing.
But it's also possible that when a phenomenon becomes mainstream it loses something. Perhaps it's exclusivity. Perhaps it's the sense of being cool and ahead of the curve. But something important can get pushed out the door as the crowds rush in.
The first time I spoke to journalists about Second Life was a little more than a year ago. I showed some screen shots. I said I saw enormous growth opportunities for journalists in Second Life. And I talked about one of the newspapers that had appeared there -- a real publication that covered a virtual world.
But I got the feeling that the audience thought I was nuts. Or at least a little silly.
But things change. Time passes. And eventually real-world journalists discovered the virtual world. Late last year both Reuters and CNET opened bureaus in Second Life. An entrepreneur opened a virtual porn magazine. Corporate America found the place too. And even a Congressman took up residence. And soon flying through Second Life began to feel quite a bit like walking through the real world.
And somewhere in there, I lost interest.
But things change. Time passes. And last week Second Life decided to open up its source code.
(You can read more about the decision here and here.) And although I am not a developer, and I have no intention of trying to do anything with the code, I was absolutely thrilled by this news.
Here's why: As wondrous as Second Life is, it has never been what it promised to be -- a virtual world. It was, instead, a virtual room. Albeit a very, very big room.
I don't know what a new and open Second Life will look like. Perhaps the change will be monumental. Perhaps not.
But I do know this -- I'm more excited about Second Life than I have been in a long time.
Because now, just like in the early days, it feels like anything can happen there.
For a look at an earlier post of mine about Second Life and online communities, click here.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media
Monday, January 08, 2007
Five things you probably don't know about me
Danny Sanchez at Journalistopia tagged me in the latest blogger game back on Dec. 21. And I'm only just now getting around to responding. My apologies to Danny and the entire blogosphere.
The object of the game is to tell you five things that you probably don't know about me. And then "tag' five other bloggers and have them do the same.
So here goes:
1. I was a soldier once, and young. The thing I'm most proud of is that I once served in the Army. I was an 11B -- an infantryman, a ground-pounding, highly motivated knucklehead with an M-16. And god how I loved it. I had to struggle like crazy to get into the service. I've had a medical condition (phlebitis) for most of my life that led to my failing a few intake exams. But eventually the Army took me in. As fate would have it, my condition worsened. Eventually I received a medical discharge. And on my last day in the Army, on a parade ground in Fort Benning, I wore a uniform and saluted the flag for what I assume will be the last time in my life. And I cried like a baby.
2. I was once a roadie for "Alvin and the Chipmunks." Years ago I found myself on a tour through the Midwest and Canada of a Christmas show featuring Alvin, Theodore, Simon and Dave Seville. I spent seven weeks living on a bus with a bunch of incredibly cute dancers from Los Angeles (in the show they donned costumes to transform into the Chipmunks, Frosty the Snowman, Mother Goose and assorted other characters.)
3. I got into a lot of trouble when I was a kid. I had a hard time staying put, being good or associating with decent people. I skipped a lot of school, broke a lot of laws, and hitchhiked up and down the East Coast. I was busted a few times. I was homeless for a short while. And one night, far from home and surrounded by strangers, someone drove a knife through my left lung.
4. I like to dance. I spent much the late 70s and early 80s in the nightclubs of New York -- CBGBs, the Mudd Club, the Peppermint Lounge, etc. I used to be a great dancer. And now, despite the phlebitis and middle age, I'm still pretty good. I look forward to the day when I tell my baby daughter that I met her Mom on the dance floor -- at a salsa class.
5. Back in the early 80s, I had a buddy named Kevin who was sick with what people then called gay cancer, then later called gay-related immune deficiency, and eventually called AIDS. And Kevin used to tell me that his dying wish was that I hook up with this wonderful girl he had met -- a disc jockey/dancer/singer with a fabulous name who had moved to the city from Michigan. But I didn't follow up. And eventually Kevin died. So I never met Madonna. On the other hand, I did once get an Eskimo kiss from Natassia Kinski.
Now I'll pass this on to five of my fellow B2B media bloggers: David Shaw and David Newcorn (in hope it will prompt them to blog more often), Colin Crawford (in hope it will prompt him to blog again), Prescott Shibles (to congratulate him for returning to blogging) and Sara Sheadel (to welcome her to blogging.)
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media
The object of the game is to tell you five things that you probably don't know about me. And then "tag' five other bloggers and have them do the same.
So here goes:
1. I was a soldier once, and young. The thing I'm most proud of is that I once served in the Army. I was an 11B -- an infantryman, a ground-pounding, highly motivated knucklehead with an M-16. And god how I loved it. I had to struggle like crazy to get into the service. I've had a medical condition (phlebitis) for most of my life that led to my failing a few intake exams. But eventually the Army took me in. As fate would have it, my condition worsened. Eventually I received a medical discharge. And on my last day in the Army, on a parade ground in Fort Benning, I wore a uniform and saluted the flag for what I assume will be the last time in my life. And I cried like a baby.
2. I was once a roadie for "Alvin and the Chipmunks." Years ago I found myself on a tour through the Midwest and Canada of a Christmas show featuring Alvin, Theodore, Simon and Dave Seville. I spent seven weeks living on a bus with a bunch of incredibly cute dancers from Los Angeles (in the show they donned costumes to transform into the Chipmunks, Frosty the Snowman, Mother Goose and assorted other characters.)
3. I got into a lot of trouble when I was a kid. I had a hard time staying put, being good or associating with decent people. I skipped a lot of school, broke a lot of laws, and hitchhiked up and down the East Coast. I was busted a few times. I was homeless for a short while. And one night, far from home and surrounded by strangers, someone drove a knife through my left lung.
4. I like to dance. I spent much the late 70s and early 80s in the nightclubs of New York -- CBGBs, the Mudd Club, the Peppermint Lounge, etc. I used to be a great dancer. And now, despite the phlebitis and middle age, I'm still pretty good. I look forward to the day when I tell my baby daughter that I met her Mom on the dance floor -- at a salsa class.
5. Back in the early 80s, I had a buddy named Kevin who was sick with what people then called gay cancer, then later called gay-related immune deficiency, and eventually called AIDS. And Kevin used to tell me that his dying wish was that I hook up with this wonderful girl he had met -- a disc jockey/dancer/singer with a fabulous name who had moved to the city from Michigan. But I didn't follow up. And eventually Kevin died. So I never met Madonna. On the other hand, I did once get an Eskimo kiss from Natassia Kinski.
Now I'll pass this on to five of my fellow B2B media bloggers: David Shaw and David Newcorn (in hope it will prompt them to blog more often), Colin Crawford (in hope it will prompt him to blog again), Prescott Shibles (to congratulate him for returning to blogging) and Sara Sheadel (to welcome her to blogging.)
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media
Friday, January 05, 2007
Reading the magazine predictions
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
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
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
My friend, you never buy the newspapers
I'm as self-absorbed as the next guy.
