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Thursday, October 15th, 1998 Media Cynic | Forum | Advertising | Classifieds | Jobs Ziff-Davis Names Peter Longo Publisher of PC Week Ziff-Davis has announced the appointment of Peter Longo as Publisher of PC Week. Longo replaces John Federman, who is leaving PC Week after a year at its helm to become the CEO of a CMGI-funded Internet company. Claude Sheer, President of ZD Publishing, said, "We wish John well in his new endeavor. He leaves PC Week in a strong position. According to the IntelliQuest 1998 Computer Industry Media Study (CIMS v.5.0) of business influencers released just last month, PC Week is the #1 IT newsweekly both in reach and affinity." Sheer added, "With the appointment of Pete Longo as Publisher of PC Week, we're putting one of our core brands into seasoned hands. Pete has been the Publisher of PC Magazine for the past year. He is a long-time Ziff-Davis employee who understands both controlled circulation publications and the Enterprise market." Longo first joined Ziff-Davis in 1985. He left the company in 1986 to work first at Sport Magazine and then at CMP. He rejoined Ziff-Davis in 1991 as Advertising Director for MacWeek and was promoted to Associate Publisher of MacWeek and Group Associate Publisher of MacWeek and MacUser before becoming Associate Publisher of Computer Shopper in 1994. He was promoted to National Associate Publisher of PC Magazine in May of 1996 and to Publisher of PC Magazine in November of 1997. Said Longo, "Just as Ziff-Davis is transforming itself into the leading media and marketing company for the Internet economy, I look forward to working with the talented staff of PC Week to ensure that our publication becomes fully central in an Internet-centric world. I intend to accomplish this by working with Interactive Week and Smart Reseller to create a complete and comprehensive offering for our clients in the Enterprise space, as well as by continuing to position PC Week as the #1 Enterprise newsweekly." Amazon.com Enters European Book Market Leading online retailer Amazon.com formally entered the European market today with the launch of new websites in Germany and the United Kingdom. Amazon.de and Amazon.co.uk opened their virtual "doors" on the World Wide Web early this morning, replacing sites once operated by ABC Bucherdienst in Germany and Bookpages, Ltd., in the U.K. Amazon.com purchased both companies in April. The two sites will reduce the cost of and shipping time for thousands of U.S. titles, due to a large supply of the most popular U.S. titles ready for immediate shipment from the U.K. and Germany. In addition, thousands of other U.S. titles will be delivered much sooner from Amazon.com facilities in the United States. Both sites will feature many of the customer features developed by Amazon.com: personalized recommendations, the ability to search for and locate books in a variety of ways, hundreds of browsing lists compiled by specific categories of bestselling books, reviews by experts and customers and 1-Click(TM) ordering. "'Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.de will provide a whole new level of convenience and customer service for book buyers," said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com's founder and CEO. "These are stores that are open around the clock where people can find the specific books they want and discover others they may also like to buy. It combines the power of the Internet with' a very personalized experience." L.A. Times to Launch New Feature Section Southern California Living, a new feature section in the Los Angeles Times, will make its debut on Nov. 1, replacing the newspaper's Life & Style section. The launch of Southern California Living comes after a year-long effort at the newspaper to provide a timely, entertaining and enriching section that will attract more women and children into the paper. "Southern California Living will reflect the rich and diverse lives of Southern Californians in a timely and compelling format," said John Lindsay, The Times' managing editor for features. "The daily profiles of people will paint a vivid portrait of one of the most vibrant areas in the country." "Southern California Living is designed to showcase, on a daily basis, the essence of Southern California's trend-setting culture in a way that is newsworthy, meaningful and fun," said Michelle Williams, editor of the section. "In addition to a daily profile, the section will include more off-the-news reporting, compelling stories about family lifestyles, working, values and giving. Children will also have something to look forward to in Southern California Living: a full page of content just for them." Southern California Living will be published Sunday through Friday. The section's far-ranging content will also include a home section on Thursday that looks at interiors, remodeling and gardening. In addition Thursday will include the popular Hot Properties column, which will also continue to appear in Sunday Real Estate. On Friday Southern California Living's fashion section will feature expanded fashion and beauty coverage. Further, Southern California Living will feature book reviews, a children's page focused on reading, plus syndicated features including comics and a crossword puzzle every day. Yuckiest Site on the Internet to Provide Content for Kids on the Netscape Kids Channel Yucky.com, the Yuckiest Site on the Internet, and Netscape Communications Corporation announced that Yucky.com has been selected to enhance the content area for the Netscape Netcenter new Kidzone in the Weird Science section. Yucky.com, which takes a "laugh and learn" approach to science education for eight-to-fifteen year-old children, will share content such as