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Friday, November 30, 2001 Media Cynic | Forum | Advertising | Classifieds | Jobs Publishing Industry Soundbytes Launches and Redesigns | Miscellaneous People · Steven Brill will join Newsweek as a columnist, it was announced by Newsweek Editor Mark Whitaker. Brill, whose title will be contributing editor, will write a column entitled ``Homefronts,'' covering the legal, business and lobbying controversies stemming from the September 11 tragedy. The founder of Brill's Content magazine, Court TV and The American Lawyer, Brill is currently the chairman and chief executive officer of Brill Media Holdings. Brill is now in the process of unwinding Brill Media Holdings after several failed online content ventures. · Andreas Schmidt President and CEO of BeCG, is leaving the company to pursue new entrepreneurial opportunities outside Bertelsmann. Stuart Goldfarb has been named the new President and CEO of the entire BeMusic business unit. BeMusic's executive management team includes Bill Sorenson, Chief Financial Officer, and Tom Hoekzema, who will continue to head up all online and offline logistics and customer service duties. · buy.com Inc. announced that buy.com's founder, Scott Blum, has re-acquired the company. · InfoWorld Media Group, a provider of analysis of enterprise technology and strategies, announced Thomas C. Rousseau has been named Executive Vice President and Publisher. Rousseau will be responsible for all sales, marketing and research operations at the information services company, which is a business unit of International Data Group. Rousseau is returning to IDG after 11 years in key positions at other IT publishing companies. His appointment is effective December 3, 2001. · Kathryn Creech, CEO of Miavita, Inc., a provider of online wellness programs, announced that new media exec Roseann Henry, 43, has been appointed SVP of Programming and Product Development. Ms. Henry is responsible for the development of Miavita's Healthy Living Program. Most recently Ms. Henry was the Executive VP/Managing Director of WorkingWoman.com. · Loomis Group, a high-tech strategic communications agency, has announced the promotion of Peter Dunn to vice president of strategic services. In this role, Mr. Dunn (who works from Loomis Group's Boston office) will oversee both the writing and account planning departments. Mr. Dunn joined Loomis Group in September 2000, and most recently held the post of director of writing services. For seven years prior to this, he was editor and publisher of WaferNews, a weekly semiconductor industry newsletter that he founded. · Crain Communications has named Rich Ceppos, an automotive editor and marketing executive, as publisher of AutoWeek, a weekly consumer car magazine. Ceppos replaces Leon Mandel, recipient of the Automotive Hall of Fame 2000 Distinguished Service Citation, who will remain with the magazine as publisher emeritus. Ceppos joins Crain on December 10. All departments of AutoWeek will report to him. He is currently executive vice president of Campbell & Co., Michigan's largest marketing communications firm. · Cox Interactive Media (CIMedia) announced that Brian O'Shea has been promoted to studio manager for icFlorida.com, CIMedia's Orlando, Fla., city site. As studio manager, O'Shea will work closely with Dorothy Mowbray, sales manager, to ensure that icFlorida.com meets the needs of both advertisers and the local icFlorida.com online community. O'Shea was previously content manager for icFlorida.com since 1998. · Cahners Business Information, a member of the Reed Elsevier plc group, announced the promotion of Andrew Rak to deputy general counsel. Rak will report to Henry Horbaczewski, senior vice president and general counsel of Reed Elsevier Inc. Rak, who has served as Cahners' senior employment counsel since April 2001, will be responsible for overseeing all legal matters at Cahners. Before joining Cahners, Rak was senior counsel for Fortune Brands (formerly American Brands Inc.), a Fortune 200 international diversified consumer goods corporation based in Old Greenwich, CT. · Ned Desmond, editor and president of Business 2.0, has announced the appointment of Thomas A. Stewart as editorial director of the magazine. Stewart, a fellow of the World Economic Forum and a member of the Board of Editors of Fortune, will be a major contributor to the editorial direction of the magazine, as well as one of its main writers. He currently writes Business 2.0's Barely Managing online column and is the author of the December 2001 cover story, ``America's Secret Weapon.'' Stewart is the author of the international bestseller Intellectual Capital: The New Wealth of Organizations, which was published in 1997. Stewart's new book, The Wealth of Knowledge: Intellectual Capital and the Twenty-First Century Organization, will be published in January 2002. · McGraw-Hill Education announced that Julie McGee, an experienced educational publishing executive, will become president of Basal and Test Publishing, a newly formed group which includes its elementary, secondary and testing operations. Ms. McGee, whose past positions have included executive vice president of educational publishing at Scholastic, and president of leading secondary school publisher McDougal Littell, will oversee McGraw-Hill Education's elementary and secondary school publishing units, Glencoe/McGraw-Hill and Macmillan/McGraw-Hill, and its assessment unit, CTB/McGraw-Hill. Presidents of those units, Steven McClung, Roger Rogalin and David Taggart, will report to Ms. McGee, and she will report to Buzz Ellis, president of the School Education Group. · Knight Ridder has announced the appointment of Mary Jacobus, publisher of the Duluth News Tribune, as president and chief executive officer of Fort Wayne Newspapers, Inc., and publisher of The News-Sentinel. She will begin work in Fort Wayne Nov. 27. She replaces Scott McGehee, 58, who is retiring at the end of the year. · Belo announced Kathleen A. Cholette, 41, has been named vice president/Tax. She has served as Belo's Director of Tax since 1996. Cholette is responsible for all of Belo's corporate tax functions. Cholette has 15 years of tax experience. She previously held tax positions at CellStar Corporation, Color Tile, Inc. and Ernst & Young. Digital Publishing · Infotrieve has, announced agreements with several publishers across multiple disciplines including Adis International, the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB), Camford Publishing, the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB), Multi-Science Publishing, The Royal Society, and the Society for Leukocyte Biology. These new content agreements expand Infotrieve's position as a provider of peer-reviewed full-text articles on demand. · InsideSessions and XanEdu have partnered to customized course supplements that educators can use to give students