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Friday, June 28, 2002 Media Cynic | Forum | Advertising | Classifieds | Jobs Publishing Industry Soundbytes Launches and Redesigns | Miscellaneous People · Richard J. O'Rorke has been named Chief Financial Officer for Magazine Publishers of America (MPA), it was announced by Michael Pashby, Executive Vice President/General Manager, MPA. Mr. O'Rorke had most recently been President of R.J. O'Rorke & Company, his financial, accounting and taxation firm, since 2001. He reports to Mr. Pashby. · CMP Media LLC announced that Christopher Null has been named Editor In Chief of New Architect. Most recently Chris was the Executive Editor for Smart Business magazine at Ziff Davis and his experience also includes a brief stint at CMP with LAN Times magazine. Prior to his years in magazine publishing, Christopher worked in the high-tech industry as a software developer and IT manager. He also co-authored the exhaustive Network Administrator's Reference (Osborne/McGraw-Hill, 1999) and earned his MBA at The University of Texas at Austin. · Spa Finder, a source for spa information and travel reservations, announced Raymond Murphy as Chief Financial Officer and Josie Papile as Vice President, Finance. Prior to joining the company, Murphy served as CFO of babygear.com He also served as VP of Finance for fashionmall.com. VP, Finance, Josie Papile most recently served as VP/Retail Controller for Aerosoles, a footwear brand. Prior to that she was Assistant Controller at Urban Brands, Inc., which owns and operates the Ashley Stewart retail stores. · Kevin Mowbray, a veteran of eight newspaper operations in Lee Enterprises, has been appointed vice president for sales and marketing. Mowbray, publisher of The Bismarck Tribune, succeeds Michael Phelps, who has become publisher of the Quad-City Times in Davenport. Mary Junck, Lee's chairman and chief executive officer, said Mowbray will intensify the company's focus on revenue and circulation growth. · Dow Jones & Company announced a series of structural and senior management changes. Richard F. Zannino, 43, an executive vice president of the Company and formerly its chief financial officer, was named chief operating officer. Karen Elliott House, 54, formerly president of the Company's International group and a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, was named a senior vice president of the Company and publisher of all print editions of The Wall Street Journal. The announcements were made by Peter R. Kann, chairman and chief executive officer of Dow Jones, after having been approved last month by the Dow Jones Board of Directors. Mr. Kann, 59, who had also been publisher of The Wall Street Journal since 1989, remains in his chairman and CEO posts, and will also continue as editorial director of all Dow Jones publications. Mr. Kann also named a new executive committee of top managers to assist him in guiding the Company. Joining Mr. Kann on the executive committee are Mr. Zannino, Mr. Skinner, Ms. House, L. Gordon Crovitz, 43, who remains senior vice president in charge of the company's electronic publishing operations, James H. Ottaway, Jr., who remains a senior vice president of the company and chairman and CEO of the company's Ottaway Newspapers subsidiary, and Paul E. Steiger, who remains managing editor of The Wall Street Journal. · Essence Communications Partners (ECP) announced that Clarence O. Smith will leave his post as president of ECP as of next month to pursue other opportunities for existing and new media projects. Mr. Smith has been in discussions with ECP Co-founder and Chairman Edward Lewis about transitioning his responsibilities as president of ECP for the New York-based African-American magazine and media company. Mr. Smith has been planning his resignation for some time and is currently making arrangements to pursue existing and new media projects outside of Essence. · David L. Murphy has been named executive vice president, human resources, for The McGraw-Hill Companies. He will be responsible for all global human resources initiatives. Mr. Murphy was most recently vice president, human resources, for the Ford Motor Company, where he spent most of his professional career. · Electronic Arts, an interactive entertainment software company, announced the appointment of Warren Jenson to Executive Vice President and Chief Financial and Administration Officer. Mr. Jenson, 45, joins the EA team from Amazon.com where he served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since 1999. Jenson will report to EA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Larry Probst. Jenson replaces Stan McKee, EA's Chief Financial and Administration Officer of 13 years who announced plans for retirement last year. McKee has agreed to assist Jenson through a transitional period. · Robert W. Burdick, executive vice president and general manager of the Naples (Fla.) Daily News, has been named president and publisher of the newspaper, effective July 1. The Daily News is owned and operated by The E.W. Scripps Company. Burdick succeeds Corbin Wyant, who has reached the mandatory retirement age established by Scripps for its senior managers and is retiring June 30 after 25 years with the newspaper. Burdick, 54, joined the Daily News as executive vice president and general manager in December 2000. He previously served for two years as president and general manager of the Scripps-owned Rocky Mountain News in Denver. · The Washington Post Company announced that Alice M. Rivlin has been elected to the Board of Directors, effective July 1, 2002. Her election increases The Washington Post Company's Board of Directors to ten members. Ms. Rivlin is the Henry J. Cohen Professor at the Robert J. Milano Graduate School at the New School University and a Senior Fellow in the Economic Studies Program at the Brookings Institution. She also serves as Director of the Greater Washington Research Program at Brookings. Ms. Rivlin was Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve Board from 1996 to 1999, Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget from 1994 to 1996, and Deputy Director from 1993 to 1994. She served as Chair of the District of Columbia Financial Management Assistance Authority from 1998 to 2001. · TheStreet.com Inc., a provider of financial commentary, analysis and news, announced that Jeff Cooper has joined the company as a RealMoney