backtop

Print E-mail del.icio.us 7 comment(s) - last by Oregonian2.. on May 11 at 6:17 PM
Analysts say 'PC World' would have been hopeless without McCracken

Several days ago, reports about PC World magazine Editor-in-Chief Harry McCracken leaving the magazine hit the news wire. According to those close to McCracken, the 16-year editor chose to leave the magazine because pressure was put on to avoid articles that could jeopardize relationships with companies that advertised in the magazine. Senior vice president of IDG -- the parent company of PC World -- Colin Crawford was said to have axed an article called "Ten Things We Hate About Apple."

In a surprise turn around, PC World announced that McCracken is back with the magazine but in new shoes. In a story by PC World's staff, McCracken is now vice president, editor-in-chief. As acting vice president and editor-in-chief, McCracken will have complete say over editorial content of PC World. Robert Carrigan, president of IDG Communications indicated that Crawford will also remain with the outfit as executive vice president.

"In this role, [Crawford] will be responsible for driving IDG's online strategy and initiatives in support of our Web-centric business focus," said Carrigan. "We will conduct a search for a new CEO to lead PC World and Macworld."

McCracken also issued statements and said that he was happy to be back with the magazine. "I'm thrilled to be back with the PC World team. IDG is a company I've loved working for over the past 16 years, and one with a remarkable history of enabling editors to serve our customers -- the millions of people who depend on our content online and in print."

Despite the popping champagne bottles at PC World for McCracken's return, some analysts said that the outfit had no choice but to convince McCracken of a return. To avoid a bad image and a public stigma of editorial corruption, McCracken's come back was a necessary move for PC World. Shifting Crawford to a new role outside of the magazine was also an apologetic move by IDG.

Comments     Threshold


This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled
Apple trembles?
By SomeYoungMan on 5/10/2007 1:13:33 PM , Rating: 2
That "10 Things We Hate About Apple" article better be good and juicy enough to warrant all this drama.




RE: Apple trembles?
By soydios on 5/10/2007 4:18:09 PM , Rating: 3
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,130994-page,1/ar...

FYI, the article in question was posted Monday.


RE: Apple trembles?
By SomeYoungMan on 5/10/2007 7:57:02 PM , Rating: 3
Thanks for the link. There wasn't anything super-scathing in the article. In fact, there's a sister article titled "10 Things We Love About Apple" that goes along with it.

Probably just a publicity stunt to drum up readership.


RE: Apple trembles?
By rrsurfer1 on 5/10/2007 4:19:58 PM , Rating: 2
It wasn't about this article alone, that was just what triggered it. It was more about what Crawford said, which was basically that everything was to be approved by him, which should not be his job, it's the EIC's job.

It's a good thing they hired him back, because I'm sure they would have lost alot of readers from this. The company as a whole handled it well even if Crawford didn't.


ads
By Super on 5/10/2007 6:20:04 PM , Rating: 2
In my last issue of PC World i counted it up and it was ~48% ads. A gentleman i worked with said the rest of the pages were ads disguised as articles.




RE: ads
By Oregonian2 on 5/11/2007 6:17:51 PM , Rating: 1
I've found PC World (long term) to be that way pretty much. Some editorial contribution, but fairly light weight.

The old PC Magazine was the hardy creator of information out of their ZD Labs organization that used to be pretty substantial. Nowadays they're a lightweight shell of what they once were but under Lauderback at least doesn't try to fake reviews like PC World does (or seems to do). At least honest in their current light-weightedness.

So the old great PC Magazine is gone along with ZDTV. I still prefer PC Mag over PC World, but at least PC World has been "steady" fluff rather than the fluff remains of something once great (PC mag).


This is a good thing
By Iroh on 5/10/2007 9:12:18 AM , Rating: 2
Even though this article screams of 'scrambling to save your ass', rehiring the editor and giving him more power is a good move for everyone involved.




"You can bet that Sony built a long-term business plan about being successful in Japan and that business plan is crumbling." -- Peter Moore, 24 hours before his Microsoft resignation

DailyTech Poll
Which web browser do you use on your primary personal machine? 






44 Comments











botimage
Copyright 2009 DailyTech LLC. - RSS Feed | Advertise | About Us | Ethics | FAQ | Terms, Conditions & Privacy Information | Kristopher Kubicki