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Friday, July 19, 2002 Media Cynic | Forum | Advertising | Classifieds | Jobs Publishing Industry Soundbytes Launches and Redesigns | Miscellaneous People · AOL Time Warner has adopted a new operating structure and made senior leadership appointments, Richard D. Parsons, Chief Executive Officer, announced. Mr. Parsons also announced that Chief Operating Officer Robert W. Pittman has decided to step down as COO and as a director of AOL Time Warner and depart the Company. Under the new structure, Don Logan, formerly Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Time Inc., becomes Chairman of the new Media & Communications Group, comprising America Online, Time Inc. and Time Warner Cable, as well as the AOL Time Warner Book Group and Interactive Video unit. Jeff Bewkes, formerly Chairman and CEO of HBO, becomes Chairman of the new Entertainment & Networks Group, comprising HBO, New Line Cinema, The WB, Turner Networks, Warner Bros. and Warner Music. The Group Chairmen will report directly to Mr. Parsons. · Lifetime Entertainment Services and Hearst Magazines announced that Susan Plagemann has been named vice president and publisher of Lifetime magazine, a new women's magazine to be launched in March 2003. Plagemann, currently publisher of Hearst-owned Cosmopolitan, will take over her new role effective July 22. She will report to Michael Clinton, executive vice president and chief marketing officer/ publishing director, Hearst Magazines. · Government Technology magazine announced the appointment of Steve Towns to the position of Editor for Government Technology magazine. Steve Towns, who served as features editor for Government Technology prior to his promotion, has 15 years of experience in covering government and technology issues for regional and national publications. Launched in 1987 the monthly publication has 73,310 subscribers and is published by the Folsom, California based e. Republic Inc. · IGN Entertainment, publisher of IGN.com, a resource for gamers, announced that Rick Boyce has resigned as president to pursue other interests, but will continue to serve the company by joining IGN's board of directors. Boyce, who joined IGN in March 2000, was responsible for overseeing editorial content and sales. The company does not intend to fill Boyce's position, and instead plans to divide his former responsibilities among other management positions. · Charles Wheelan, former Midwest correspondent for The Economist magazine and contributor to WBEZ radio, has joined Chicago Metropolis 2020 as Director of Policy and Communications. Since 1997, Wheelan has been the Midwest correspondent for The Economist, a weekly news magazine with a global circulation in excess of 830,000. He has written freelance articles for the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and other publications. Wheelan's first book, Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science, will be published in September by W.W. Norton & Company. · Linda Sease, former vice president of marketing and new media for the Rocky Mountain News in Denver, has been named marketing director for The E. W. Scripps Company's newspaper division. Sease, who has been recognized as one of the newspaper industry's leading marketing professionals, will be responsible for directing marketing activities within the Scripps newspaper division, including strategic planning, market research, brand and product management, advertising and promotion and new product development. · Ziff Davis Media Game Group has tapped Stan Taigen as its new Associate Publisher. In his last position as Vice President, Associate Publisher-West at Red Herring Communications, Taigen oversaw all print sales for Red Herring magazine in the Western half of the United States and online sales nationally. · Darcy Miller, President of Primedia Integrated Sales and Marketing Group, announced that Teresa Taylor has been promoted to the position of Assistant Vice-President, Classified Advertising for Primedia's Consumer Media and Magazine Group. Ms. Taylor will report to Ms. Miller in her new role in which she'll work with many of Primedia's Consumer Magazines and their respective websites. Ms. Taylor began working at Murdoch Magazines, which later became part of Primedia, in 1987 after rising through the ad sales ranks at the Village Voice. She was named Group Classified Advertising Director of Primedia in 2000. · Pulitzer Inc. announced that Terrance C. Z. Egger has been named senior vice president of Pulitzer Inc. Egger, 44, has been vice president of Pulitzer Inc. and publisher of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch since 1999. In his new position, Egger remains publisher of the Post-Dispatch and will have corporate responsibility for Pulitzer's other St. Louis properties -- the Suburban Journals of Greater St. Louis, STL Distribution and STLtoday.com. · The Dallas Morning News announced that Mary G. Ramos, editor of the Texas Almanac, will retire at the end of the year and Deputy Editor Elizabeth Alvarez will become editor, effective January 1, 2003. The Texas Almanac, which is published biennially by The Dallas Morning News, was first published by The Galveston News in 1857. Over the years, the Almanac has evolved to reflect the growth and changing climate of Texas. Ramos joined the Texas Almanac as an editorial assistant in 1985. She was soon promoted to associate editor of the publication. In 1994 she was named editor. · William V. Monopoli, whose 23-year journalism career includes leading three daily newspapers, has joined Lee Enterprises as publisher of The Times of Northwest Indiana. Monopoli, who most recently was president and publisher of the Press & Sun-Bulletin in Binghamton, N.Y., succeeds