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Tuesday, July 28th, 1998 Media Cynic | Forum | Advertising | Classifieds | Jobs Reader's Digest Announces Global Reorganization The Reader's Digest Association, Inc. Chairman and CEO Thomas O. Ryder announced a global reorganization of the company as the first step in a long-term strategy to build on the company's fundamental strengths and create new growth opportunities. Key objectives for the company, as outlined by Mr. Ryder in a letter to employees, include: broadening the customer base of Reader's Digest to include more younger customers and more products for older customers, overhauling the company's work processes and cost structure, and freeing up dollars from underperforming assets to invest in growth opportunities. "Reader's Digest stands today as a Company with great potential," Mr. Ryder said. "However, we face very real and serious challenges as a corporation and as a competitor in the global marketplace. The most fundamental of these challenges, one on which we must focus in everything we do, is to restore growth to our company on behalf of our shareholders by creating value for our customers." The organizational redesign, which will put in place the necessary people and structure to achieve the company's goals, includes the following key elements: -- Organizing operations into four business groups around growth opportunities the company has identified among the full range of customers it intends to serve. -- Restructuring editorial organizations to ensure editorial quality and integrity worldwide. -- Reassigning certain executives as well as adding new people with key talents. -- Establishing new reporting relationships to sharpen focus and accountability. Mr. Ryder will present the first phase of a two-part program to revitalize the company in mid-September. BPI Launches Online Information Service BPI Communications Inc., publisher of 25 specialty titles including Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek and Mediaweek, announced the launch of an omnibus online information service for the entertainment, media and marketing industries. The service, BPIQ, is composed of three primary databases, updated daily, that include full-text current issues and archives from the relevant BPI titles. Individual monthly rates for BPIQ range from $19.95 for one database to $44.95 for the premium option that includes all three databases, plus per-report charges. "BPIQ combines the resources of more than 500 journalists from some of the most respected business-to-business publications in the world," said Georgina Challis, BPI's senior vice president of corporate development. "It represents the convergence of the entertainment, marketing and media industries in an unmatched repository of full-text articles, charts, research, news and information," Challis said. Media General's Publishing Division to Be Reorganized Media General's Publishing Division will be reorganized effective Aug. 1, to reflect the expanding role of its community newspapers. Terry Hall, currently regional publisher for the Virginia-Western Region, will assume the division-wide role of senior vice president for community publishing with responsibility for all newspapers in Virginia and North Carolina with circulation of 50,000 or less. According to Graham Woodlief, president of the publishing division, "Terry Hall is a proven newspaper executive who epitomizes the qualities necessary for success in community publishing. As a division, we look forward to the continued growth of our smaller newspapers under her leadership." Prior to joining Media General in 1995, she had been a newspaper publisher in Lynchburg, Christiansburg, Charlottesville and Marion, Va., and in Bryan College Station, Texas. Media General is an independent, publicly owned communications company situated primarily in the Southeast, with interests in newspapers, broadcast and cable television, recycled newsprint production, and diversified information services. Intuit Inc. Partners With Osborne/Mcgraw-Hill to Publish Official Quicken Press Intuit Inc. and Osborne/McGraw-Hill announced a publishing agreement to launch Quicken Press, a line of companion guides to Quicken products. The series kicks off with two new titles, Quicken: The Official Guide ($24.99) to be released in September and QuickBooks: The Official Guide ($24.99) to be released in August. Fully endorsed by Intuit, Quicken Press will provide the first official documentation of Quicken products. The comprehensive guides will show users how to make the most of their Quicken software to achieve financial success. According to Brandon Nordin, Vice President and Group Publisher for Osborne/McGraw-Hill and Computing McGraw-Hill, "Intuit has an overwhelming market share with millions of loyal users who upgrade every year, which makes this an ideal publishing opportunity. Osborne's experience in corporate publishing combined with Intuit's popular software products is sure to be a winning combination." Click here to return to the homepage of The Write NewsTM Click here to subscribe to our free weekly email newsletter.  www.writenews.com Copyright © 1997-2007 by Writers Write, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