information about the creative and business aspects of music and writing. InsideSessions, a joint venture between Universal Music Group and Penguin Putnam, Inc., developed the course supplements from its online learning programs Writing and Publishing: The Inside Story and From Demo to Deal. The programs offer advice about how to succeed in the book publishing and music businesses. Content Deals · AltHealthWatch, originally created by Softline Information Inc., and since sold to ccplanet.com, Inc., has been purchased by EBSCO Publishing. Alt-HealthWatch focuses on the many perspectives of complementary, holistic and integrated approaches to health care and wellness. · CityXpress.com Corp, a developer of online editorial content with advertising and promotional products for media companies, announced its new online Senior Living special section is being launched by the online portals of Lee Enterprises' 28 daily newspapers. · theFinancials.com LLC, a provider of financial content serving the financial service, manufacturing and web development communities, announced a strategic partnership with YellowBrix, a provider of online syndication services. The partnership allows YellowBrix clients access to the private-label financial information solution developed by theFinancials.com. Product components include quotes, charts, graphs, statistical analysis, custom data feeds and real-time news covering the commodity, currency, index and interest rate markets. · The Los Angeles Times has signed an agreement with NewspaperDirect to provide readers with printed copies of each day's Los Angeles Times via major hotels, cruise ships and licensed foreign distributors around the world. The Times' service begins Dec. 3. Using NewspaperDirect's proprietary network and network of laser printer installations around the world, The Times' National Edition will be sent electronically and printed out on full-size (11x17) pages for customers in any location that subscribes to NewspaperDirect. The service is currently available at hotels, cruise ships and retail outlets, and via subscription. The Times is paid for each printed copy sold, and the sold copies count as paid circulation. Launches and Redesigns · CMP's DV Media Group announced plans to launch DV Expo East, an East Coast version of the annual DV Expo West Coast event. DV Expo East will be held at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City, June 25-26, 2002, in conjunction with TechXNY and PC Expo. DV Expo East will showcase emerging products and services during a two-day expo. · Oster Communications and Dow Jones Newswires announced an agreement to create a new global commodity news company, OsterDowJones Commodity News. The announcement coincided with the opening of the Futures Industry Association's annual Futures and Options Expo in Chicago. The organizations will merge their commodity news staffs, distribution channels and offices. The merger will create a global company that takes advantage of each organization's unique and complementary strengths. OsterDowJones will be two-thirds owned by Oster Communications, one-third owned by Dow Jones. · The two remaining Canadian community newspapers of Hollinger L.P., the Chatham Daily News and The Observer (Sarnia), have been sold for approximately CDN$35 million, subject to adjustments. The consideration for this sale was paid in cash at closing. The purchaser was Osprey Media Group Inc. which, earlier this year, for approximately CDN$220 million, subject to adjustments, purchased most of Hollinger LP's Ontario community newspapers including The Kingston Whig-Standard, The Star (Sault Ste. Marie) and The Examiner (Peterborough). · The first issue of The Bahamas Writer, a free online newsletter with writing tips and writers' articles, has just been released by BahamasWriter.com. BahamasWriter from Nassau, Bahamas, bill itself as "an informal guide & source of inspiration for new & not so new writers worldwide." · USAToday.com and HarperCollins Publishers are hosting a new contest for book lovers called Win a Bunch of Books! The contest is running through December 20 on USAToday.com's website, and is giving people the chance to win free books. Ten winners will receive ten bestselling titles from HarperCollins, · Books of Wonder, New York City's largest independent children's bookstore, announced the launch of its ecommerce site at booksofwonder.com. The new site allows consumers from across the country to access modern and out-of-print and collectible children's books, plus original children's book illustrations. Miscellaneous · Audible, Inc., provider of downloadable spoken audio, announced that it has been advised in writing by The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc. that it is in compliance with all applicable requirements for continued listing. As a result, Audible's class of common stock will continue to be quoted on the Nasdaq National Market, and the previously announced Nasdaq delisting proceeding has been terminated. · The American Press Institute has announced the publication of Crisis Journalism: A Handbook for Media Response. The 76-page, full-color Handbook results from API's effort to support media organizations in coverage of the Sept. 11 attacks and their aftermath. Copies of the Handbook are being distributed to media executives and journalism educators. The Handbook also is downloadable as a PDF document from the API website. The American Press Institute is an independent, not-for-profit educational center with headquarters in Reston, Virginia · Simon & Schuster Interactive announced the Company will be releasing its first titles for the Windows CE or ``Pocket PC'' platform. Four titles will ship this Fall including: Empire of the Undead, Pro Car Racing, 3D Hunting Grizzly, and 3D Hunting Trophy Whitetail. · Crain Communications Inc. will relocate its company headquarters and Detroit based publications to 1155 Gratiot Avenue, Brewery Park Phase II in Detroit on December 3, 2001. Crain becomes the building's lead tenant, occupying approximately 100,000 square feet of space-most of the 4th and all of the 5th floors. The five-story, first-class building has 224,000 square feet of office space. The company plans to take additional space for its circulation department over the next few years as it becomes available. · Compendia Media Group (Compendia), a new integrated media and entertainment company, launched operations after a reorganization. Martin Tudor, president and chief executive officer, made the announcement. Compendia was formed as a result of the federal bankruptcy court administered reorganization of Platinum Entertainment. The company has established Music, Home Video, Direct Marketing, Music Publishing, Interactive, Television and Film divisions to support the company's involvement in other areas of the media business worldwide. 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. |
