Comments on: Why BusinessWeek Matters (from a Former BW Writer)

By: Ann Handley

Ann Handley — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 16:56:19 +0000

A more light-hearted look at this issue... from Judith Warner, "Pulp Future": http://warner.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/16/second-acts/

By: Ann Handley

Ann Handley — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:34:40 +0000

Hi Mark — Great piece. As a former newspaper reporter myself (Boston Globe), I totally relate to much of what you discuss here.
It seems to me that the issue isn’t how (or whether) to maintain print publications, but rather how to advance online business models. What’s dead isn’t the reporting or the writing or the drive to do it well, and more deeply. What’s withering is the print platform, which just doesn’t make sense any more. It seems to me that the biggest opportunity here is in rethinking the online presence, and model, and approach.
I’d also challenge your suggestion about “who will do the hard work, the hard reporting” when you say: “Sorry, it won’t be the Huffington Post.” I dunno about that: Why not the Huffington Post? Or the Daily Beast? I’m not suggesting that they could do it with their current staff and setup, but I’d love to see them try.

By: mark ivey

mark ivey — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 18:22:07 +0000

thanks for the (good) comments.
As we move into the digital age, information does become more of a commodity. But the analysis of that information is not a commodity, so how does a BusinessWeek leverage its expertise? The market is telling it that it doesn’t value the current approach/model.
I went through another major overhaul of the mag when I first started in the early 80s. They gave us bylines (yes, bylines), made us start writing commentaries and writing for a broader audience-more people focused, more glitzy, entertaining, etc. The pub needs an even bigger overhaul now, integrating its online/print efforts and become more “social” in nature, more engaging and dynamic, more interesting (I agree, this must go beyond just throwing up new blogs).
Kevin: Many readers of BW and other pubs like the Economist would disagree that there’s “not much worth saving with magazines”. I think the argument is whether there’s a business model to sustain it. Perhaps the bigger point transcends this issue: Look beyond the print version into what really makes a magazine and you’ll see value including:
* The brand (Businessweek still has an enormous brand ..it’s just being underutilized)
* Expertise–the 190 editors have hundreds of years of combined experience, and their relationships with thousands of sources/contacts amounts to an enormous editorial resource.
* Editorial system–all the checks and balances of a publication to assure accuracy, meet deadlines, assure consistency–still value in this even in today’s environment.
I could go on and on but it sounds like I”m defending the status quo–which I’m not. The fact is BW failed to get ahead of the curve and now they’re paying the price. Change is happening, and as Eric said, no one ever promised it would be easy.

By: Thomas Huynh

Thomas Huynh — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 06:26:10 +0000

Hi Mark, you left BW when I was starting to read it as a young man in college. BW stories have always been authoritative and it’s a real shame that some speak about blogs in the same sentence. Yes ads are down but not everywhere not even in all the traditional magazine publications. Would MH kick themselves when ad spending picks up and they had eliminated an iconic magazine? You bet. Thomas, founder, Sonshi.com

By: Jim "Genuine" Turner

Jim "Genuine" Turner — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 04:50:55 +0000

Well done Mark and obviously written in a fashion the tells me that you are a seasoned veteran. I am curious bout the future and you raised something that made me think of how that future may be shaped. What happens to the citizen journalist or blogger that does a piece on the CEO as you did with your backing of a legal team and a bank account? I would do a piece like that or any blogger could, but will the CEO be so quick to sue if they most they can get from me is in line behind my 3rd mortgage? I am interested on how this will play in all facets.

By: Eric Hoffman

Eric Hoffman — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:24:07 +0000

Nobody ever said change is easy or that it will come about without some things being worse than they were before. That said, there are media outlets that are monetizing their content in ways that may be viable, see this list for some great examples: http://www.minonline.com/news/Top-5-Paid-Models-Worth-Watching_11526.html Thanks for some good food for thought, as always, Mark!

By: Kevin Horne

Kevin Horne — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:50:36 +0000

I think the issues with print are much more complex than most people in Silicon Valley make them out to be (“Print is dead.”). There’s no question that fewer and fewer readers care to wait for a once-a-week look backward. But that doesn’t mean all print must go away. And it doesn’t mean all the BusinessWeeks of the world have to fold.
But if publishers and editors don’t realize the complexity of the solutions required, they will.
Here’s one example you cited about BW: “its editors–launched more than a dozen blogs–” I don’t recall a single study in the past five years that said readers were looking to online versions of offline media properties for “blogs.” Its just that editors went with a simple solution …. what everyone else was doing. There’s a world of difference in TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington and some unknown journalist blogging from somewhere inside the nether reaches of BW.
That’s just one example of dozens of things gone wrong. If “professional” publications continue to chase after and mimic what the “nonprofessionals” are doing, they’ll only hasten their demise.
I echo Lewis Green’s comments – when it pertains to newspapers. But I’m not so sure at current course and speed that magazines have much worth saving.

By: Elaine Fogel

Elaine Fogel — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:48:30 +0000

I agree with Lewis. Solid journalism has been on the wane. With many media outlets owned by Corporate America and their biases, to the proliferation of blogging and social networking (which are not held to any codes of ethics or fact-checking standards), how can we know that what we hear is the truth – the whole truth and nothing but the truth?

By: Lewis Green

Lewis Green — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 14:01:56 +0000

Excellent commentary Mark. Like you, I worry that the 4th Estate’s loss is everyone’s loss, especially those who love freedom and fear those who might take it away.