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Friday, June 21, 2002 Publishing Industry Soundbytes Launches and Redesigns | Miscellaneous People · Scott Gramling has been named editor in chief of FHM magazine. Gramling, 31, who most recently served as deputy editor of the magazine, is an original member of the editorial team that directed the launch of FHM in the U.S. The announcement was made by Marcus Rich, president, Emap Metro. Gramling joined the FHM launch team in 1999 as sections editor and was promoted to deputy editor in February of 2001. Prior to FHM, he was associate editor of Sports Illustrated for Kids' books division. In addition to his book editing duties there, he edited several special newsstand publications and co-authored a biography on Ken Griffey Jr. Gramling succeeds Ed Needham who was named managing editor of Rolling Stone last week. · Upside Magazine, a monthly business and finance magazine focused on the business of technology, announced that Lester Craft has joined the publication as editor-in-chief. In this position, Craft will be responsible for the editorial direction and design of the magazine. He will report directly to John R. Carroll, CEO, and will succeed Jerry Borrell, who is leaving Upside to pursue other business interests. · Sari Factor has been named president of Macmillan/McGraw-Hill, a leading pre-K-6 educational publisher, which is a unit of McGraw-Hill Education. In her new role, Ms. Factor will be responsible for the continued growth of Macmillan/McGraw-Hill. She reports to Julie McGee, president of Basal and Test Publishing. Factor was previously president of Wright Group/McGraw-Hill, a supplementary educational publisher. · Bonnie Fuller, Editor-in-Chief of Wenner Media's Us, announced she has made five editorial hires. Veteran celebrity journalist Jeanne Wolf, will act as Editor-at-Large. Jeanne has served as Editor-at-Large: Entertainment for Redbook, and a Contributing Editor for TV Guide. Ken Baker, West Coast Bureau Chief, will be responsible for overseeing all magazine reporting in Hollywood, conducting high-profile celebrity interviews, identifying news stories and assisting in the generation of cover concepts. Baker, a former People staff correspondent who joined Us in the summer of 2000, is being promoted to his current post from West Coast Senior Editor. Linda Friedman, West Coast deputy Bureau Chief, will assist in the reporting of celebrity news stories. Friedman comes to Us from Teen People, where she founded the West Coast Bureau, and served as Senior Editor since 1998. Two Time Inc. veterans, Jeremy Helligar and Lori Majewski, were also hired. Helligar comes to Us as a Senior Editor following an eleven year run at Time Inc., most recently as Entertainment Editor for Teen People where he was part of original Editor, Christina Ferrari's launch and ASME award winning team. Majewski, who is joining Us as Entertainment Director, was also a part of the ASME award winning editorial team at Teen People where she was Ms. Ferrari's first hire. · Knight Ridder Digital (KRD), a provider of local news and information, announced several new appointments to its senior management team. Knight Ridder Digital president and CEO Hilary Schneider has named Tracy A. Martin as vice president and chief financial officer, and Ross Settles as vice president of strategic marketing. Schneider also announced the promotion of Jamie Glenn to the newly created position of vice president of business development. Martin, 40, will oversee the company's financial operations, including budgeting, financial reporting, operational analysis, real estate, and capital investments. Most recently Martin was CFO at San Francisco media company, Red Herring Communications. Settles, 42, will oversee strategy development, research, and marketing communications for the company. Settles, formerly a consultant to media companies on marketing strategy and new product development, has worked in a variety of different media including online, newspapers, magazines, cable and broadcast television. Prior to joining Knight Ridder Digital, Settles was vice president of marketing and product development for the interactive assets of Times Mirror. · America Online, Inc. announced that it has named media industry veteran David Lebow as Executive Vice President, Programming and Strategy for AOL Interactive Services. Reporting to AOL Interactive Services President Jimmy de Castro, Lebow will coordinate strategic programming and promotions initiatives for the AOL service and the AOL brand. He will also evaluate consumer trends and research about the AOL service to help develop new content and services to meet consumer needs. Lebow will