Heck, who am I kidding? I'm considerably more self-absorbed.
So it feels particularly gratifying when it seems that something really is all about me.
So put yourself in my shoes -- the comfortable shoes of a middle-aged white professional who lives in New York, works in media, makes a six-figure income, invests in the market and rides the subway -- and consider the newly redesigned Wall Street Journal.
Now you can read what the Journal has to say about its new look by clicking here.
But what I find most interesting about the changes is how they reflect my life. I am the target audience of the Wall Street Journal. And the truth is that I changed how I consume news long before the Journal changed how it produces it.
And that, after all, is the point.
According to Editor and Publisher magazine, L. Gordon Crovitz, publisher of the Journal, "is rethinking how the Journal and its siblings like Dow Jones Newswires and MarketWatch produce and distribute content in an age in which newspapers are fast becoming an arguably irrelevant place to break news."
In simplest terms, the print edition of the Journal "will move even further away from breaking news, letting the online version and its sister properties pick up the slack. The idea is to free up Journal reporters so they can do more in-depth, analysis-type stories that will better explain what the breaking news means. "
Consider, if you will, how I "experienced" the changes at the Journal.
I read that E&P article and a slew of reaction pieces over the weekend via RSS feeds to my news reader (Bloglines.) Then I read Crovitz' letter online this morning.
And when I decided to write something about the subject for my blog, I realized that I would have to walk to the corner store and actually buy a print edition -- something I haven't done in months.
So I did. And when I placed the Journal on the countertop the man from Iran who usually sells me milk, gum and lottery tickets said "My friend, you never buy the newspapers. Is this a resolution for the New Year?"
Now it's too early to tell if the print edition will work its way back into my heart. I'm not making any New Year's resolution about the Journal or anything else.
Nor would I go so far as to say that this move by the Journal or similar moves by other print products will be enough to save them. But the fact remains that mainstream media companies are moving back toward me after I moved away from them.
And that is probably a good thing for both of us.
For a look at some of the continuing problems in modernizing newsrooms, click here.
For an earlier post of mine on the topic of changing newsrooms, click here.
For an earlier post of mine about B2B magazines struggling with the needs of the new audience, click here.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media
Heck, who am I kidding? I'm considerably more self-absorbed.
So it feels particularly gratifying when it seems that something really is all about me.
So put yourself in my shoes -- the comfortable shoes of a middle-aged white professional who lives in New York, works in media, makes a six-figure income, invests in the market and rides the subway -- and consider the newly redesigned Wall Street Journal.
Now you can read what the Journal has to say about its new look by clicking here.
But what I find most interesting about the changes is how they reflect my life. I am the target audience of the Wall Street Journal. And the truth is that I changed how I consume news long before the Journal changed how it produces it.
And that, after all, is the point.
According to Editor and Publisher magazine, L. Gordon Crovitz, publisher of the Journal, "is rethinking how the Journal and its siblings like Dow Jones Newswires and MarketWatch produce and distribute content in an age in which newspapers are fast becoming an arguably irrelevant place to break news."
In simplest terms, the print edition of the Journal "will move even further away from breaking news, letting the online version and its sister properties pick up the slack. The idea is to free up Journal reporters so they can do more in-depth, analysis-type stories that will better explain what the breaking news means. "
Consider, if you will, how I "experienced" the changes at the Journal.
I read that E&P article and a slew of reaction pieces over the weekend via RSS feeds to my news reader (Bloglines.) Then I read Crovitz' letter online this morning.
And when I decided to write something about the subject for my blog, I realized that I would have to walk to the corner store and actually buy a print edition -- something I haven't done in months.
So I did. And when I placed the Journal on the countertop the man from Iran who usually sells me milk, gum and lottery tickets said "My friend, you never buy the newspapers. Is this a resolution for the New Year?"
Now it's too early to tell if the print edition will work its way back into my heart. I'm not making any New Year's resolution about the Journal or anything else.
Nor would I go so far as to say that this move by the Journal or similar moves by other print products will be enough to save them. But the fact remains that mainstream media companies are moving back toward me after I moved away from them.
And that is probably a good thing for both of us.
For a look at some of the continuing problems in modernizing newsrooms, click here.
For an earlier post of mine on the topic of changing newsrooms, click here.
For an earlier post of mine about B2B magazines struggling with the needs of the new audience, click here.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media
Friday, December 22, 2006
Meeting the minimum requirements for an end-of-year post
I spent much of my career as a member of the "mainstream media," which, as you probably know, is run by a joint venture of Opus Dei and the Trilateral Commission. Now look, I appreciate the work those folks do -- manipulating world currencies, assassinating world leaders, choosing the winners of figure-skating competitions, etc. But the truth is I also find them to be real pains in the neck. They're sticklers for the rules. And as lifetime member of the "mainstream media ("You are not allowed to quit," they said one day over lunch at the Harvard Club. "It is forbidden") I have to meet certain obligations.
And one of those obligations, as I was reminded by the monk who arrived at my door last night at the stroke of midnight, is to participate in the End of Year ritual. Thus, I must produce and publish one of the following by New Year's Eve: my predictions for the upcoming year; a review of my predictions for the year now ending; my reflections on the celebrity deaths of this year; a "Best of ..." piece in which I refer to things I wrote earlier in the year; or a Top 10 list of any kind.
Now I've learned the hard way that you can't mess with the folks who make the rules. So I have to do something before an enforcer slips something into my drink and I wind up with a case of writers block, or worse, carpal tunnel syndrome.
So here it is:
My Top 10 list of things related to predictions, old blog posts and celebrity deaths.
1. It was about this time last year when Folio magazine was kind enough to ask for my predictions about media in 2006. In at least one area, I was right. I told Folio that "More journalists will recognize there is much to learn from the citizen-journalism movement and will adopt the most compelling features of the blogging culture. Feedback functions will appear on numerous sites. Agnostic linking—pointing to items produced by competitors—will become more common."
It's sort of funny now to look back and remember how rare this stuff was just a year ago. But time passes. Things change.
2. I also told Folio that "At least one major journalism school will announce an end to track education. Students will study reporting and storytelling in a media-neutral environment. The idea of obtaining a degree limited to broadcast journalism or print journalism will seem increasingly silly."
I'll give myself half-credit for that one. Certainly it does seem increasingly silly to prepare journalism students to work in a single medium. And that may explain why I, of all people, have been asked to speak at this year's College Media Advisers Convention.
But no journalism school abandoned track teaching this year....at least as far as I know. Yet it's worth noting that a number of schools continue to drift in that direction. Also, just about every major j-school seems to be running ads such as this one.
3. Speaking of links, among the blog posts I'm most proud of this year are those in which I tried to ensure that the prediction I made in item #1 would come true by complaining about publishers who just didn't get the "idea" of linking. That's because bit by bit, one by one, even some of the die-hards of old media began to respond.