William Howard, who retired in December. Lee Enterprises also announced that Linda Lindus, publisher of The Southern Illinoisan in Carbondale, has been appointed publisher of the Herald & Review in Decatur. Dennis DeRossett, operations manager at The Southern, has been promoted to publisher in Carbondale. James W. Hopson, Lee Enterprises vice president for publishing, said Lindus will continue to have group publishing responsibilities for central and southern Illinois. · Knight Ridder Digital has promoted Brad Long to the new position of general manager of its St. Paul operation. The appointment was announced July 18 by Hilary Schneider, president and CEO of Knight Ridder Digital. Long joined Knight Ridder in 1999 as the Kansas City Star's director of Internet advertising. · Bowne & Co., Inc., a provider of high-value document management solutions, announced the appointment of Ruth A. Harenchar, 52, as Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, reporting to the Office of the Chairman. Harenchar directs all strategy and operations of Bowne's Technology Enterprise. She replaces Judith Shapiro, who retired at the end of last year. · Universal Music Group has appointed David Benjamin as Senior Vice President, Anti-Piracy, it was announced by Zach Horowitz, President and Chief Operating Officer, UMG. Based in New York, Mr. Benjamin will oversee and coordinate UMG's anti-piracy activities. In this position, he will work closely with the company's record and publishing companies and their artists and songwriters, as well as the various departments within UMG including eLabs (new media and technologies division), Business and Legal Affairs, Corporate Communications and Vivendi Universal's Government Relations. · Dennis Swanson, whose career includes leading flagship stations for NBC and ABC, in addition to creating the Oprah Winfrey Show, has been named Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Viacom Television Stations Group, it was announced by Fred Reynolds, President of the Group. Swanson will oversee operations for the Viacom television stations, reporting directly to Reynolds. The Viacom Television Stations Group consists of 39 stations, including 20 CBS, 18 UPN and one independent station. The Group has duopolies in eight markets. Digital Publishing · WHSmith Online, a division of WHSmith PLC, the largest book and magazine retailer in the UK, announced that its ebookstore will offer ebooks in the Palm Reader format. More than 4,000 best-selling Palm eBook titles from publishers including HarperCollins, Random House, Simon & Schuster, McGraw-Hill, St. Martin's Press, and Time Warner are now available from the WHSmith eBookstore. The WHSmith eBookstore is powered by OverDrive, Inc. · Barron's, the Dow Jones Business and Financial Weekly, has launched its Digital Delivery product in partnership with NewsStand, Inc., an electronic publishing technology provider. As a result, Barron's will be delivering exact digital replicas of the traditional paper editions to its customers' PCs via the Internet every Saturday morning. · The Merck Veterinary Manual is now available online at merckvetmanual.com. A comprehensive reference on the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of animal disease, the online Merck Veterinary Manual is free of charge. First introduced in 1955, the reference book is published by Merck Publishing Group, in cooperation with Merial, an animal health company. The two companies launched the online version today at the 139th Annual Meeting of the American Veterinary Medical Association. Content Deals · Newsweek has forged alliances with Wine Spectator, MSN Money and Harvard Health Publications for Newsweek's new "Tip Sheet" section. Tip Sheet, a back-of-the-book newsletter for consumers that covers health, personal finance, technology and travel, will regularly feature content from each of these media outlets, in addition to material from Newsweek-owned Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel magazine. · Audible, Inc. and Mac Publishing, LLC announced that the companies have entered into an agreement to deliver audio programming to Mac users and customers of audible.com's audio information and entertainment service. Mac Publishing's Macworld magazine, Macworld.com, and MacCentral.com will promote and co-market Audible.com's audio service and Audible will promote Macworld magazine and audio programming to their respective customer bases. · Jessica's Biscuit, a catalog and internet-based company devoted to cookbooks, announced that it has entered into a strategic marketing relationship with Fine Cooking magazine. Pursuant to this relationship, Jessica's Biscuit will receive full page, four-color advertisements in specific issues of Fine Cooking magazine, and Fine Cooking will receive promotional messages in certain email newsletters which Jessica's Biscuit sends to its email subscribers, as well as in Jessica's Biscuit product packages shipped to its customers from its Foxboro, MA fulfillment facility. · THQ Inc. and Fox Interactive have announced an exclusive, worldwide Game Boy Advance publishing agreement for two new titles. Under the agreement, THQ will publish Game Boy Advance games based on the The Simpsons Road Rage console game and the Buffy the Vampire Slayer property. Both of these games are scheduled to release in 2003. Launches and Redesigns · Microsoft Corp. announced the expansion of CNBC on MSN Money, with new and enhanced features designed to help consumers review, understand and improve their finances. A new feature on the site is a CNBC TV guest stock pick analysis tool that monitors the performance of stocks selected by on-air guests to help consumers assess the track record of professionals making investment recommendations. · CMP