work closely Jim Bankoff, Executive Vice President of AOL Brand Operations, and David Gang, Executive Vice President of Product Marketing, on de Castro's executive team. Prior to joining AOL, Lebow was Senior Vice President of Operations for Emmis Communications, a diversified media company with radio broadcasting, television broadcasting, and magazine publishing operations. · Broadview Media, Inc. announced the election of Nels Johnson to its Board of directors, replacing John McGrath. Johnson is a software developer and consultant specializing in digital video and website design and operation. He contributes a monthly column on web-based video to DV magazine and is the author of three books on web development. Johnson was on the team that created the original version of QuickTime and QuickTime VR for Windows. · Paintideas.com, a website devoted to creative paint ideas, has introduced new projects provided by lifestyle and home furnishings designer Tracy Porter. Tracy Porter is the visionary behind Tracy Porter Inc. Her array of treasures includes dinnerware, rugs, bedding, decorative accessories, craft products, and more. Tracy is also the creator of several books including her first decorating book, Tracy Porter's Home Style (Hyperion, April 2002), Tracy Porter's Inspired Gatherings (Andrews McMeel, 1999), and Tracy Porter's Dreams from Home (Andrews McMeel, 1998). She joins paintideas.com as a guest designer from June 1, 2002 - September 30, 2002. · Gregory L. Brown, CEO of USFR Media Group, announced that Judith Price, founder of the Manhattan-based Avenue Magazine and its international editions, has become a shareholder in USFR and will take a lead role in national and international sales for Cowboys & Indians Magazine. Judith will be assuming responsibility for international sales and will provide direction for key national accounts. · Dow Jones & Company announced that Paul C. Atkinson is returning to The Wall Street Journal as senior vice president, advertising, a new position, effective June 28. Atkinson, 49, served as vice president, advertising, of the Journal from 1990-99, before becoming a vice president of AOL. In his new role Atkinson will be responsible for The Wall Street Journal's advertising marketing and sales efforts. He will report to Peter R. Kann, publisher of the Journal, and Danforth W. Austin, general manager. Mr. Kann is also chairman and CEO of Dow Jones, the parent company of the Journal. Stephen B. Howe, vice president, advertising of the Journal, will report to Mr. Atkinson. · AltaVista Company, a provider of search services and software and a majority-owned operating company of CMGI, Inc., has appointed Jan Pedersen, Ph.D., Chief Scientist. Pedersen will spearhead the company's middle- and long-term product initiatives, including research and development efforts on user-centric, next generation search technologies. Pedersen has held advanced technology positions in the consumer and enterprise search sectors, with tenure as Director of Advanced Technology and Director of Search and Spidering for the InfoSeek/Go Network, and Manager of the Advanced Technology Group at Verity, Inc Digital Publishing · Salon Media Group, a new media company, announced that it has published the ebook Unmasking Deep Throat, located for purchase at dean.salon.com. Authored by former Nixon White House legal counsel, John Dean, the ebook is a Watergate detective story, with new evidence on the identity of Deep Throat, the shadowy figure who haunts the pages and scenes of All the President's Men. Unmasking Deep Throat is available exclusively for purchase in e-book format on Salon.com for $8, downloadable as an Adobe PDF file. Salon and Dean said they chose to publish Unmasking Deep Throat as an ebook to capitalize on the flexibility and timeliness that the format provides. Content Deals · The Thomson Corporation, a provider of corporate and professional learning solutions, announced that it has acquired select courseware, technology and elearning assets from McGraw-Hill's Lifetime Learning division, part of The McGraw-Hill Companies. The courses will be available through Thomson Enterprise Learning businesses, including NETg and Thomson Enterprise Solutions. · Trip.com, a leisure travel website, and Nickelodeon, an entertainment brand for kids, announced a multi-million dollar marketing partnership to create and promote special family travel packages to their respective user bases. NickJr.com will integrate Trip.com's technology and family-oriented inventory on a co-branded site that will launch this fall. · Ubi Soft Entertainment has named Prima Games its official strategy guide partner for the next three PC and video games to be