4. Speaking of responding, let me take a moment here to again thank the folks at VNU for responding to my call that they pull back from their recent foray into unethical behavior. I'm very proud of the small role I played in helping end that foolishness.
5. Speaking of that foolishness, I predict we'll see similar screw-ups again in 2007. I'm quite sure that at least once next year I'll point a finger at some publisher for violating ethical standards.
6. When Bob Hope passed away earlier this year, it was if we had lost not just a great entertainer, but a close friend. Thanks for the memories, Bob.
7. Speaking of hope, I hope that my prediction in item #5 will turn out to be wrong.
8. Speaking of predictions, at least one reader of this blog will post a comment noting that item #6 is wrong and that Bob Hope actually died in 2003. This reader will say that I am either an incompetent who cannot get his facts straight, or a cynic who pokes fun at the dead.
9. Speaking of cynicism, I think item # 7 is naive and ridiculous. Of course item # 5 will come true.
10. Speaking of naive and ridiculous, this blog will be back in 2007.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media
And one of those obligations, as I was reminded by the monk who arrived at my door last night at the stroke of midnight, is to participate in the End of Year ritual. Thus, I must produce and publish one of the following by New Year's Eve: my predictions for the upcoming year; a review of my predictions for the year now ending; my reflections on the celebrity deaths of this year; a "Best of ..." piece in which I refer to things I wrote earlier in the year; or a Top 10 list of any kind.
Now I've learned the hard way that you can't mess with the folks who make the rules. So I have to do something before an enforcer slips something into my drink and I wind up with a case of writers block, or worse, carpal tunnel syndrome.
So here it is:
My Top 10 list of things related to predictions, old blog posts and celebrity deaths.
1. It was about this time last year when Folio magazine was kind enough to ask for my predictions about media in 2006. In at least one area, I was right. I told Folio that "More journalists will recognize there is much to learn from the citizen-journalism movement and will adopt the most compelling features of the blogging culture. Feedback functions will appear on numerous sites. Agnostic linking—pointing to items produced by competitors—will become more common."
It's sort of funny now to look back and remember how rare this stuff was just a year ago. But time passes. Things change.
2. I also told Folio that "At least one major journalism school will announce an end to track education. Students will study reporting and storytelling in a media-neutral environment. The idea of obtaining a degree limited to broadcast journalism or print journalism will seem increasingly silly."
I'll give myself half-credit for that one. Certainly it does seem increasingly silly to prepare journalism students to work in a single medium. And that may explain why I, of all people, have been asked to speak at this year's College Media Advisers Convention.
But no journalism school abandoned track teaching this year....at least as far as I know. Yet it's worth noting that a number of schools continue to drift in that direction. Also, just about every major j-school seems to be running ads such as this one.
3. Speaking of links, among the blog posts I'm most proud of this year are those in which I tried to ensure that the prediction I made in item #1 would come true by complaining about publishers who just didn't get the "idea" of linking. That's because bit by bit, one by one, even some of the die-hards of old media began to respond.
4. Speaking of responding, let me take a moment here to again thank the folks at VNU for responding to my call that they pull back from their recent foray into unethical behavior. I'm very proud of the small role I played in helping end that foolishness.
5. Speaking of that foolishness, I predict we'll see similar screw-ups again in 2007. I'm quite sure that at least once next year I'll point a finger at some publisher for violating ethical standards.
6. When Bob Hope passed away earlier this year, it was if we had lost not just a great entertainer, but a close friend. Thanks for the memories, Bob.
7. Speaking of hope, I hope that my prediction in item #5 will turn out to be wrong.
8. Speaking of predictions, at least one reader of this blog will post a comment noting that item #6 is wrong and that Bob Hope actually died in 2003. This reader will say that I am either an incompetent who cannot get his facts straight, or a cynic who pokes fun at the dead.
9. Speaking of cynicism, I think item # 7 is naive and ridiculous. Of course item # 5 will come true.
10. Speaking of naive and ridiculous, this blog will be back in 2007.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media
Thursday, December 21, 2006
The world in my pocket
Longtime readers of this blog know of my longtime obsession with the future of news production.If you know me, you know I like to argue about the converged newsroom.
If you know me, you know I have no tolerance for journalists who won't learn new skills.
If you know me, you know I've predicted a rise in standalone journalists.
And if you know me, you know I like to daydream about what tools we'll use to write and report in the future.
And every once in awhile I'll come across something that touches upon all these things. And it makes me smile.
Check out this essay about a new generation of handheld devices that promise a newsroom in your pocket.
For a fascinating look at wildly different sort of computer for creating content, watch this video of Jeff Han's presentation at the TED conference.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media, entrepreneurial journalism, standalone journalism
Sunday, December 17, 2006
An overdue and well-deserved award for me
I want to thank the people at Time magazine for naming me Person of the Year.
I'll confess ... I was a little nervous that I wouldn't make it. Inexplicably, the magazine has ignored me for 40 straight years (I won once before, apparently for my solid performance in the first grade, in 1966. But I was forced to share the award with some long-haired teenagers up the street.)
So I was a wee bit pessimistic when I logged on to Time.com this morning and asked, "Is it me?'
But Time said, "Yes. It's you."
Now as it turns out, once I read the entire article I found that once again I'm being asked to share the award with a few other folks. But that's fine. Some of them seem like decent people -- such as this nice woman and this interesting man. So I won't complain.
I'm just thrilled that this year I won't have to repeat that ugly lie: "It's an honor just to be nominated."
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media
I'll confess ... I was a little nervous that I wouldn't make it. Inexplicably, the magazine has ignored me for 40 straight years (I won once before, apparently for my solid performance in the first grade, in 1966. But I was forced to share the award with some long-haired teenagers up the street.)
So I was a wee bit pessimistic when I logged on to Time.com this morning and asked, "Is it me?'
But Time said, "Yes. It's you."
Now as it turns out, once I read the entire article I found that once again I'm being asked to share the award with a few other folks. But that's fine. Some of them seem like decent people -- such as this nice woman and this interesting man. So I won't complain.
I'm just thrilled that this year I won't have to repeat that ugly lie: "It's an honor just to be nominated."
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Designing a magazine about magazine design
A little more than a year ago I expressed a wish that someone from the world of magazine design would begin blogging.
No one ever took up that call. At least as far as I know.
But perhaps the next-best thing is here.
In my mailbox yesterday I found a brochure for something called "FPO, the First Magazine for Magazine Creatives." A look at the marketing copy and a related Web site promises a quarterly publication that serves as "an enthusiast magazine for designers and editors who love their job and want to produce great work."
FPO (or For Publications Only) appears to be a print-only product for print-only designers. That's a bit of a disappointment to me. When I was wishing for a design blogger last year I said the ideal writer would be someone "who knows both print and online design for our industry." The overlap between those two facets of publishing is enormous. And one of the complaints I hear most often from publishers and senior editorial staff is that the art department can't work on the Web. Sure, there are differences between designing for the page and designing for the screen. But there are similarities too. And the simple truth is that a graphic artist without basic Web skills is walking around with a fire-me-and-cut-costs sign on his head. (On a related note, check out this wish list of new hires for Web 2.0.)
