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Friday, June 7, 2002 Media Cynic | Forum | Advertising | Classifieds | Jobs Publishing Industry Soundbytes Launches and Redesigns | Miscellaneous People · MarketResearch.com, the parent company of the Packaged Facts and Kalorama Information publishing lines, announced that Don Montuori, a 13-year veteran of Thompson Publishing Group, will be assuming the role of Acquisitions Editor of Packaged Facts. Mr. Montuori will be tasked with commissioning and editing all of the Packaged Facts research studies. · America Online, Inc. announced that Shawn Hardin has been named Senior Vice President, Product and Programming, AOL Broadband. Mr. Hardin will report to AOL Broadband President Lisa Hook. Mr. Hardin will oversee all aspects of product and programming for the AOL High Speed Broadband service, including overall product and applications development and the creation of the next-generation of broadband content. · Two managing editors have been named to top leadership positions in the Pioneer Press newsroom by Vicki Gowler, editor/senior vice president. They are: Chris Worthington, managing editor/local news and business. and Catherine Straight, managing editor/features and sports. · Knight Ridder Digital (KRD), a provider a local information on the Web, announced that Sharon M. Mandell has been appointed to the newly created position of Chief Technology Officer, effective June 24. Mandell is responsible for the strategic development and implementation of technology across Knight Ridder Digital operations. She is charged with leading the improvement, development and acquisition of technology and tools to support content delivery and product development for KRD's websites nationwide. · eMedicine, a clinical knowledge base for physicians and health professionals, announced that Doug Nester will serve as the company's vice president of marketing. He will work out of the company's San Francisco bay area offices. Most recently, Nester served as the senior director, business and product development, of HealthCentral.com. Nester will be responsible for leading eMedicine's strategic positioning, as well as managing all facets of the company's marketing, public relations, and advertising efforts. · Scholastic Library Publishing, which includes the Grolier reference imprints, and is a division of Scholastic Inc., announced Larry Tinker as Vice President of National Sales. He will oversee a consolidated in-house sales force for the division's Grolier, Children's Press, Franklin Watts and Grolier Online imprints. Tinker will report to Scholastic Library Publishing's President, Neal Goff, who joined the company in March 2002. Larry Tinker has spent twenty-four years with the company since 1978. · Ungerlaw.com, a resource for those looking to form a corporation, announced that small business columnist Karen E. Klein will be providing editorial content for the website. An expert in small business issues, Klein, who writes for the Los Angeles Times and Entrepreneur Magazine, will provide editorial content and valuable resources for the site. Initially, the editorial content will showcase profiles of Ungerlaw.com's existing clients -- offering insight on the online incorporation process and sharing success stories. The first client profiles will be available on the site July 1, 2002. · Univision Communications Inc., a Spanish-language media company in the United States, announced that Luis Fernandez-Rocha has joined Univision as General Manager of Univision station WLTV-Miami, Channel 23, and the new TeleFutura station WAMI-Miami, Channel 69, effective immediately. Fernandez-Rocha has more than 16 years experience in Spanish-language media and most recently served as Vice President and General Manager of Telemundo's owned-and-operated Miami station, WSCV, Channel 51. Fernandez-Rocha will remain based in Miami and will report to Thomas M. Arnost and Mike Wortsman, Co-Presidents of the Univision/TeleFutura Station Group. · Marvel Enterprises, Inc. announced that it has appointed Kenneth P. West, 44, as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, effective immediately. In his new capacity, Mr. West, a Certified Public Accountant, will be responsible for managing all financial and treasury functions, bank relationships and conducting internal and industry analysis to support the Company's goals for growth. Additionally, Mr. West will play an important role in Marvel's expanded investor relations initiatives including interfacing with members of the Wall Street investment community and developing strategies to enhance the Company's capital structure. Prior to joining Marvel, Mr. West was the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of McIntyre Staffing Solutions in Stamford, CT, a privately-owned, multi-office recruiting firm. He previously spent 15 years at Ernst & Young, LLP, rising to the position of senior manager in the Stamford, CT office. · Legal, Tax & Business North America (LTBNA), a division of Wolters Kluwer nv, announced that it has named Christopher A. Cartwright to the position of chief executive officer (CEO) for its $1.3 billion North American unit. The business, which employs more than 6200 people, operates several leading information services and software companies including Aspen Publishers Inc., Bankers Systems Inc., CCH Inc., CCH Legal Information Services, CCH Tax Compliance and CCH Canadian. Cartwright was promoted to CEO from his current post as chief operating officer (COO) of LTBNA. · Josh Quittner, editor of Business 2.0 magazine, has announced several appointments, including Mimi Dutta as creative director, Damon Darlin as senior editor, and Susan Orenstein and Andy Raskin as senior writers. All of the new hires will be based at the magazine's headquarters in San Francisco. Mimi Dutta joins Business 2.0 from Sports Illustrated Women, where she recently completed the magazine's redesign/relaunch. Damon Darlin rejoins Business 2.0 with his new position. Before Time Inc. acquired Business 2.0 from Imagine Media in