Roach World, Gross and Cool Body, Ask Wendell and more, with the Netscape Netcenter. "I am very excited about the agreement with Netscape," said Susan Mernit, Editorial Director of the Yuckiest Site on the Internet. "Introducing millions of kids to science by appealing to their curiosity for all that is gross and cool is very rewarding and Netscape Netcenter's large audience will allow the Yuckiest Site on the Internet to do that." Netcenter's new Weird Science section will expand as Yucky brings on board content that is fun, educational and original. In addition to areas mentioned above, specific shared content areas include Wendell's Web Surfers, Club Yucky and Worm World. The Yuckiest Site on the Internet will be featured every month on Netcenter. Founded in August 1995 by New Jersey Online, a leading local content provider, The Yuckiest Site on the Internet was created to reach children through a "laugh and learn" environment. Yucky contains a variety of science education modules featuring Wendell the Worm, an animated ace worm reporter, and Dora, his human sidekick. Wendell and Dora guide users through the site, exploring the living sciences of anatomy, biology and entomology through roaches, earthworms and the human body. Yucky is the brainchild of Susan Mernit, a long-time educator and developer of interactive communities and content for children, parents and teachers, and Peter Levitan, a leader in the local news and information area of Web content. Texas Monthly Purchases Texas Business Magazine Michael R. Levy, the publisher and president of Texas Monthly, announced that Texas Monthly has purchased from Presidio Media Group the name and subscription fulfillment responsibility for Texas Business magazine. "This allows us to further reinforce Texas Monthly's position in the marketplace as the premier publication in the state," Levy says. "This is being done in conjunction with the launch in March 1999 of our new spin-off publication, Texas Monthly Biz. Early response to Texas Monthly Biz has been so strong that we will publish the first issue in March of 1999 and currently plan to go quarterly afterwards." Presidio Media decided to cease publication of Texas Business and then chose to sell its assets to Texas Monthly to best benefit their advertisers and subscribers. "We chose Texas Monthly to acquire our name for many reasons, most important, we thought Texas Monthly Biz would be a great product for our advertisers and subscribers," said Robert Bennett, the president of Presidio Media. "This transaction allows our company to concentrate on other core businesses." Current subscribers to Texas Business will start to receive Texas Monthly and, in March 1999, will see the first issue of Texas Monthly Biz. Texas Monthly is in its twenty-sixth year of publication, has a circulation of 300,000, and is read by 2,309,000 people each month. Texas Monthly is owned by Emmis Communications Corporation. Based in Indianapolis, Emmis owns and operates eight television and nineteen radio stations in the United States. Emmis also publishes three other regional magazines: Atlanta Magazine, Indianapolis Monthly, and Cincinnati Magazine. Talkers Magazine acquires stake in AudioCast Inc. Talkers Magazine Inc., a talk radio industry publication, has acquired a stake in AudioCast.net. The alliance was announced today at the National Association of Broadcasters 1998 Radio Show. Talkers Magazine, a New York City-based trade journal for the talk radio industry, formed an alliance with AudioCast.net to own a 4.5 percent stake in the company, as well as sponsorship of the talk radio network's websites. The two companies will collaborate on the development and marketing of Talkers Magazine's annual New Media Seminar. Michael Harrison, president of Talkers Magazine Inc., also has been named to AudioCast.net's board of directors. "AudioCast is a pioneer in the fledgling netcasting industry, and our new association with them places Talkers Magazine in a leadership position in the dynamic arena of new talk media," Harrison said. Talkers Magazine Inc., is the parent company of New York City-based Talkers Magazine. Talkers Magazine, a trade magazine for the talk radio industry, also sponsors The New Media Seminar, a summit for broadcast industry leaders who deal with talk radio and television programming management and technology - focusing on convergence, consolidation, marketing and other turn of the century issues. Green Travel Network Launches Online Adventure Planning Service The online travel resource The Green Travel Network has teamed up with Conservation International to create a service for planning the ecotour or adventure vacation, Adventure Finder. A traveler in search of the ultimate adventure can read about the world's great destinations, then connect directly to both domestic and international operators to make that trip happen. Adventure Finder connects travelers to both U.S. companies and trip operators and ecolodges around the world: a Peruvian guide to the Inca Trail, a Kenyan safari expert, the Costa Rican rainforest lodge. All operators must fill out a responsibility survey to judge their adherence to generally accepted "codes of conduct" for responsible tourism. "The service is a great benefit to all, including the 'little guy' in the local economy, and the land itself," says Jamie Sweeting, manager of ecotourism projects at CI, "It's a great way for the tour operators who are doing the right things to stand out." Adventure Finder debuts today, and will expand next month to include a trip search function. Additional site enhancements, including community features and other searchable databases, are in development for release later this year. 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. |