columnist. Cooper has been working on Wall Street for more than twenty years as an equities trader, where he has created his trading technique called the "Hit and Run" methodology. Most recently, he has authored three best-selling books about his method including Hit & Run, Hit & Run II, and The 5 Day Momentum Method. Digital Publishing · Microsoft Corp. announced Microsoft Reader Tablet PC version 2.5, a new version of its electronic reading application. Reader 2.5 was announced and an early version demonstrated today at the TECHXNY trade show. Content Deals · Primedia, a targeted media company, announced that it has sold its ExitInfo business for $24 million in cash to Trader Publishing Company. ExitInfo, a unit within Primedia's Consumer Guides Group, publishes and distributes Travel Coupon Guides, a collection of free distribution, paid advertising publications circulated throughout the United States. · Aviation Week and the International Herald Tribune (IHT) announced they have renewed their media partnership. The two companies will continue to share editorial resources and distribution systems for an event-based multimedia news service. The network will operate during the biennial Farnborough (London) and Paris Air shows, respectively. The centerpiece of the network is Aviation Week's Headline News, an on-site event information service that broadcasts industry news updates on a large-format -- 16-by-6-foot -- LED outdoor display at Farnborough and Paris. The headline news service features news reports from Aviation Week's Show News on-site daily magazine team and Aviation Week bureaus around the world, plus real-time world news updates from the IHT. In addition, IHT will publish a quarter-page Aviation Week Show News Air Show Report each show day. The report will be written and produced by the Aviation Week Show News editors. · To extend the reach of its business and financial news coverage, the Chicago Tribune is teaming up with WGN-TV and CLTV, which have begun airing segments highlighting the newspaper's content. Each Friday, the WGN News at Noon features a preview of the Tribune's Sunday Business section, typically the section's showcase article. On CLTV, the daily Chicago Tribune Business Sense Update works as a mini- newscast from the Tribune. · Lightspan, Inc., a provider of educational products and services, announced that it has teamed up with Encyclopedia Britannica to make the Britannica Student Encyclopedia available to subscribers of The Lightspan Network. Subscribers to The Lightspan Network will have access to the online Britannica Student Encyclopedia, including a search feature to find available content and media. The online version of the encyclopedia delivers over 15,000 articles and 5,000 media images, including photos, maps, and art. The Lightspan Network has provided three content areas on the main page of the encyclopedia with completed searches to help students with research and report ideas. · R.R. Donnelley Financial, a provider of financial printing services and customized communications solutions (CCS), has appointed Sue Tidswell as senior vice president of CCS sales. Most recently, Tidswell served as vice president of CCS sales for the Eastern Region where she was responsible for increasing sales and developing client relationships in the key target markets of financial services and healthcare. Tidswell joined R.R. Donnelley in 1988 as international sales director for Asia. Launches and Redesigns · Barnes & Noble.com announced the introduction of "What America's Reading," a new feature that provides hourly, daily and weekly updates on bestselling books. The data is organized in a number of ways, including a "Top Ten" list of bestsellers across all categories and formats at both Barnes & Noble stores and on Barnes & Noble.com; lists of the bestselling titles in more than 300 categories; and charts that track the movement of the top titles. · Amazon.com has launched Amazon.ca, its new Canadian website which lists prices in Canadian dollars. The company also announced it has selected Assured Logistics, a part of the Canada Post group of companies, to handle fulfillment services for Amazon.ca. Miscellaneous · Governor John Engler announced that the Library of Michigan's resources are now available to Michigan residents 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from any Internet connection. The Governor and State Librarian Christie Pearson Brandau unveiled the new Michigan eLibrary at a press conference at the Michigan Library and Historical Center in Lansing. · The College Board announced the first significant changes to the SAT in a decade, including the proposed addition of an essay writing section that will be scored on a separate 800-point scale, increasing the possible total from 1600 to 2400. Other expected changes include the elimination of the analogy section and inclusion of tougher math problems. The changes should make the test longer and more expensive. · Detroit Newspapers announced plans for a multi-million dollar investment in its printing presses and facilities, which will significantly upgrade the publishing and delivery capabilities of The Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press. The project, estimated at more than $170 million, is one of the largest such projects for a newspaper company in the U.S., and will take more than three years to complete. Detroit Newspapers' North Plant printing facility, located on a 46-acre site in Sterling Heights, Michigan, will undergo a 190,000 square foot expansion to accommodate six new, state-of-the-art offset printing presses. · HarperCollins Publishers and Mrs. Alma Powell, vice chairman of America's Promise -- The Alliance for Youth, announced that they have joined together to publish two books designed to support America's children and youth. In Spring 2003, HarperCollins will publish a 32-page, full color picture book entitled America's Promise along with a companion board book, Pull Your Weight -- two formats designed to engage children from infancy to age 8. Authored by Mrs. Powell, wife of America's Promise Founding Chairman and U.S. Secretary of State, General Colin L. Powell, the books reinforce the mission of America's Promise -- to build the character and competence of our nation's youth -- and in a fun spirited way encourage children to give back to their communities. 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. |