Media announced the launch of the EE Times Network, an online news, information and career resource for engineers, technical managers and other electronics professionals worldwide. The EE Times Network features the integration of online editions EE Times, EE Times Asia, EE Times China, EE Times Korea, EE Times Taiwan and EE Times UK, with news and technical websites such as CommsDesign.com, EEdesign.com, Embedded.com, Planet Analog, Semiconductor Business News and the career/work hub, The Work Circuit. The EE Times Network in effect replaces CMP's EDTN Network brand, a destination portal for the electronics industry. · TenLinks, Inc., an online CAD/CAM/CAE media company, has announced the launch of CADdigest.com, a reading room for computer aided design. The site contains over a thousand reviews and several hundred tutorials, tips, success stories and editorials. · Children's World Learning Centers and Scholastic have teamed up to develop a school-to-home literacy program called Children's World of Reading. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, only 53 percent of children ages 3 to 5 are read to daily by a family member. Every three months, families enrolled at Children's World will receive age-appropriate Scholastic books and literacy activities direct to their home as a gift from Children's World. In addition, all Children's World Learning Centers will receive the same shipments of books and will integrate the books into classroom curriculum. Teachers will receive a teacher's guide with each shipment with activity ideas to enrich the stories. · Prentice Hall PTR announced the launch of the Deitel Developer Series, a new series of books for practicing professionals that offers focused treatments of today's emerging technologies, including .NET, J2EE and Web services. Dr. Harvey Deitel and Paul Deitel, principals of Deitel & Associates, Inc., a content-creation organization, provide programmers and application developers with a high-level treatment of emerging technologies developed specifically for the professional reader in the Deitel Developer Series. · Lifetime, a cable network for women, is extending its brand to online shopping by teaming up with Global-QVC Solutions to create an online store expressly for women. Miscellaneous · Inktomi Corp., a provider of information retrieval solutions, announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Quiver, Inc., a privately owned software company based in San Mateo, Calif. The addition of Quiver's leading portfolio of categorization and taxonomy software will strengthen Inktomi's enterprise information retrieval solutions. The total purchase price of this transaction will be approximately $12 million in a combination of common stock and cash. Amazon.com has launched its first version of Amazon.com Web Services, a platform for creating Web solutions and services designed specifically for developers and website owners. By using Amazon.com Web Services developers can build applications and tools that will allow them to incorporate many of the unique features of Amazon.com into their websites -- free of charge. Among its many features, Amazon.com's Web Services allows third party sites to search and display products from Amazon.com's website, and enable visitors to those sites to add items to their Amazon.com shopping carts. Developers can access AWS through two industry standards: XML and SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol). · Warner Books announced the signing of a second book with management expert Adrian Slywotzky that will be based on his recent Harvard Business Review article, written with Mercer Management Consulting colleague Richard Wise, entitled "The Growth Crisis -- And How to Escape It" (July 2002). Publication of the book, tentatively entitled Hidden in Plain View: Discovering the New Drivers of Growth, is scheduled for April 2003. Wise, who has written articles on business strategy for the Harvard Business Review, The Financial Times, and other prominent publications, will also be the co-author of the book. · Lionbridge Technologies, Inc. and Ziff Davis Media Inc. announced an agreement for Lionbridge to acquire eTesting Labs Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis Media that provides research, analysis, development and testing services to technology vendors, ISPs, IT organizations and publications. Lionbridge will integrate eTesting labs with VeriTest, the company's global testing division. · Source Interlink Companies, a provider of magazine information and front-end sales data in North America, announced it has signed an agreement with magazine publisher, the Hearst Corporation, to provide daily point-of-sale information to approximately 15 magazine titles from more than 13,000 retail stores in North America via Source Interlink's proprietary information database, Interactive Communications Network (ICN). · DreamWorks SKG has licensed the worldwide distribution rights for the Japanese animated film "Millennium Actress" from The Klockworx Co., Ltd. Los Angeles-based Digital Manga, Inc. assisted in forging the deal, which marks the studio's first acquisition of an anime film and includes all forms of distribution, including theatrical, home video, television, and ancillary rights, and covers all markets with the exception of Asia. Based in Tokyo, The Klockworx Co., Ltd. will oversee the film's release in Asia. Directed by Satoshi Kon (Perfect Blue), Millennium Actress is a romantic adventure story that explores the life and career of a reclusive actress. Click here to return to the homepage of The Write NewsTM Click here to subscribe to our free weekly edition.  www.writenews.com Copyright © 1997-2007 by Writers Write, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