released in the critically acclaimed Tom Clancy series. Under the deal, Prima Games will write, publish and distribute strategy guides in North America for The Sum of All Fears, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Raven Shield on multiple platforms. The three new titles will be released on the PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube. Launches and Redesigns · Bitpipe Inc., a syndicator of IT vendor content, announced it has teamed with Forbes.com, a business resource, to launch the IT Research Library @ Forbes.com. The IT Research Library @ Forbes.com is a comprehensive source of information technology research for business executives, offering fully indexed vendor white papers, case studies, webcasts, and product literature from over 3,500 leading IT vendors such as Microsoft, Cisco, PeopleSoft, Intel and Sun. Thousands of analyst reports are also available for immediate purchase from over 60 market research firms such as IDC, Gartner, Aberdeen Group, Yankee Group, Meta Group and Giga. · International Data Group (IDG), a technology media company, announced the launch of Network World in Japan. The June debut issue will address many challenges related to networking in Japan and will provide tips and case studies on how to overcome them. Led by Editor in Chief Satoshi Yoshida, Network World's premier issue will feature articles such as: "Designing and Building the Broadband Ethernet & IP-VPN," "Testing the Wireless LAN: the Thoughtful Examination of 802.11a," and "The Large Size of Voice & Data Integrated Systems Underlining 2002 FIFA World Cup." In conjunction with the magazine's launch, Network World will also roll out a companion website. · Cosmopolitan Television Latinoamerica, a 24-hour channel for young women inspired by Cosmopolitan magazine, will premiere on July 1, 2002, to five million subscribers. · Philip Lempert, known to consumers and the food industry as the "Supermarket Guru", has launched the Supermarket Guru Newsflash, a weekly email newsletter providing consumers with news, tips and features about food, shopping and healthier living. Newsflash subscriptions are free, and the newsletter does not accept advertising to maintain the integrity of the publication. · The Newspaper Association of America has announced the launch of Newspaper Tech, a website that will offer more than 600 technical training courses online. The site will be officially launched at NEXPO 2002, NAA's annual technology exposition and conference, taking place June 22-25 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. Miscellaneous · Sundance Channel, in partnership with Out Magazine and The Advocate, has created a national short film contest as part of its annual Out Loud Film Festival in June which celebrates gay and lesbian filmmaking. The Sundance Channel OutLoud Short Film Contest launches on June 1, 2002, and seeks submissions of films containing lesbian, gay, bi-sexual or transgender themes up to forty minutes long. The contest will conclude on July 31, 2002 and the grand prize-winning short will have its world premiere on Sundance Channel. · During its Annual Clinical Meeting today at the Winnipeg Convention Center in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada, in collaboration with the Canadian Foundation for Women's Health, announced the establishment of the SOGC/CFWH Award for Excellence in Reproductive Health Journalism. This cash award of $1,000 will recognize outstanding Canadian journalists who have excelled in communicating information on reproductive health issues to the public. · Barnes & Noble.com has announced a summer sale, offering shoppers 30% off all newly published books. Encompassing over 50,000 titles, the sale includes all books, audio books and ebooks published since January 1, 2002. The new sale competes with Amazon.com's new offer of free shipping on order over $49. Buy.com Inc. entered the summer sales competition announced that it will offer free shipping site-wide with no minimum purchase required. Buy.com is also offering an additional 10% off Amazon.com's prices on books. · The Online Publishers Association (OPA) announced that Solbright, Inc. has become the newest associate member of the organization. Vendors and organizations that support the online publishing industry but are not, themselves, publishers are eligible for associate status with the OPA. Solbright, Inc. is a provider of business process automation solutions for interactive advertising, offering systems for order management, trafficking, billing, and business reporting. 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 © 1997-2011 by Writers Write, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