At any rate, it's too early to tell if FPO will be an interesting publication. It's being produced by Auras Design, a Maryland-based company that designed such magazines as American Style. So it's a pretty good bet that the folks at FPO will know design. But that doesn't necessarily mean they'll know how to write, manage or market a magazine. So I think I'll wait a bit before I decide if I want to pay $44 to subscribe.
In the meantime, I'll keep hoping for that magazine design blog.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media, design
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Comments on no comments
A reader sent an email urging me to take a look at ABM's MediaPace blog because "someone posted a comment for the first time in more than a year!"
Longtime readers of this blog know I have disliked MediaPace since its beginning. There's no need to rehash the reasons. You can click here to read a history of my criticism. Suffice it to say I never found a compelling reason to read MediaPace. And I know that many folks in B2B journalism shared my dislike of the product.
Certainly MediaPace never seemed to generate much interest. And a quick look through the archives shows that the email I received was almost right.
There have been two comments posted to MediaPace in the past year.
Just two.
Now there are many ways to measure the value of a blog. Comments are just one of them. But comments are certainly one of the better ways to measure "engagement." And the truth is that the B2B publishing community has not appeared particularly engaged by MediaPace.
On Dec. 7 of last year, Paul Woodward posted a comment that can hardly be called flattering.
Then there were no comments from anyone ... for months.
MediaPace went dark briefly over the summer. Shortly after the blog returned, Folio's Tony Silber posted a brief comment on July 19.
Tony commented again on Aug. 28, noting a major change. Someone new was blogging for MediaPace, producing what Tony correctly noted was "a great post. Fun, opinionated, but with a message. "
That new blogger, Sara Sheadel, has continued to write witty and insightful posts. Her work has proven to be a delight. And as a result, many of us in B2B journalism have begun to read MediaPace again.
So it was inevitable that the long comment drought should end.
There's something else worth noting here ... because it can serve as a guide to any journalist in this new world of conversational media. The comment to Sara's post is a criticism, albeit criticism given in a less-than-nasty tone. Sara handled it with grace and wit and diplomacy. She didn't ignore it. She didn't attack. Instead, she corrected an error. She made at least one reader smile. And she kept the conversation going.
And that's what makes for good blogging.
For some background on Sara, click here.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media
Longtime readers of this blog know I have disliked MediaPace since its beginning. There's no need to rehash the reasons. You can click here to read a history of my criticism. Suffice it to say I never found a compelling reason to read MediaPace. And I know that many folks in B2B journalism shared my dislike of the product.
Certainly MediaPace never seemed to generate much interest. And a quick look through the archives shows that the email I received was almost right.
There have been two comments posted to MediaPace in the past year.
Just two.
Now there are many ways to measure the value of a blog. Comments are just one of them. But comments are certainly one of the better ways to measure "engagement." And the truth is that the B2B publishing community has not appeared particularly engaged by MediaPace.
On Dec. 7 of last year, Paul Woodward posted a comment that can hardly be called flattering.
Then there were no comments from anyone ... for months.
MediaPace went dark briefly over the summer. Shortly after the blog returned, Folio's Tony Silber posted a brief comment on July 19.
Tony commented again on Aug. 28, noting a major change. Someone new was blogging for MediaPace, producing what Tony correctly noted was "a great post. Fun, opinionated, but with a message. "
That new blogger, Sara Sheadel, has continued to write witty and insightful posts. Her work has proven to be a delight. And as a result, many of us in B2B journalism have begun to read MediaPace again.
So it was inevitable that the long comment drought should end.
There's something else worth noting here ... because it can serve as a guide to any journalist in this new world of conversational media. The comment to Sara's post is a criticism, albeit criticism given in a less-than-nasty tone. Sara handled it with grace and wit and diplomacy. She didn't ignore it. She didn't attack. Instead, she corrected an error. She made at least one reader smile. And she kept the conversation going.
And that's what makes for good blogging.
For some background on Sara, click here.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media
Monday, December 11, 2006
Blogito, ergo sum
I had a conversation a few weeks ago with Rex in which I said part of the reason I blog is that, for me, the act of blogging has become part of the act of thinking.
I'm a writer. And when writers think, we think as writers. Sometimes that means we think with pen in hand. Sometimes not. But it always means we assume there is an audience for our thoughts. It is that single personality trait -- an arrogance of sorts -- that allows us to be writers.
But blogging has changed something. In the old days, I felt that my thoughts had to be completely formed before someone read them. In fact, there had to be agreement that my thoughts were fully formed. Because there was always at least one editor who had to believe that my thoughts made sense.
But in blogging, things are different. Just as thinking and writing have always been linked in my head, now thinking and publishing are linked. I can share my thoughts as they form. And, sometimes, when I'm lucky, a reader will comment or some other blogger will write something and eventually my thoughts clarify.
I thought of these things today as I sat down to write about, to think about, a post from the New York Times DealBook blog. DealBook is reporting on a visit by Jim Buckmaster, the chief executive officer of Craigslist, to the UBS global media conference. In brief, the Wall Street folks at the meeting were completely perplexed by Buckmaster, who said he wasn't interested in maximizing revenue.
Take a look at the post here.
I read that piece early this morning, and it's hard for me to describe how delighted I was by it. I found myself smiling like a fool for a good half-hour. And at one point I logged on to Craigslist just so I could look at the site again, even though I had been apartment hunting on it just last night.
But as I blog this morning -- as I write, think and publish -- I'm not quite sure why I find it so funny that Wall Street doesn't understand a company "that exists to help Web users find jobs, cars, apartments and dates — and not so much to make money."
I suppose part of the reason I'm so pleased by this is because I find many of the denizens of Wall Street to be hideous. I've lived much of my life here in New York, and much of what I dislike about this town can be traced to the more vile characters that work in finance. And I like any story that makes such people look like fools.
But the primary reason I liked the story so much is because I felt, somehow, vindicated by it. A good portion of my career has involved trying to convince wealthy people that a publication's primary purpose is to serve its readers and its workers. And if I had a dollar for every private-equity investor, overpaid executive, Blackberry-addicted venture capitalist and cash-flow-crazed M&A advisor who didn't understand me, I'd be as rich as they are.
But those people have to listen to Craigslist. Craigslist is big. And big makes them drool.
Longtime readers of this blog know that I was once vice president of online content at Primedia Business. That company had been saddled with hundreds of millions of dollars in debt by Wall Street wizards. And yet you could spend weeks there without ever running into anyone in top management who thought that was a bad idea. One of these guys once told me that the problem with the company wasn't an unreasonable debt load, the problem was that the company had "too many editors in places like Kansas where they all want to go to the kids' Little League games instead of work." Those people, unwilling to work longer hours for less money in order to service the debt, needed to be replaced, he said.