June 2001, Darlin served as executive editor of the title. Susan Orenstein comes to Business 2.0 after serving as a frequent contributor to the title. Previously, she was a feature writer with the Industry Standard. Andy Raskin also joins Business 2.0 full-time after serving as a frequent contributor. Raskin has written about business and entrepreneurship for various publications, including Wired and Fast Company. Digital Publishing · OverDrive, Inc., a provider of ecommerce and Digital Rights Management (DRM) solutions announced the opening of a wholesale distribution service for digital audiobooks. The company has expanded its Content Reserve digital media network to include a growing library of audiobook, training and educational titles available for resale by retailers from their websites featuring Microsoft Windows Media technologies. Content Deals · International Data Group (IDG), a technology media company, announced it has partnered with Zinio Systems, Inc. to offer digital delivery of its publications. Network World and InfoWorld are currently offering this technology to their readers and PC World and Gamepro are beta testing the technology. Other IDG publications also have plans to introduce the technology in the near future. · Lee Enterprises, Incorporated, announced plans to purchase the remaining 50 percent interest in the Sioux City Journal in Sioux City, Iowa, from the operating partner, a subsidiary of The Hagadone Corporation. The transaction, which is expected to be completed within 30 days, is valued at $60.3 million. Lee has agreed to pay $59.3 million in cash and give Hagadone ownership of a group of weekly publications in northwestern Montana. The Sioux City Journal has 165 employees and daily circulation of 42,800. Lee acquired its current 50 percent interest through the purchase of Howard Publications in April. · Prima Games, a division of Random House Inc. and a strategy guide publisher, announced that it has signed an exclusive agreement with global interactive entertainment publisher Infogrames, Inc. to write, publish and distribute in North America 10 computer and video game strategy guides for several of Infogrames' titles for 2002. Among the Infogrames titles that fall under the agreement are: Stuntman for the PlayStation2, Unreal Championship for the Microsoft Xbox, Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee for the Nintendo GameCube and Unreal Tournament 2003. · HealthGate Data Corp., a provider and electronic publisher of healthcare information for health-related organizations, announced it signed additional agreements with Mosby Inc. to publish two student-focused handbooks utilizing HealthGate's The Natural Pharmacist content. The two first-edition handbooks, Mosby's Handbook of Herbs and Supplements and Their Therapeutic Uses and Mosby's Handbook of Drug-Herb and Drug-Supplement Interactions, will be marketed to health care professionals, students, and consumers worldwide under the Mosby brand. The Natural Pharmacist, recently acquired by HealthGate from Random House, provides information on a variety of herbs, supplements and interactions. Launches and Redesigns · Citysearch, a network of online city guides and one of the core businesses operated by Ticketmaster, has launched an enhanced version of its website. The improved site includes increased personalization, offers from local merchants, an improved user reviews and ratings program, and increased search functionality. · Thomson Medical Economics, publisher of Physicians' Desk Reference (PDR), a drug compendium used by U.S. physicians, announced a new system that permits online submission and management of official drug product labeling that PDR collects, maintains, and disseminates. Developed in cooperation with several major pharmaceutical manufacturers, PDRxpress eliminates weeks of paper processing. Ultimately, the approved entries will be available for electronic distribution via PDR.net and PDR on CD-ROM. Printed versions of the entries will appear in the annual edition of PDR and its supplements. · SBC Communications Inc. and Yahoo! Inc. have launched SBC Yahoo! Dial, a new dial-up Internet service. Miscellaneous Amazon.com and Drugstore.com are continuing their ecommerce arrangement. With a new signed agreement, the drugstore.com Web store will continue to be on the Amazon.com website. Amazon.com shoppers will continue to navigate throughout the drugstore.com site with a "Return to Amazon.com" link always available. · Factiva, a Dow Jones and Reuters Company and a leading global news and business information provider, announced the launch of Factiva Alerts, a news product that delivers continuously updating headlines from Factiva's news sources directly to a user's desktop via instant messaging technology. Headlines are displayed in the Factiva Viewer and are drawn from Factiva's breaking news sources. · On May 17th GSociety, Inc., combined business interests with Capital Development Venture Group, Inc. (CPDG). The surviving entity, GSociety Inc., is now traded under the ticker symbol GSOC, on the NASDAQ, Bulletin Board. Paul Yates, CEO and President, commented, "This represents a significant step for GSOC and for the Gay and Lesbian Community world-wide." GSOC, is an innovative Media and Entertainment Company serving gay and lesbian consumers in the U.S. · Luxury Link, a luxury travel website has entered into an ecommerce relationship with Robb Report to provide exclusive luxury travel packages to Robb Reports' readers. · Baxter Brings, president and CEO of Advanced Academics Inc., an online learning company for students in grades seven through 12, announced the company has secured $7.5 million in a Series B Preferred Stock financing. New investors were Council Ventures, of Nashville, Chrysalis Ventures, of Louisville, Ky.; and Prosperitas Investment Partners also of Louisville. Previous investors who participated in the financing were Chisholm Private Capital Partners and American Fidelity Group, both of Oklahoma City. 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. |