Under any circumstances, that conversation would have offended me. But the scene that day was like some sort of parody of greed. We were having lunch in the executive dining room of a leveraged buyout firm. And he was drunk.
I don't know what became of that guy. I don't much care. But I expect that if he was at the UBS conference he was perplexed by the man from Craigslist.
Of course Primedia Business is no more. First small pieces were sold. Then dozens of people lost their jobs. Then big pieces were sold and hundreds of people were laid off. And then what was left was sold again.
Now, 16 months later, the New York Post says that new buyer has $847 million in long-term debt.
And in the end, all this seems so silly and endless and wrong.
So perhaps what I would say if my thoughts were well-formed is this: I'm pleased when someone like Craigslist's Buckmaster says "no." Because it will give me strength the next time I have to remind someone: "It's about the readers; it's about the journalism; it's about the staff; it's not about you."
For an earlier post of mine about Wall Street and trade publishing, click here.
Click here to read how just a few months after VNU was acquired by private equity investors, the company is laying off some 4,000 workers.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media
I'm a writer. And when writers think, we think as writers. Sometimes that means we think with pen in hand. Sometimes not. But it always means we assume there is an audience for our thoughts. It is that single personality trait -- an arrogance of sorts -- that allows us to be writers.
But blogging has changed something. In the old days, I felt that my thoughts had to be completely formed before someone read them. In fact, there had to be agreement that my thoughts were fully formed. Because there was always at least one editor who had to believe that my thoughts made sense.
But in blogging, things are different. Just as thinking and writing have always been linked in my head, now thinking and publishing are linked. I can share my thoughts as they form. And, sometimes, when I'm lucky, a reader will comment or some other blogger will write something and eventually my thoughts clarify.
I thought of these things today as I sat down to write about, to think about, a post from the New York Times DealBook blog. DealBook is reporting on a visit by Jim Buckmaster, the chief executive officer of Craigslist, to the UBS global media conference. In brief, the Wall Street folks at the meeting were completely perplexed by Buckmaster, who said he wasn't interested in maximizing revenue.
Take a look at the post here.
I read that piece early this morning, and it's hard for me to describe how delighted I was by it. I found myself smiling like a fool for a good half-hour. And at one point I logged on to Craigslist just so I could look at the site again, even though I had been apartment hunting on it just last night.
But as I blog this morning -- as I write, think and publish -- I'm not quite sure why I find it so funny that Wall Street doesn't understand a company "that exists to help Web users find jobs, cars, apartments and dates — and not so much to make money."
I suppose part of the reason I'm so pleased by this is because I find many of the denizens of Wall Street to be hideous. I've lived much of my life here in New York, and much of what I dislike about this town can be traced to the more vile characters that work in finance. And I like any story that makes such people look like fools.
But the primary reason I liked the story so much is because I felt, somehow, vindicated by it. A good portion of my career has involved trying to convince wealthy people that a publication's primary purpose is to serve its readers and its workers. And if I had a dollar for every private-equity investor, overpaid executive, Blackberry-addicted venture capitalist and cash-flow-crazed M&A advisor who didn't understand me, I'd be as rich as they are.
But those people have to listen to Craigslist. Craigslist is big. And big makes them drool.
Longtime readers of this blog know that I was once vice president of online content at Primedia Business. That company had been saddled with hundreds of millions of dollars in debt by Wall Street wizards. And yet you could spend weeks there without ever running into anyone in top management who thought that was a bad idea. One of these guys once told me that the problem with the company wasn't an unreasonable debt load, the problem was that the company had "too many editors in places like Kansas where they all want to go to the kids' Little League games instead of work." Those people, unwilling to work longer hours for less money in order to service the debt, needed to be replaced, he said.
Under any circumstances, that conversation would have offended me. But the scene that day was like some sort of parody of greed. We were having lunch in the executive dining room of a leveraged buyout firm. And he was drunk.
I don't know what became of that guy. I don't much care. But I expect that if he was at the UBS conference he was perplexed by the man from Craigslist.
Of course Primedia Business is no more. First small pieces were sold. Then dozens of people lost their jobs. Then big pieces were sold and hundreds of people were laid off. And then what was left was sold again.
Now, 16 months later, the New York Post says that new buyer has $847 million in long-term debt.
And in the end, all this seems so silly and endless and wrong.
So perhaps what I would say if my thoughts were well-formed is this: I'm pleased when someone like Craigslist's Buckmaster says "no." Because it will give me strength the next time I have to remind someone: "It's about the readers; it's about the journalism; it's about the staff; it's not about you."
For an earlier post of mine about Wall Street and trade publishing, click here.
Click here to read how just a few months after VNU was acquired by private equity investors, the company is laying off some 4,000 workers.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media
Friday, December 08, 2006
Jon Udell leaves journalism ... sort of
Jon Udell, arguably the most talented guy working in B2B journalism, is leaving B2B journalism.
Sort of.
Jon is departing InfoWorld for a new gig at Microsoft. But according to Jon, little will change in what he does each day. "The details aren't nailed down, but in broad terms I've proposed to Microsoft that I continue to function pretty much as I do now. That means blogging, podcasting, and screencasting on topics that I think are interesting and important; it means doing the kinds of lightweight and agile R&D that I've always done; and it means brokering connections among people, software, information, and ideas -- again, as I've always done."
It's too early to tell just what Jon's work will look like when it's published by Microsoft. But I'm not worried. First, it's a pretty good bet that Microsoft hired him because it respects him, not because it thinks it can control him. More importantly, Microsoft has already demonstrated with Scoble that it has the wisdom to let its workers share their thoughts with the blogosphere. (In fact, with nothing more to back this up than my hunch, I'm going to say that Microsoft is hiring Jon partly because it misses the credibility that Scoble lent it before he jumped ship.)
Certainly Jon's decision is a blow to IDG. And since IDG is a client of mine, and one of my favorite B2B publishers, his departure saddens me. Besides, there is something a little sad for all of us in B2B publishing when one of our own decides the opportunities are greater elsewhere.
For an earlier post of mine about Jon, click here.
For Rex's take on Jon's new job, click here.
Click here to see how marketing sites are becoming more like media sites.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media
Sort of.
Jon is departing InfoWorld for a new gig at Microsoft. But according to Jon, little will change in what he does each day. "The details aren't nailed down, but in broad terms I've proposed to Microsoft that I continue to function pretty much as I do now. That means blogging, podcasting, and screencasting on topics that I think are interesting and important; it means doing the kinds of lightweight and agile R&D that I've always done; and it means brokering connections among people, software, information, and ideas -- again, as I've always done."
It's too early to tell just what Jon's work will look like when it's published by Microsoft. But I'm not worried. First, it's a pretty good bet that Microsoft hired him because it respects him, not because it thinks it can control him. More importantly, Microsoft has already demonstrated with Scoble that it has the wisdom to let its workers share their thoughts with the blogosphere. (In fact, with nothing more to back this up than my hunch, I'm going to say that Microsoft is hiring Jon partly because it misses the credibility that Scoble lent it before he jumped ship.)
Certainly Jon's decision is a blow to IDG. And since IDG is a client of mine, and one of my favorite B2B publishers, his departure saddens me. Besides, there is something a little sad for all of us in B2B publishing when one of our own decides the opportunities are greater elsewhere.
For an earlier post of mine about Jon, click here.
For Rex's take on Jon's new job, click here.
Click here to see how marketing sites are becoming more like media sites.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Socrates would have skipped the hemlock if he had the Web
I was educated by Jesuits.
So in my spare time I like to think about the big questions ... the sorts of things that have puzzled philosophers for centuries.
Before there was a Web, I'd pose these questions to an indifferent universe. I would cry out in the night, but no answers would come.
Now, of course, things are different. I have a computer. The answers are always near.
For example, there were three such questions bouncing around in my head this morning as I brushed my teeth.
First, can I compare apples to oranges? The answer, as it turns out, is here. (Thanks to David Shaw for pointing me toward it.)
Second, why are there so few self-tagged Gnostic bloggers? Click here and scroll down to find the answer, but it's mostly because Technorati is not all-powerful.
And third, is it unethical for someone in public relations to behave unethically? Actually, as of press time, no one had yet answered that question in this empty B2B publication forum.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media
So in my spare time I like to think about the big questions ... the sorts of things that have puzzled philosophers for centuries.
Before there was a Web, I'd pose these questions to an indifferent universe. I would cry out in the night, but no answers would come.
Now, of course, things are different. I have a computer. The answers are always near.
For example, there were three such questions bouncing around in my head this morning as I brushed my teeth.
First, can I compare apples to oranges? The answer, as it turns out, is here. (Thanks to David Shaw for pointing me toward it.)
Second, why are there so few self-tagged Gnostic bloggers? Click here and scroll down to find the answer, but it's mostly because Technorati is not all-powerful.
And third, is it unethical for someone in public relations to behave unethically? Actually, as of press time, no one had yet answered that question in this empty B2B publication forum.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Too late. The future is now the past
I had some computer problems last weekend. It was nothing major, and I got things fixed pretty quickly. But there was a brief period of time when I had to use a back-up laptop that I have sitting under my desk.
I'm glad I did.
I booted up the old laptop, logged on to the Web, and promptly got a message about upgrades from Microsoft. I agreed to accept the upgrades, and within a few minutes I was looking at the new version of Internet Explorer.
Now I've written about the new IE before. I loaded the beta version on my other computer several months ago. And I warned then that it was time for B2B publishers to make sure their sites were compatible with the new version. More interestingly, I noted that the beta version of IE 7 had RSS functionality built in, just like the Firefox browser. And I warned that billions of computer users were about to find that out that RSS was a remarkable way to consume information and that "when IE 7 starts appearing on desktops around the globe, you don't want to be the only publication in your space that users can't access through RSS."
Now IE 7 is here. And time, it seems, has run out.
For information on other new stuff from Microsoft, click here.
For more on RSS and how to use it, click here.
For an interesting look at how a reporter uses RSS to monitor his beat, click here.
For a look at yet another development that "will drive the adoption of RSS without the user needing to know what the heck a feed is," click here.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media
I'm glad I did.
I booted up the old laptop, logged on to the Web, and promptly got a message about upgrades from Microsoft. I agreed to accept the upgrades, and within a few minutes I was looking at the new version of Internet Explorer.
Now I've written about the new IE before. I loaded the beta version on my other computer several months ago. And I warned then that it was time for B2B publishers to make sure their sites were compatible with the new version. More interestingly, I noted that the beta version of IE 7 had RSS functionality built in, just like the Firefox browser. And I warned that billions of computer users were about to find that out that RSS was a remarkable way to consume information and that "when IE 7 starts appearing on desktops around the globe, you don't want to be the only publication in your space that users can't access through RSS."
Now IE 7 is here. And time, it seems, has run out.
For information on other new stuff from Microsoft, click here.
For more on RSS and how to use it, click here.
For an interesting look at how a reporter uses RSS to monitor his beat, click here.
For a look at yet another development that "will drive the adoption of RSS without the user needing to know what the heck a feed is," click here.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Eye on the new prizes
Not that we need any more evidence that the world of multimedia journalism is here to stay ... but it is sort of fun to make note of each new development.
Consider if you will the implications of the announcement that the Pulitzer Prize Board will now accept videos and graphics from newspapers as part of their entries.
Or take a look at the submissions to the National Press Photographers Association's first ever contest for multimedia stories.
Or check out the American Society of Business Publication Editors, which is now offering prizes for blogs, newsletters and multiplatform products.
But if it's so clear to so many that online journalism -- marked by interactivity, sound and video, links, usability and conversation -- has arrived, then why are there still so many B2B sites that are simply awful?
For Angela Grant's take on the NPPA awards, click here.
For an earlier post of mine about B2B publishers that don't understand online journalism, click here.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, advertising, newsletters, business media, journalism ethics
Consider if you will the implications of the announcement that the Pulitzer Prize Board will now accept videos and graphics from newspapers as part of their entries.
Or take a look at the submissions to the National Press Photographers Association's first ever contest for multimedia stories.
Or check out the American Society of Business Publication Editors, which is now offering prizes for blogs, newsletters and multiplatform products.
But if it's so clear to so many that online journalism -- marked by interactivity, sound and video, links, usability and conversation -- has arrived, then why are there still so many B2B sites that are simply awful?
For Angela Grant's take on the NPPA awards, click here.
For an earlier post of mine about B2B publishers that don't understand online journalism, click here.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, advertising, newsletters, business media, journalism ethics
Monday, November 27, 2006
They think you're a whore
Hey...remember that problem a few months ago when VNU began running ads inside its stories? Well VNU backed away from that offensive practice after I complained. (If you missed that incident, please go back and read the post I wrote that day as well as the comments from readers.) But it appears that other publishers are willing to trade their integrity for pennies.
According to today's Wall Street Journal, "some mainstream journalistic Web sites, like those of News Corp.'s Fox News, Cox Enterprises Inc.'s Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Hearst Corp.'s Popular Mechanics magazine" are using the same, offensive "in-text" ad links as VNU did.
The Journal article is predictable in its arrogance and its shortcomings -- pointing a finger at B2B journalism and blogging, but failing to discuss VNU's decision to pull the ads: "Still, in-text advertising is gaining traction, in part because it appeals to many sites on the Web that don't focus on hard news, such as feature magazines, trade publications and blogs."
But try not to be too offended by the implication that we in trade publishing are ripe for the whore's life. Instead, get angry. And get ready. Because if the Journal is right that this in-text-ad foolishness is gaining traction, then we can expect more offensive behavior from some of the more offensive folks in our industry.
And we're going to have to fight that.
For more of my thoughts on this issue, as well as a link to Folio magazine's coverage of the VNU scandal, click here.
Update: Bill Mickey at Folio magazine is also offended by the in-text ads.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, advertising, newsletters, business media, journalism ethics
According to today's Wall Street Journal, "some mainstream journalistic Web sites, like those of News Corp.'s Fox News, Cox Enterprises Inc.'s Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Hearst Corp.'s Popular Mechanics magazine" are using the same, offensive "in-text" ad links as VNU did.
The Journal article is predictable in its arrogance and its shortcomings -- pointing a finger at B2B journalism and blogging, but failing to discuss VNU's decision to pull the ads: "Still, in-text advertising is gaining traction, in part because it appeals to many sites on the Web that don't focus on hard news, such as feature magazines, trade publications and blogs."
But try not to be too offended by the implication that we in trade publishing are ripe for the whore's life. Instead, get angry. And get ready. Because if the Journal is right that this in-text-ad foolishness is gaining traction, then we can expect more offensive behavior from some of the more offensive folks in our industry.
And we're going to have to fight that.
For more of my thoughts on this issue, as well as a link to Folio magazine's coverage of the VNU scandal, click here.
Update: Bill Mickey at Folio magazine is also offended by the in-text ads.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, advertising, newsletters, business media, journalism ethics
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
My past is the model for the future, according to the Atlantic
I was looking at the blog of my friend and fellow B2B blogger David Shaw, and saw a post that links to an interesting article in the Atlantic about the future of newspapers. That article's author, Michael Hirschorn, offers "a modest proposal for reinventing newspapers for the digital age."
There's nothing shockingly new in Hirschorn's piece, but it is well-written and it's not defensive. And those two characteristics make it far superior to much of what the print world has written about the Web world.
But my favorite part of Hirschorn's essay is when he suggests there is already a model for the new style of newspaper site he envisions: "In fact, there’s a rough model for this emerging already: it’s called About.com, a desperately unglamorous site that features hundreds of freelancers who can tailor their part of the site to the needs and desires of their users. The (New York) Times bought it last year for $410 million, and it is currently the company’s primary growth area."
Longtime readers of this blog know that I was once a producer at About and later an executive at the company that bought it, Primedia. And my job involved overseeing all the B2B sites in the About network. And as I said in a comment to David's post, "even back then we knew we were on to something. And yep, even back then we knew we were "desperately unglamorous."
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media
There's nothing shockingly new in Hirschorn's piece, but it is well-written and it's not defensive. And those two characteristics make it far superior to much of what the print world has written about the Web world.
But my favorite part of Hirschorn's essay is when he suggests there is already a model for the new style of newspaper site he envisions: "In fact, there’s a rough model for this emerging already: it’s called About.com, a desperately unglamorous site that features hundreds of freelancers who can tailor their part of the site to the needs and desires of their users. The (New York) Times bought it last year for $410 million, and it is currently the company’s primary growth area."
Longtime readers of this blog know that I was once a producer at About and later an executive at the company that bought it, Primedia. And my job involved overseeing all the B2B sites in the About network. And as I said in a comment to David's post, "even back then we knew we were on to something. And yep, even back then we knew we were "desperately unglamorous."
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Getting religion about agnostic links
When I visit a Web site for the first time, few things make me feel better than seeing agnostic links. A site that links to rivals and competitors is putting me -- the user -- first.
But if you're a longtime reader of this blog, of if you've attended one of my speaking engagements, then you know I've often felt like some sort of lone crackpot when I've made the argument that "journalists have an obligation as journalists to point to information of value no matter where they find it."
But time passes. Things change. And the same ideas that were rejected by nearly everyone in B2B publishing just a few years months ago are now being adopted by the smarter folks in the industry.
Take a look, for example, at this story on Prism's Registered Rep magazine. Scroll to the bottom and you'll see external links to stories by Bloomberg and the New York Post.
Or even better, take a look at the newly redesigned Web site of JCK magazine, a Reed publication that covers the jewelry industry. Scroll down the home page a bit and you'll see an entire section of agnostic links called "Jewelry related news from around the Web." Drill down a bit and you'll find links to stories by competitors such as National Jeweler. Follow a link to National Jeweler and you'll find that it too has decided that the readers come first. That magazine launched a redesigned site earlier this month and promises to provide stories "whether they come "from National Jeweler, other trade magazines, newspapers, online services or the consumer press."
Time passes. Things change. And in this week of Thanksgiving, I want to offer my thanks to everyone who has come to believe, as I do, that the way to keep a reader is to serve him.
(Disclosures: I was once an executive with Prism. Reed is a client. And I'm a longtime fan of Whitney Sielaff, the guy who runs National Jeweler.)
To read about how the newspaper industry has learned to use agnostic links, click here.
To hear a podcast about how an old-time magazine brand has learned to embrace new media, click here.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media
But if you're a longtime reader of this blog, of if you've attended one of my speaking engagements, then you know I've often felt like some sort of lone crackpot when I've made the argument that "journalists have an obligation as journalists to point to information of value no matter where they find it."
But time passes. Things change. And the same ideas that were rejected by nearly everyone in B2B publishing just a few years months ago are now being adopted by the smarter folks in the industry.
Take a look, for example, at this story on Prism's Registered Rep magazine. Scroll to the bottom and you'll see external links to stories by Bloomberg and the New York Post.
Or even better, take a look at the newly redesigned Web site of JCK magazine, a Reed publication that covers the jewelry industry. Scroll down the home page a bit and you'll see an entire section of agnostic links called "Jewelry related news from around the Web." Drill down a bit and you'll find links to stories by competitors such as National Jeweler. Follow a link to National Jeweler and you'll find that it too has decided that the readers come first. That magazine launched a redesigned site earlier this month and promises to provide stories "whether they come "from National Jeweler, other trade magazines, newspapers, online services or the consumer press."
Time passes. Things change. And in this week of Thanksgiving, I want to offer my thanks to everyone who has come to believe, as I do, that the way to keep a reader is to serve him.
(Disclosures: I was once an executive with Prism. Reed is a client. And I'm a longtime fan of Whitney Sielaff, the guy who runs National Jeweler.)
To read about how the newspaper industry has learned to use agnostic links, click here.
To hear a podcast about how an old-time magazine brand has learned to embrace new media, click here.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Writing about the future from the past
I read an article yesterday in the most recent print edition of BtoB magazine about how "B-to-b media executives at the forefront of the digital revolution say they are adopting Web 2.0 as a philosophy as well as a growing group of technologies."
It was a pretty good piece. And I got a kick out of it ... but largely for personal reasons. Because when the reporter went looking for people "at the forefront of the digital revolution" she found Prescott Shibles, the smartest guy who ever worked for me, as well as executives from IDG and Reed Business, both clients of mine. And I like to think that I've played a role in getting these folks to embrace community and interactivity and to accept that the philosophy of Web 2.0 leads to superior forms of journalism.
So last night I sat down to write a post about that article and several others that appear in a BtoB special report on Web 2.0. But when I reread the article online, I found myself shaking my head rather than smiling.
Because I couldn't stop thinking how utterly silly this stuff looked on the Web site. There were no links. There was no feedback function. And the subheads were in the same font size as the rest of the copy. This was shovelware, pure and simple and ugly.
In other words, these are articles about Web 2.0 in a publication that continues to struggle with Web 1.0.
(Take a look at what I mean here, here and here.)
Regular readers of this blog know that I applauded Crain, publisher of BtoB, when it introduced links in BtoB's online copy several weeks ago. But that foray into a more interactive style of publishing seems to have died a premature death. I did a quick scan through more than a dozen recent stories on BtoB last night and found nary a single link.
I don't know what has changed. I don't know why BtoB experimented with links; I don't know why it has abandoned them.
But I do know this: you don't have to be one of the people "adopting Web 2.0 as a philosophy" to understand that writing for the Web is not the same as writing for print. And although links, comment functions and a cursory knowledge of design are not the ultimate goals, they are a start.
And mid-November of 2006 is awful bloody late to start.
To read an earlier post about a positive change that another Crain publication has made, click here.
To read about a scandal at another Crain publication, click here.
To read an earlier post of mine about linking, click here.
To read what Scoble says about what comes after Web 2.0, click here.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media
It was a pretty good piece. And I got a kick out of it ... but largely for personal reasons. Because when the reporter went looking for people "at the forefront of the digital revolution" she found Prescott Shibles, the smartest guy who ever worked for me, as well as executives from IDG and Reed Business, both clients of mine. And I like to think that I've played a role in getting these folks to embrace community and interactivity and to accept that the philosophy of Web 2.0 leads to superior forms of journalism.
So last night I sat down to write a post about that article and several others that appear in a BtoB special report on Web 2.0. But when I reread the article online, I found myself shaking my head rather than smiling.
Because I couldn't stop thinking how utterly silly this stuff looked on the Web site. There were no links. There was no feedback function. And the subheads were in the same font size as the rest of the copy. This was shovelware, pure and simple and ugly.
In other words, these are articles about Web 2.0 in a publication that continues to struggle with Web 1.0.
(Take a look at what I mean here, here and here.)
Regular readers of this blog know that I applauded Crain, publisher of BtoB, when it introduced links in BtoB's online copy several weeks ago. But that foray into a more interactive style of publishing seems to have died a premature death. I did a quick scan through more than a dozen recent stories on BtoB last night and found nary a single link.
I don't know what has changed. I don't know why BtoB experimented with links; I don't know why it has abandoned them.
But I do know this: you don't have to be one of the people "adopting Web 2.0 as a philosophy" to understand that writing for the Web is not the same as writing for print. And although links, comment functions and a cursory knowledge of design are not the ultimate goals, they are a start.
And mid-November of 2006 is awful bloody late to start.
To read an earlier post about a positive change that another Crain publication has made, click here.
To read about a scandal at another Crain publication, click here.
To read an earlier post of mine about linking, click here.
To read what Scoble says about what comes after Web 2.0, click here.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Letting our sources speak for themselves
Last week I posted something to this blog about a presentation I'd seen by Jason Brightman of Harris Publications. And in that post I mentioned briefly that Jason's XXL magazine "does many of the things that I urge B2B publishers to do," including "hire outside experts to blog on your site."
Well this weekend a reader of this blog pointed out that Multichannel News, one of the Reed Business publications I've praised of late for making a number of positive changes online, now features blogs by industry experts. Take a look at the home page. The blogs appear on the left- hand side of the page, and the authors read like a who's who of the cable television industry. Among those now blogging for Multichannel are Henry Schleiff, the chief executive officer of Hallmark Channel; Kyle McSlarrow, president of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association; and Gerry Laybourne, CEO of Oxygen.
Now don't get me wrong. The Multichannel blogs aren't flawless. For example, I have yet to see a link of any kind in any post. And that's just silly. Also, there seems to be no central location on the site where I can find all the blogs.
But I don't want to get all nit-picky. The bottom line is that I love this feature. And I expect it will only get better as the industry bloggers and Multichannel's editors grow more familiar with the process and culture of blogging. (DISCLOSURE: Reed is a client. And I've discussed the idea of outside bloggers several times with Reed editors and executives. But I can't take credit for the decision to add the bloggers to Multichannel News.)
For a long time I've been telling B2B journalists that they now face competition from the least likely of places -- their own sources. In a world where blogging software allows everyone to be a publisher, the journalist's role of gatekeeper has lost some of its value.
One way to maintain our importance to the industries we cover is to take steps to ensure that we become a part of the new conversations that emerge among our readers, sources and competitors. And one way to do that is to ask our sources to blog in our communities.
To read about a new magazine that's using outside bloggers to help build an online community, check out this piece in Folio about ReadyMade.
And lest you think that I only like magazine blogs when they're written by folks from outside the magazine, check out what I've said elsewhere about the blog run by ReadyMade's competitor, Make magazine.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media
Well this weekend a reader of this blog pointed out that Multichannel News, one of the Reed Business publications I've praised of late for making a number of positive changes online, now features blogs by industry experts. Take a look at the home page. The blogs appear on the left- hand side of the page, and the authors read like a who's who of the cable television industry. Among those now blogging for Multichannel are Henry Schleiff, the chief executive officer of Hallmark Channel; Kyle McSlarrow, president of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association; and Gerry Laybourne, CEO of Oxygen.
Now don't get me wrong. The Multichannel blogs aren't flawless. For example, I have yet to see a link of any kind in any post. And that's just silly. Also, there seems to be no central location on the site where I can find all the blogs.
But I don't want to get all nit-picky. The bottom line is that I love this feature. And I expect it will only get better as the industry bloggers and Multichannel's editors grow more familiar with the process and culture of blogging. (DISCLOSURE: Reed is a client. And I've discussed the idea of outside bloggers several times with Reed editors and executives. But I can't take credit for the decision to add the bloggers to Multichannel News.)
For a long time I've been telling B2B journalists that they now face competition from the least likely of places -- their own sources. In a world where blogging software allows everyone to be a publisher, the journalist's role of gatekeeper has lost some of its value.
One way to maintain our importance to the industries we cover is to take steps to ensure that we become a part of the new conversations that emerge among our readers, sources and competitors. And one way to do that is to ask our sources to blog in our communities.
To read about a new magazine that's using outside bloggers to help build an online community, check out this piece in Folio about ReadyMade.
And lest you think that I only like magazine blogs when they're written by folks from outside the magazine, check out what I've said elsewhere about the blog run by ReadyMade's competitor, Make magazine.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)